GENERAL INFORMATION
”Syria is a republic ruled by the authoritarian regime of President Bashar al-Asad. The president makes key decisions with counsel from a small number of security advisors, ministers, and senior members of the ruling Ba’ath (Arab Socialist Renaissance) Party. The constitution mandates the primacy of Ba’ath Party leaders in state institutions and society. President Asad and party leaders dominate all three branches of government. Asad was confirmed as president for his second seven-year term in a 2007 yes-or-no referendum that was neither free nor fair by international standards. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.” (
USDOS, 24 May 2012)
“Syria is one of several countries in the Middle East and North Africa to have been hit by a wave of pro-democracy protests following popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt that unseated long-standing autocratic rulers.” (
BBC, 25 April 2011)
“Syrians have long struggled with many of the same challenges that have bred deep dissatisfaction in other Arab autocracies, including high unemployment, high inflation, limited upward mobility, rampant corruption, lack of political freedoms, and repressive security forces. These factors have fueled opposition to Syria’s authoritarian government [...].” (
CRS, 24 May 2012, p. 1)
“President Asad’s approach during the uprising has been to offer limited reforms that correspond to political grievances raised prior to the uprising. These include:
• In April 2011, President Asad lifted the formal State of Emergency declaration that had been in place since 1963. The emergency rule had been used to suppress domestic dissent and was widely criticized by Syrians and external observers. In the wake of the decision, the regime continued and expanded the raids, arrests, and detentions that had been common under the emergency rules, leading to criticism that the move was cynically designed to weaken public pressure rather than to implement real change.
• In February 2012, the government held a national referendum on a new constitution designed to open the political system to competition beyond the confines of the Baath party. The exercise was widely denounced by the opposition. The constitution was approved by 89.4% of voters who cast ballots, which the government claims was 57.4% of some 14.5 million eligible voters among Syria’s 23 million people. It limits the president’s tenure to a maximum of two terms of seven years, but is not applied retroactively, meaning that President Asad could run for reelection when his current term expires in 2014, and, if reelected, he could serve until 2028.
• The new constitution provided the basis for May 2012 parliamentary elections, the first that were not restricted to the Baath Party and its National Unity List allies. Syrian officials reported that turnout among eligible voters was 51%. However, most opposition groups and figures boycotted the election, and supporters of President Asad won over 90% of the 250 seats. A handful of opposition figures were elected, and one new party gained a seat in Aleppo.” (
CRS, 24 May 2012, p. 26)
For background information on the political situation, see also:
FH, March 2012
“The protest movement in Syria was overwhelmingly peaceful until September 2011. Since then, an increasing number of media and other reports have said that a growing number of military defectors and local residents have decided to resort to arms, saying they are defending themselves against security forces’ raids or attacking checkpoints and security facilities in their cities.” (
HRW, 20 March 2012)
"But there are signs a sectarian conflict is already under way. The clearest: the visibility of the Shabiha militia. Drawn entirely from the Alawite sect of the ruling Assad family, it is suspected of responsibility for the Houla massacre that left 108 dead, including 49 children, on May 25-26. UN officials have expressed 'strong suspicions' about the militia's role in the massacre due to survivors' accounts. Witnesses say the killing in Houla, a Sunni hamlet, opened with troops shelling homes but began in earnest with the arrival of hundreds of armed civilians from nearby Alawite villages." (
RFE/RL, 15 June 2012)
“Armed opposition groups have subjected detainees to ill-treatment and torture and committed extrajudicial or summary executions in Aleppo, Latakia, and Idlib, Human Rights Watch said today following a visit to Aleppo governorate. [...]
