SYRIA: Crackdown on left and democratic movements
THE striking contrast between the treatment meted out by the imperialist powers, headed by the United States, to the twin
Baathist dictatorships of Syria and Iraq expresses the hypocrisy of George Bush and co. more eloquently than any long-drawn out argumentation.
SALAH JABER F OR having been on the "right side" in the Gulf War Hafez ElAssad's regime is now considered an acceptable or even a very useful partner by the same people who have been boiling with fake indignation over the Iraqi regime's repressive exploits. However, the Syrian Baathist tyranny has no lessons to learn from its "fraternal enemy" in Iraq when it comes to repression.
Martial law has been in force in Syria for 29 years without interruption. It was introduced when the Baathist regime came to power in 1963 and has never been revoked. The Syrian involvement in the Washington orchestrated "peace conference" does not mean an end to the state of war inflicted on the Syrian population.
Human rights are an unknown concept for the Baathist dictatorship. Anybody may find themselves from one day to the next arrested, tortured and imprisoned indefinitely without any trial. Some have been in this situation for over 20 years. The score is impressive. There are nearly 10,000 political prisoners ranging from Islamic fundamentalists to the revolutionary far left, represented by the Communist Action Party, taking in various nationalist and Communist opponents of the regime along the way.
Each year there are new, often completely arbitrary, arrests. Some are released after brutal interrogation; in 1991 four political prisoners died under torture.
Last December, however, the Syrian Interior Ministry announced a big wave of releases, involving more than 3,000 people. This aroused great hopes of an eventual "liberalization" of the regime, inspired by events in Eastern Europe and the USSR and by the desire to gain new respectability in the framework of the new world situation.
In fact, it seems that only 1,000 prisoners were released, many of whom had been held for a decade. The expected "liberalization" stopped there, to be followed by a new wave of arrests, as if the regime was only making space in the prisons for newcomers. The majority of those freed, furthermore, are Muslim Brothers, probably released as a concession to Saudi Arabia - the main provider of funds for the Baathist dictatorship -and former supporters of the Iraqi Baath Party of Saddam Hussein, who were probably considered to have abandoned their allegiance.
Hardly had 1992 started when the Syrian regime launched a new and particularly fierce repressive offensive. This time the first to be affected were Syria's Committees for the Defence of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights (CDF). Six CDF militants were arrested and tortured. One of them, Mr. Aktham Nuaisseh, a lawyer, has had to be transferred to hospital where he remains in a serious condition (the French address of the CDF is 27, rue des Quatre Moulins, 27400, Louviers, France).
On February 1 one of Syria's 15 intelligence services (probably a world record) arrested two of the main leaders of the Syrian Party of Communist Action, Abdul Aziz Al-Khayer, a doctor, and Bahjat Shaabu, a former medical student, in the streets of Damascus.
These two militants had been underground for a long time and were being actively sought by the regime's police forces. The companion of the former had recently been released after five years in detention as a hostage. Other CAP militants have also been arrested.
These comrades kept the Party's work going in conditions demanding heroism - internal activities, including the uninterrupted publication of a discussion bulletin and public activities with the (irregular) appearance of the CAP's journal Al-Raya Al-Hamra ("The Red Flag"). They are today being subjected to ferocious torture, with the aim of dismantling that part of the party's apparatus still at liberty. Other militants have already taken their place. They are asking for our support.
International Viewpoint is launching an international solidarity campaign with political prisoners from Syria's democratic and leftist movements, and in particular with the comrades of the CAP.* 5
IRAQ friend". One example of the results of this approach was seen in the agreement between Iran and Iraq in 1975. At that time, the Kurdish leaders in Iraq completely relied on the support of Iran and their movement was crushed.
"They cannot build on the mass movement, because they are so afraid it will get out of their hands. So all the time since their return they have been trying to keep the mass movement back and instead buy themselves support among the leadership of the asses. That is also why they started negotiating with Saddam, as soon as they discovered that the
USA and its allies did not support them.
"You might say that Saddam and the Kurdish leaders are equally weak and therefore have a mutual interest in negotiations. Both parties have an interest in gaining time, in order to rebuild their positions of strength."
Spring there would
Last have been big possibilities of uniting the Kurdish rebellion with the rebellion in the south,
Saman states.
