Amnesty International reports that the Syrian army has detained hundreds of Lebanese citizens and Palestinians in detention centres in Lebanon, or transported them to Syria for imprisonment. [ Amnesty International, Syria: Torture by the Security Forces, (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1987), attached.] Some of the people arrested were from the north (e.g. Tripoli), but were transferred to Anjar in the Bekaa valley before being sent to Damascus for detention. [ Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1988, p. 253.] Amnesty International is also concerned about the "widespread arbitrary arrests, disappearances, ...torture and deliberate killings of civilians by Syrian forces in (Syria and) Lebanon." [ Report 1988, p. 254.] The Shi'ite militia, Amal, reportedly hands its prisoners over to the Syrian forces for detention in Syria. [ Report 1988, p. 245.]

The Syrian government maintains that the Syrian Army has been in Lebanon since 1976 in the capacity of a peacekeeping force. The Army does, however, support client Muslim militias, some of which are located in Tripoli. The Arab Democratic Party, an Alawite group based in Tripoli, is one such group which is strongly backed by the Syrian army.

The Arab Democratic Party (ADP) [al-Hizb al-'Arabi al-Dimuqrati] is a pro-Syrian Alawite party with an armed wing called the Arab Red Knights. In the early 1980s, the Arab Democratic Party was reportedly financed by Col. Assad, the brother of President Hafez al Assad of Syria. [ Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume XXIX, May 1983, p. 32164.] According to more recent reports, the ADP is still supported by Syria.

Sporadic fighting in Tripoli between the Alawite ADP forces and anti-Syrian Sunni Moslem groups has continued throughout the 1980s. Open conflict between the ADP and anti-Syrian Sunni groups broke out in the streets of Tripoli in 1981-82, largely in response to the conflict in Syria between the Sunni majority and the Alawites who constitute the ruling elite. [ Keesing's Record of World Events, (Essex: Longman Group), Volume XXIX, January 1983, p. 31920.] Renewed armed confrontations in Tripoli in December 1982 between the ADP and an anti-Syrian alliance of Palestinians and Sunni Moslems associated with the "October 24" Movement resulted in the reported deaths of about 166 people. [ Ibid.] An additional 20,000 people allegedly abandoned their homes. A ceasefire arranged on 8 January 1983 by President Assad (Syria) and the Lebanese Prime Minister, Mr. Chafiq al-Wazzan, and the deployment of the Internal Security Force on 10 January temporarily reduced tensions between the two groups. [ Ibid.]

In July and early August of 1984, 26 people were reported to have died in clashes between the Tawheed militia of the Islamic Unification Movement (IUM) and the "Red Knights" of the ADP. [ Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume XXXI, January 1985, p. 33366.] Tawheed was reinforced by two other anti-Alawite groups (Islamic Committee and Mosques Committee) in late August, and up to 100 more people were reported dead and an additional 300 injured. A peace accord between the IUM and the ADP was signed 18 September 1984. [ Ibid., p. 33367.]

In October 1984, the Arab Democratic Party joined a new political opposition alliance called the National Democratic Front. Other members included the Druse PSP, the Arab Socialist Union, the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), the Baath Party, and the Syrian National Socialist Party (SNSP). [ Ibid. p. 33369.]

Sporadic fighting occurred throughout 1985, despite the ceasefire agreement, and from mid-September until mid-October of 1985, heavy fighting between Tawheed forces and the Red Knights reportedly devastated much of the centre of Tripoli. [ Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume XXXII, January 1986, p.34130-31.] A leader of the Arab Democratic Party, Mr. Nassib al-Khatib, was shot in Bekaa in May 1986. [ Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume XXXII, August 1986, p. 34586.] Later in the year, Tawheed was defeated by combined forces of the Arab Red Knights, the SNSP, the LCP, and the Baath Party. [ Henry Degenhardt, ed, Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, (Essex: Longman, 1988), p. 221.] Amnesty International reports that the Arab Democratic Party arrested numerous people in the north of Lebanon in the mid-1980s, and subsequently gave these detainees over to the Syrian forces. [ Amnesty International, Syria: Torture by security forces, (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1987), p. 26.]

Amnesty International received reports that over 200 people had been killed by Syrian troops or Syrian-backed militias in Tripoli during the third week of December 1986. [ Amnesty International, Report 1987, (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1987), p. 373.] Please see the attached Amnesty International reports covering the time period.

A new pro-Syrian alliance of Lebanese militias was formed 22 July 1987. The Unification and Liberation Front (ULF) included the Druse Progressive Socialist Party, the Nasserite Popular Organization, the Lebanese Communist Party, the Baath Party, the Arab Democratic Party, and some independents. The ULF's aims include political reform and the end of sectarian divisions. [ Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume XXXIV, January 1988, p. 35671.]

No information on forcible recruitment of civilian informants by the Syrian Army is presently available to the IRBDC. Numerous Amnesty International reports discuss the use of torture by the Syrian Security forces, which would, presumably, lead to the forcible extraction of information. Please refer to attached excerpts from Syria: Torture by the Security Forces.
Please see the attached information:
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Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume XXXII, January 1986, pp. 34130-133.
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Amnesty International, Syria: Torture by the Security Forces, London: Amnesty International Publications, October 1987.
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Amnesty International Report 1987, 1986, London: Amnesty International Publications.
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The Europa Year Book 1988, London: Europa Publications, 1988.
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Amnesty International, "Detainees Tortured by Security forces", Canadian Bulletin, March 1987.