Human Rights Watch has repeatedly documented and condemned widespread violations by Syrian government security forces and officials, including extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings of civilians, enforced disappearances, use of torture, and arbitrary detentions. Human Rights Watch has concluded that government forces have committed crimes against humanity.” (
HRW, 17 September 2012)
For details on human rights violations by both government and opposition forces see pp. 10‑21 in the following report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic to the UN Human Rights Council:
For further information on human rights violations in 2011, please refer to AI's Annual Report 2012 and the US State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2011:
AI, 24 May 2012;
USDOS, 24 May 2012
“As of 11 December 2012, more than 509,000 Syrians are registered or waiting to be registered in the neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq, as well as countries in North Africa. In addition, over 25,500 asylum applications have been submitted by Syrians in Western European countries since April 2011. Within Syria, an estimated 1.2 million people are currently displaced, many of whom are living in inadequate shelters. The humanitarian situation has continued to deteriorate and it is estimated that as many as 4 million Syrians are affected by the conflict and in need of humanitarian assistance at present.” (
UNHCR, December 2012, p. 1)
“As of November 2012, the death toll since the start of the uprising was estimated to be anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 persons.” (
UNHCR, December 2012, p. 2)
“Human rights groups working in Syria say at least 28,000 people have disappeared after being abducted by soldiers or militia.They say they have the names of 18,000 people missing since anti-government protests began 18 months ago and know of another 10,000 cases.” (
BBC, 18 October 2012)
For an overview on sanctions imposed on Syria by the EU, Turkey, the Arab League and the USA see:
KEY PLAYERS
Opposition forces
“The SNC [Syrian National Council], the largest and most representative Syrian opposition grouping, was founded in Istanbul at the end of August and numbers 140 members, half of them living in Syria.” (
AFP, 19 October 2011)
“The Syrian National Council (SNC) was formally organized in Turkey in October 2011 and brings together a range of external activists, along with representatives of the Damascus Declaration Forces for National and Democratic Change, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, and the Syrian Revolution General Commission (SRGC). The National Council has called for ‘immediate protection for civilians’, in contrast to some of its domestic counterparts. The Council also firmly believes that dialogue with the Asad government is impossible.” (
CRS, 9 November 2011, p. 3-4)
“The National Co-ordination Committee (NCC), formed in September [2011], is made up of 13 left-leaning political parties, three Kurdish political parties, and independent political and youth activists. […] The NCC calls for dialogue conditional on the withdrawal of the military from the streets, the end of attacks on peaceful protesters by security forces, and the release of all political prisoners. The group is strongly opposed to any form of foreign intervention that would involve military measures, such as a no-fly zone, and would prefer economic sanctions and other diplomatic measures to increase pressure on President Assad.” (
BBC, 1 March 2012)
“[…] the Free Syrian Army, formed in July [2011] and composed in part of defected army personnel, and others who have taken up arms with the stated intention of protecting their neighbourhoods.” (
AI, 10 November 2011)
“The so-called ‘Free Syrian Army’ (FSA) is one of the main proponents of foreign military intervention in Syria. […] The FSA operates loosely across Syria with a base in a refugee camp in Turkey close to the Syrian border. The FSA claims to have some 15,000 men, however it is likely that this number is inflated and that the force does not exceed a fraction of that size.” (
CSIS, 13 December 2011, p. 19-20)
“As the international community increasingly turns against al-Assad, analysts say a consistent proportion of Syrians have maintained a detached, if not hostile, position towards the ‘opposition’. Their reasons range from a desire for stability, regardless of its authoritarian enforcement, to the perception that elements of the opposition are inherently violent and radical. Ethnic minorities view the uprising through a survivalist lens, fostered by the narrative of the regime and some personal accounts. […] Stability is also crucial to the interdenominational beneficiaries (`mustafidin’) tied to the regime, as is clear from the loyalty of the Sunni-Christian bourgeoisie in Aleppo and Damascus.” (
IRIN, 23 February 2012)“
“Simultaneously, however, jihadists - those committed to establishing an Islamic state by violent means - have started to be seen on the battlefield in Syria, which became a highly streamed topic on the jihadist online forums.” (
BBC, 2 August 2012)
“Interviews with fighters, including some defectors, indicate that newly formed armed opposition groups are less likely to attach themselves to the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Many operate independently from existing groups or are affiliated to Islamist groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra. Foreign fighters, many of whom also have links to other extremist groups, are present in Idlib, Latakia and Aleppo governorates. Multiple interviewees noted that while these groups are independent of the FSA, they coordinate attacks with them.” (
OHCHR, 20 December 2012, p. 3)
For details on the fundamentalist opposition in Syria see the following report by the International Crisis Group:
Government forces