"Here in the West, you say that the rebellion in the south was made by Shi'ite Muslims.
That is not the most important aspect. It was as the army retreated from the defeat in
Kuwait that the rebellion started. When the soldiers entered
Basra, it is said that an officer drove his tank straight into the statue of Saddam, yelling 'for how long will you stay such cowards? Wake up!'
"During my stay in August, it was said that hundreds of thousands of civilians were still surrounded by Saddam's troops in the south. It was a real massacre. It was said that Saddam's army had killed more civilians as the rebellions were crushed than the Western alliance had killed during the war itself.
"Nor was it made known here that there were rebellions in Baghdad itself.
There was an uprising in the proletarian suburb 'Saddam City". The government responded with artillery in the capital itself."
While Saman was staying in Kurdistan, most of the refugees were returning.
There were UN refugee camps lining the roads all the way from the Turkish border. Later this autumn there has been another wave of returners.
At that time there was still enough food in Kurdistan. The borders to Iraq and
Turkey were open so as to allow transport of food into the country.
"Everything existed on the black market. But of course there was hyperinflation. The monthly salary of a white collar worker only allowed you to buy
6 ten kilos of mean.
Since that time, the Iraqi government has introduced an economic blockade of Kurdistan and according to the most recent reports there is as much misery in the north as in the rest of Iraq.
"People were longing for some kind of decisive move. Many said: "either the negotiations must give some result, or there will be another war
"Did those you met support the leaderships of the Kurdish organizations?"
"Quite honestly, yes, most of them did, in the absence of alternatives, though I also met those, especially among the intellectuals, who were critical of the whole leadership."
In the autumn, the negotiations reached a dead-end. Saddam has presented a proposal for limited autonomy. But the most important city, Kirkuk, centre of the oil district, would still remain Iraqi. Also the Kurdish demand for the establishment of their own legal system has not been accepted. The country is to continue to have a common police, armed forces and budget, with certain exceptions.
Barzani's KDP has shown itself more inclined to accept the offer, whereas Talabani has said no. Saman ascribes this among other things to the recent diplomatic contacts between Kurdish leaders and the government of Turkey. Turkey had made some promises of Kurdish autonomy within the framework of the Turkish state. "If Talabani and the PUK believe they can get the support of Turkey, they will consequently be less interested in compromises."
Saman is pessimistic, but does not exclude the Kurds launching a new rebellion.
International Viewpoint #222 • February 17, 1992
"The people I met in the liberated areas are prepared. Everyone knows how weak the government army is. There are more than one hundred thousand Kurdish armed men in the mountains and they control some of the most modern military structures in Iraq."
A few days after the interview, just before Christmas, this picture was confirmed by a press interview given by Talabani. He called for the Kurds to prepare themselves for a new war against Saddam.
"Also, my friends from the south told me of growing discontent. A relative in
Baghdad died from a simple burn injury, afer the family had tried in vain for a week to find a place in any hospital in the city. There is a lack of food and medicine.
"There are reports of continued against the demonstrations regime even in the south of Iraq.
Even the generals are discontented with Saddam. In August the fourth coup attempt since the war was made."
In conclusion, Saman sees big discontent all over the country, even if the strongest organized resistance is limited to Kurdistan. At the same time he talks about profound disappointment.
"The USA called for the people to rise. Then they stood watching as the government planes acted like savages in the south. Representatives of the resistance in the south went to the headquarters of the US alliance in southern Iraq, asking for food. They got nothing. That is the real extent of Western concern for human rights.
"I have more and more come to believe that the USA led Saddam into invading Kuwait. Later they stopped the war, just as they saw that
Saddam's regime was threatened. They fear even a 'half democratic' Iraq. How would that affect the dictatorship in Saudi
Arabia or in Kuwait?"
Most Arabs from southern Iraq that
Saman talked to said that they did not support Saddam in the war.
"They thought he was an idiot to drag the country to war. they wanted to get rid of him.
"Now they are suffering from the sanctions and at the same time can't help noticing that the USA has decided to keep Saddam."
• It is sometimes said that the sanctions are driving Iraqi people into the arms of Saddam against outside threats.
"I do not think so. Nobody supports
Saddam. He started the war. The country is destroyed. However, sanctions are likely to produce anti-imperialist feelings or a general anti-Western mood. *