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Challenged, Syria Extends Crackdown on Dissent
New York Times,
USA, December 15, 2007
By Thanassis Cambanis
Syrian
authorities this week arrested more than 30 people who had
been working for political change, escalating a crackdown on
dissent just a week after critics elected a leadership
committee in an unusually direct and public challenge to
President Bashar al-Assad’s authority.
A majority of
those arrested were questioned and released, dissidents and
human rights advocates said. But three of the most outspoken
opposition leaders remained in custody on Thursday, and
others had been summoned for questioning.
Last month,
government security forces shut Facebook, the online host to
a vibrant if virtual debate on the president. On Sunday,
security agents began rounding up dozens of dissidents who
had been meeting to create a joint opposition front, acting
like a political party despite emergency laws that ban any
group not connected with the government and ruling Baath
Party.
The arrests
followed Syria’s participation in the Middle East peace
forum at Annapolis, Md., which was seen in the region as a
coup for Syria and a sign of a thaw in relations between Mr.
Assad and the White House.
Emboldened by a
sense that Syria’s tough anti-American policies have paid
dividends, human rights advocates say, the authorities have
turned to closing the last channels of public debate.
"This goes back
to what we’ve always seen as a problem, that the opening
with the West has never been contingent on Syria improving
its human rights records," Nadim Houry, who tracks Syria for
Human Rights Watch, said. "It’s contingent on Syria
cooperating on Lebanon, Iraq and the peace process."
Dissidents and
human rights advocates contend that the fact that
intellectuals with no political organization, and with many
leaders who are frail or in jail, still pose a threat is a
sign that the government is weak.
Akram Bunni, a
newspaper columnist and brother of an imprisoned human
rights lawyer, was detained Tuesday; he still writes in Arab
papers of the "moral bankruptcy" of Mr. Assad’s rule.
"They’re
concerned about public opinion," he said. "They don’t want
anyone, internationally or internally, to see that there are
public figures who might be an alternative to the regime."
Dissidents say
the crackdown is, paradoxically, a sign of strength and of
weakness — the government has consolidated enough internal
power to re-establish "red lines" limiting public criticism
of its absolute leader.
Mr. Assad
briefly allowed free expression and civil society activity
when he assumed the presidency after the death of his
father, Hafez al-Assad, in 2000. But he has gradually
tightened control over the small political class, with
arrests and new rules. In the past year, security services
have arrested not only seasoned political advocates but also
people who posted comments deemed subversive on Web sites.
Still,
dissidents challenge the government, disobeying a ban on
public meetings.
On Dec. 1, Riad
Seif, a former businessman and member of Parliament and now
an opposition spokesman, held a meeting with more than 160
advocates who had signed the Damascus declaration in 2005,
calling on the state to lift emergency laws and allow free
speech and political organization, Syrian rights advocates
said.
In a challenge
to the government, which prohibits independent political
parties, the dissidents formed the National Council,
electing a president and leadership committee. The group
includes Communists, Islamists, former Baathists and Kurds.
Younger dissidents schooled on the Internet have also spoken
out, mostly on opposition Web sites and on Facebook groups.
Some have ended up in prison, and others, like Ahed al-Hendi
and Muhammad al-Abdallah, have fled to Beirut. "They are
afraid because people online meet together, share ideas,
criticize the regime," said Mr. Hendi, 23, who was held for
a month after posting critical reports. "They are strong on
one hand, but on another they are so weak they are afraid of
an Internet cafe."
Despite
contentions that the crackdown stems from insecurity, some
Syrian analysts and diplomats say the Assad rule has staved
off several crises and now feels strong enough to restore
limits that once cowed critics.
"States around
us are collapsing and there’s a high perception of danger,
but Syria is deterring the dangers," an analyst who spoke on
the condition of anonymity for fear of government
harassment, said. "The opposition doesn’t pose a threat." |