“Both the armed forces and the security forces have been involved in the suppression of peaceful protests and related violations across the Syrian Arab Republic. The civilian police have also been deployed in urban areas for the purposes of crowd control. In addition, an Alawite civilian militia known as the Shabbiha participated in the commission of abuses against civilians. According to multiple accounts obtained by the mission, foreign fighters had been present and active during operations in several locations.” (
HRC, 15 September 2011, p. 8)
“Initially, in the face of the growing protests and international condemnation, President al-Assad announced a number of reforms while also maintaining the repression. In particular, he lifted the 48-year national state of emergency and abolished the notoriously unfair Supreme State Security Court that had been used to jail countless government critics and dissenters. He also issued several amnesties for different categories of prisoners, under which some prisoners of conscience were freed, and passed decrees to allow peaceful demonstrations under certain conditions and the legal registration of political parties other than the ruling Ba’ath party. But these reforms had no impact on the brutal crackdown, and contained elements indicating that they were merely cosmetic.” (
AI, 9 January 2012, p. 27)
“Most of the foreign fighters filtering into Syria to join the anti-Government armed groups (or to fight independently alongside them) are Sunnis hailing from countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The increasingly sectarian nature of the conflict provides one motivation for other actors to enter into the conflict. The Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah has confirmed that its members are in Syria fighting on behalf of the Government. There have also been reports, still under investigation, of Iraqi Shias coming to fight in Syria. Iran confirmed on 14 September that members of its Revolutionary Guards are in Syria providing ‘intellectual and advisory support’.” (
OHCHR, 20 December 2012, p. 4)
MAJOR EVENTS IN 2012
“[…] a bomb in the capital, Damascus, killed at least 26 civilians and members of the security forces. Opposition groups have accused the government of planting the bomb to discredit their opponents and influence Arab League monitors. […] The Damascus blast happened at a busy junction in the Midan district of Damascus.” (
BBC, 7 January 2012)
“Syrian forces have pulled back from a rebel-held town near Lebanon […]. President Bashar al-Assad's forces attacked Zabadani on Friday [13 January], after frequent demonstrations against his rule […]. It was the first big military assault since Arab monitors arrived in the country last month. Residents and opposition sources say insurgents managed to hold back the attacking troops until a ceasefire was reached on Tuesday [17 January].” (
AlertNet, 19 January 2012)
“The Syrian army has regained control of some Damascus suburbs recently held by rebel forces, reports say. […] At least 26 people were reportedly killed this weekend [28 and 29 January] around Damascus in what activists say is the fiercest fighting around the capital during the 10 month-uprising. […] The latest army offensive started on Saturday [28 January] in suburbs where the Free Syrian Army had taken up positions - including Kfar Batna, Saqba, Jisreen, and Arbeen.” (
BBC, 30 January 2012)
“At least 28 people have been killed and 235 wounded in two bombs targeting security compounds in Syria's second city of Aleppo, state media report. […] The rebel Free Syrian Army said it was operating in the area at the time, but was not responsible for the blasts.” (
BBC, 10 February 2012)
Baba Amr district in Homs “that became the symbol of the year-long uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad has fallen government forces after a bloody, month-long siege in which hundreds of people are reported to have been killed. Amid reports that government troops were carrying out reprisal killings against civilians trapped in the snow-blanketed Homs neighbourhood, Baba Amr finally fell after Free Syrian Army fighters said they were abandoning their positions”. (
Guardian, 2 March 2012)
“Idlib is the latest opposition stronghold to come under attack by the Syrian security forces attempting to rout the armed opposition. Syrian activists have compiled a list of 114 civilians killed since the current assault there, which began on March 10, 2012. Five witnesses, including three foreign correspondents, gave separate accounts to Human Rights Watch that government forces used large-caliber machine-guns, tanks, and mortars to fire indiscriminately at buildings and people in the street. After they entered Idlib, government forces detained people in house-to-house searches, looted buildings, and burned down houses, the witnesses said.” (
HRW, 15 March 2012)
“Syrian activists say a car-bomb explosion in the Syrian city of Aleppo has at least three people and wounded 25. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack was near a security building in the Suleimaniyeh neighborhood. State media also reported a car bomb attack, saying it exploded between two residential buildings. The blast came one day after officials said two vehicles packed with explosives on March 17 blew up near security buildings in Damascus, killing 27 people.” (
RFE/RL, 18 March 2012)
“Up to 70 people have been killed in an attack on a house in Hama, according to Syrian activists. […] State media said 16 people died in the blast in a house used as a bomb factory by ‘armed terrorist groups’. […] They [activists] said the blast was caused by government shelling or even a Scud missile attack. The opposition Syrian National Council has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting ‘so that it can issue a resolution to protect civilians’. It says nearly 100 people have been killed in Hama in recent days.” (
BBC, 26 April 2012)
“Twin blasts targeting security buildings killed more than 20 people in the northwest Syrian city of Idlib, a monitoring group said […].
