- Austrian Red Cross
- Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD)
- Wiedner Hauptstraße 32, 1041 Wien
- T +43 1 589 00 583
- F +43 1 589 00 589
- info@ecoi.net
Document #1349999
ACCORD – Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (Author)
In response to your above request we may provide you with the following information:
In its Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004, the US Department of State (USDOS) reports that the Ba’th Party is the ruling party in Syria and that political opposition is suppressed:
“Political opposition to the President and the ruling Ba’th Party was vigorously suppressed. The Constitution provides that the Ba’th Party is the ruling party and is ensured a majority in all government and popular associations, such as workers’ and women’s groups. The Ba’th Party and eight other smaller political parties comprise the National Progressive Front (NPF), originally established in 1971. The NPF represented the only framework for legal politicalparty participation for citizens; however, it remains dominated by the Ba’th Party and does not change the one-party character of the political system. Besides the Ba’th, the other political parties of the NPF existed largely in name only and conformed strictly to Ba’thParty and government policies. In April 2003, the Arab Democratic Union joined the NPF, making it a nine-party organization. The Ba’th Party dominated the 250-member Parliament, or People’s Council. Parliamentarians could criticize policies and modify draft laws; however, the executive branch retained ultimate control over the legislative process. Elections for all 250 seats in the People’s Council took place in March 2003. The election could not be characterized as free and fair because the majority of the seats in Parliament were reserved for members of the ruling NPF, ensuring a permanent absolute majority for the Ba’thParty as guaranteed by the Constitution. The Government allowed independent non-NPF candidates to run for just 83 seats, and it approved all candidates for 4-year terms.” (USDOS, 28 February 2005, Section 3)
The Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) states in its Annual Report On Human Rights Situation in Syria in June 2005 that Article 8 of the constitution limits the right of leadership in the state and society to the Ba’ath Party:
“The Syrian Constitution comprises numerous articles that strip the Syrian people of their rights. Article 8 of this Constitution limits the right of leadership in the state and society to the Ba’ath Party, while it divests the general Syrian public of their rights. All articles dealing with the presidency of the republic and the high courts are prepared for the dedication of dictatorship and despotism. Article 153 breaches the foundation of the Constitution by permitting the existence and implementation of the exceptional laws (e.g. the state of emergency) that were valid prior to the ratification of the Constitution until its termination. The Article was not cancelled despite the passing of 32 years since the ratification of the Constitution. Hence, the Syrian Constitution of 1973 dedicates the dictatorship of a group that controls the reigns of power in Syria.” (SHRC, June 2005, p. 7)
In an article published in the Asia Time in June 2005 the political scientist Sami Moubayed states that the outcome of the last conference of the Ba’ath Party was that Article 8 of the constitution, which says that the Ba’ath Party is the ruling party of state and society, will not be touched:
“This was Assad’s message: the Ba’ath Party is still strong and still in control of Syria. It still has a lot to give, the assembled Ba’athists were told. It has been in power for 43 years, and plans to stay around for a whole lot longer, although a limited form of multi-party participation in the political process will be introduced. [...] The Syrian capital had been living off rumors for the past three months about the promised reforms of the Ba’athist conference. Among other things, there was talk about a multi-party system, a pardon for political exiles, a lifting of martial law, and an abolishment of Law 49, which says that membership in the Muslim Brotherhood, outlawed since 1963, is a capital offense punishable by death. More than anything else, Syrians speculated that Article 8 of the constitution, which says that the Ba’ath Party is the ruling party of state and society, was going to be abolished. The conference outcome, declared on Thursday, brings this speculation to a grinding halt. One thing was made clear: Article 8 will not be touched.” (Asia Times, 11 June 2005)
In another article published in the Asia Time in April 2005 the political scientist Sami Moubayed describes the development of the party system in Syria from a one-party state to a system with a parliamentary party coalition united under the National Progressive Front (NPF) headed by the Ba’ath party:
“On March 8, 1963, the Military Committee of the Ba’ath Party came to power in Syria, pledging to restore the Syrian-Egyptian Union of 1958. All parties that had supported the post-union order were outlawed, creating a one-party state in Syria, headed by the Ba’ath, modeled after Gamal Abd al-Nasser’s Egypt since 1952. The offices of the Communist Party, the Syrian Social Cooperative Party, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab Liberation Movement, the National Party and the People’s Party were all shut down, and their newspapers were banned. Already on the blacklist of political parties in Syria since 1955 was the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP). Over the years, as the founders and members of these political parties died, either in exile, jail or political retirement, the parties evaporated from the consciousness of the four generations that emerged in Syria. The only exceptions were the Muslim Brotherhood and the SSNP, which although banned (for different reasons) remained popular, and the Communist Party, which decided to cooperate with the Ba’athists after 1970 to avoid the fate of other parties in Syria.
The 1974 party law, which laid ground for the National Progressive Front (NPF), a parliamentary coalition headed by the Ba’ath, allowed more parties to emerge, yet conditioned that they had to be from the socialist orbit. President Hafez Assad ended the one-party system, conditioning, however, that new parties be socialist ones, and allowed the creation of other socialist parties such as the Arab Unionist Party, the Democratic Socialist Party and the Unity Socialist Party.