Most of those killed in Idlib were members of the security forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. […]
State news agency SANA said ‘terrorists’ were behind the attacks by ‘suicide bombers.’ Syrian television put the death toll at nine, among them civilians, and said around 100 people were wounded in the two blasts in residential areas. […]
On Friday [27 April], a suicide car bomb in central Damascus killed 11 people.” (
AFP, 30 April 2012)
“The UN Security Council has condemned car bomb attacks that killed at least 55 people and wounded almost 400 in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Thursday [10 May]. [...] Syrian officials say "foreign-backed terrorists" carried out a twin suicide car-bomb attack in Damascus. The bombs exploded near a military intelligence building during the morning rush hour.” (
BBC, 11 May 2012)
“The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says that Islamist militants from al-Qaeda must be behind two deadly suicide car bomb attacks in Syria last week.” (
BBC, 18 May 2012)
“Kofi Annan should push Syria’s government to allow the UN-appointed Commission of Inquiry access into the country to investigate the May 25, 2012, killing of at least 108 Houla residents, Human Rights Watch said today ahead of an impending visit by the UN envoy to Damascus. [...]
[...] Houla, a region made up of several villages about 20 kilometers northwest of the restive city of Homs [...].
According to survivors that Human Rights Watch interviewed and local activists, the Syrian army shelled the area on May 25, and armed men, dressed in military clothes, attacked homes on the outskirts of town and executed entire families. All of the witnesses stated the armed men were pro-government, but they did not know whether they were members of the Syrian army or a pro-government militia, locally referred to as shabeeha.” (
HRW, 28 May 2012)
“The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group, said nearly 170 people had been killed across Syria on Thursday [21 June] - making it the deadliest day since April, when a ceasefire was due to come into force under an international peace plan. [...] More than 20 people were reported killed in the suburbs of Damascus. A similar number of deaths was also reported in Homs, where the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been unable to bring aid and medical supplies into the old city and take trapped civilians out.” (
BBC, 21 June 2012)
“A bomb has exploded on the third floor of the Syrian state TV and radio building in the capital, Damascus, Syrian television reports. Three people were reported wounded and the explosion caused some damage but state TV continued broadcasting. [...]
The developments come as Syria's army tries to recapture the city of Aleppo. Rebel forces took over several areas of Damascus in recent weeks, but the army has since regained control of the capital.” (
BBC, 6 August 2012)
“Then, on 18 July, as intense fighting broke out in various parts of Damascus, at least four senior officials were killed in what appeared to be an opposition attack – Daoud Rajha, the defence minister; Asef Shawkat, the deputy defence minister and Bashar’s brother-in-law; Hassan Turkmani, the assistant vice president; and Hisham Ikhtiar, the head of the national security bureau (a coordination structure devoid of any independent operational capability).” (
ICG, 1 August 2012, p. 1)
“The Syrian city of Aleppo has come under fresh bombardment, activists say, as the government attempts to retake districts seized by rebel fighters. Several areas of the city were reported to have come under attack, including strafing from helicopter gunships. The rebels say they have completely withdrawn from the embattled Salah al-Din district "in a tactical move". [...]