The NPF monopolized power in the hands of the socialists, who functioned under the umbrella of the Ba’ath. Apart from the Ba’ath, which has nearly 2 million members, these parties have no power base throughout Syria. In 2000, independent figures tried to re-establish the National Party of Damascus and the People’s Party of Aleppo, but for a variety of reasons the projects never materialized. The SSNP reactivated itself in public life, and so did the Communist Party in 2001, by republishing its two political weeklies, outlawed since 1958, al-Nour (The Light) and Sawt al-Shaab (Voice of the People). In February 2001, vice president Abd al-Halim Khaddam reportedly promised Riyad Sayf, the Damascus deputy in parliament, a new party law for Syria.” (Asia Times, 26 April 2005)
Naserea may be a phonetical variation of the Arabic term “Naseriya” which means “Nasserite” or “Nasserian” and refers to the former Egyptian leader Jamal Abd-al-Nasser.
Al-Ahram mentions in summer 2004 that there are Nasserist groups in Arab countries including Syria:
“[...] Several Arab Nasserists from Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Yemen and Sudan were in attendance. According to Hegazi, the document suggested ways of unifying the different Egyptian and Arab Nasserist groups. It also outlined a Nasserist stance towards current Arab events.” (Al-Ahram, 29 July - 4 August 2004)
The Week magazine states in October 2005 that the Nasserists have no popular following in Syria:
“If Assad is toppled, who will replace him? Syria’s various opposition factions—“communists, Nasserists, Baathists, and other Arab nationalists of all stripes”—have no popular following.” (The Week, 28 October 2005)
In the earlier mentioned article published in the Asia Time in April 2005 the political scientist Sami Moubayed calls the Coalition for Union and Democracy a “Nasserite organization” and the Arab Socialist Union “pro-Nasser”.
“Other parties expected to emerge are the Coalition for Union and Democracy, a Nasserite organization, and the Arab Socialist Union of Jamal al-Atasi, a party that is Arab nationalist in outlook, pro-Nasser, relatively popular in Syria, which deviated from NPF ranks for ideological reasons in the 1970s.” (Asia Times, 26 April 2005)
The online encyclopedia Wikipedia gives the following information on the Arab Socialist Union in Syria:
“The Arab Socialist Union (al-Ittihad al-Ishtiraki al-’Arabi) is a Nasserist political party in Syria. ASU is led by Safwan al-Qudsi. The party was formed in 1973, following a split form the original ASU. The party was at the last legislative elections, 2 March 2003, part of the National Progressive Front (Al-Jabha al-Wataniyyah at-Wahdwamiyyah), that was awarded 167 out of 250 seats. ASU won seven seats in the parliament. The NPF is led by the Socialist Arab Rebirth Party, and today ASU has little independent existance.” (Wikipedia, Arab Socialist Union (Syria), no date)
Wikipedia also provides information on the foundation of the Arab Socialist Union by Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt in 1962:
“The Arab Socialist Union [...] is one of a number of loosely related political parties based on the principles of Nasserist Arab socialism in a number of countries. [...]
Egypt: The Arab Socialist Union was founded in Egypt in December 1962 by Gamal Abdel Nasser as the country’s sole political party. The ASU grew out of his Free Officers Movement. The party’s formation was just one part in Nasser’s National Charter. The Charter set out an agenda of nationalisation, agrarian reform and constitutional reform, which formed the basis of ASU policy. [...] Then, in 1976, the beginning of political pluralism allowed three political platforms — left, centre and right — to form within the Arab Socialist Union. In 1978, the platforms were allowed to become fully independent political parties, and the ASU was disbanded. Many of today’s political parties in Egypt have their origin in the breakup of the ASU.
Syria: Arab socialism in Syria has its origins in the Arab Socialist Party. This party grew out of Syria’s Hizb al-Shabab (Youth Party). In 1950, Akram al-Hawrani took over leadership of the party and changed its name to the Arab Socialist Party. After intial successes, the ASU was banned by Syria’s de facto leader, Adib ash-Shishakli, in 1952, being considered by him a too powerful political rival. Akram went into exile in Lebanon, and there agreed on a merger with the Arab Ba’th Party. The new party was the Ba’ath Party. In 1959, a Ba’th Party conference voted for a merger into the Arab Socialist Union within the United Arab Republic. However, dissent over union grew, and another conference, a year later, revesed the decision. This led to the fragmentation into a Nasserist pan-Arab ASU faction and the more nationalist Ba’th faction. In 1973, the Syrian branch of the international ASU, broke away to form the Arab Socialist Union (Syria) as part of the National Progressive Front (Al-Jabha al-Wataniyyah at-Taqaddumiyyah), distancing itself from Anwar Sadat’s policies in Egypt, on orders of the government of Hafez al-Assad. Todays Syrian ASU, which has little independent existence, is led by Safwan al-Qudsi. In the last legislative elections, March 2, 2003, the NPF bloc was awarded 167 out of 250 seats in the parliament (majlis ash-sha’b), and of these seven belonged to the ASU.” (Wikipedia, Arab Socialist Union, no date)
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the ACCORD within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References:
ecoi.net is run by the Austrian Red Cross (department ACCORD) in cooperation with Informationsverbund Asyl & Migration. ecoi.net is funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Austrian Ministry of the Interior and Caritas Austria. ecoi.net is supported by ECRE & UNHCR.