On Wednesday [8 August], Syria's state military launched a large operation to retake Aleppo from the rebel fighters, who overran some districts three weeks ago.” (
BBC, 9 August 2012)
“The United Nations has called an end to its military observer mission in Syria, days before its mandate expired. [...] The UN mission had been part of envoy Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan. But continued violence made the observers' mission increasingly difficult. [...] The 300-member UN Supervision Mission in Syria (Unsmis) was set up in April, initially under a 90-day mandate, to monitor a halt to violence and the implementation of Kofi Annan's plan. When the 90 days expired, its mandate was extended by a further 30 days in July, despite patrols coming to an end on 16 June because of the increasing bloodshed throughout Syria. The patrols had become increasingly risky, as monitors faced stone-throwing crowds and gunfire.” (
BBC, 16 August 2012)
“The overall situation in the Syrian Arab Republic continued to deteriorate during the reporting period, with the most intense fighting seen to date taking place in Aleppo. The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and elements of the armed opposition continued to engage in violent confrontation. The Government remained convinced that it would be able to succeed militarily against the opposition and refused to engage in any political dialogue or move forward with the promised implementation of the six-point plan unless the opposition lay down arms. The armed opposition was equally convinced that its military efforts would succeed in toppling the leadership of the country and refused to accept the Government’s preconditions for dialogue. Temporary, localized reductions in troop strengths were seen in some areas although, in others, the conflict intensified. Armed opposition elements launched offensives in Aleppo and Damascus, while government forces maintained their use of heavy weapons in and around population centres and significantly increased the use of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft in their operations.” (
UN General Assembly, 21 August 2012, p. 1)
“Syrian opposition activists say scores of bodies have been found in a town near the capital, Damascus, accusing government troops of a "massacre". Many of those killed in the town of Darayya were victims of execution-style killings, the activists said. [...]
The UK Foreign Office said it had opposition reports that "300 people, including women and children, were killed and that some were shot at close range". [Foreign Office minister Alistair] Burt added: "It would make [Saturday] the bloodiest day since the unrest in Syria began in March 2011, with over 400 killed across the country." The opposition Local Coordination Committees group put the death toll for Saturday at 440 across Syria. Another opposition group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says 320 people were killed in Darayya over five days, not on Saturday alone. The claims by the activists have not been independently verified because of restrictions placed on foreign media across Syria.” (
BBC, 26 August 2012)
“The Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria was set up by the UN Human Rights Council last year following an escalation of violence.
In August, the commission reported that systematic violations, including murder, torture and sexual violence, had been authorised at the highest levels of the Syrian government.
Opposition forces were also guilty of war crimes, it found, but not of the same gravity or on the same frequency or scale as those blamed on government forces.
It also concluded that government forces and pro-government militiamen had been behind the massacre of 108 people at Houla in May. [...]
[Lead investigator Paulo Sergio] Pinheiro also said there was an "increasing and alarming presence" of Islamist militants in Syria, some of whom were operating as part of the Free Syrian Army and others operating independently.” (
BBC, 17 September 2012)
“Amnesty International witnessed daily air bombardment, artillery and mortar strikes in towns and villages throughout the region. The deployment of such imprecise battlefield weapons and munitions against residential areas in recent weeks has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of civilian casualties.“ (
AI, 19 September 2012)
“Syria's city of Homs has been subjected to its most severe bombardment in five months, activists say. Aircraft and artillery targeted the neighbourhood of Khaldiya, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Activists also reported fierce clashes in the second city Aleppo, and government shelling in the capital Damascus, Hama and Idlib. Turkey has meanwhile reinforced its border following a deadly Syrian mortar strike on a Turkish town.” (
BBC, 5 October 2012)
“Mounting evidence shows that Syria’s air force is continuing to drop cluster bombs on towns across five governorates despite the Syrian army’s denial that it is using them, Human Rights Watch said today. Data compiled by Human Rights Watch shows an important increase in the use of cluster bombs in the past two weeks. The cluster bomb strikes are part of an intensifying air campaign by government forces on rebel-held areas that has included dropping high explosive, fragmentation, and even improvised “barrel” bombs into populated areas.” (
HRW, 23 October 2012)
SOURCES: (all links accessed at 21 December 2012)
· AFP - Agence France-Presse: Syria in 'fiercest' crackdown around capital: rights group, 19 October 2011 (published by ReliefWeb) [ID 203985]
http://reliefweb.int/node/453776
This featured topic was prepared after researching solely on ecoi.net and within time constraints. It is meant to offer an overview on an issue and is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status, asylum or other form of international protection. Every quotation comes from a document available on ecoi.net and is referred to via an ID-search.