Mr. Assad, take down our wall
By Ammar Abdulhamid
Special to The Daily Star
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
On May 24, at around 6:00 am, the Syrian authorities arrested all eight
members of the board of directors of the Jamal Atasi Forum for
Democratic Dialogue in Syria. The forum was the only tolerated
independent political forum left in the country, and the only one to
survive the earlier crackdown on political dissent that the regime
organized in 2001, putting an end to the so-called "Damascus spring."
The arrests came as the Syrian leadership prepares for a Baath Party
congress scheduled to start on June 6. They were apparently intended as
a way for President Bashar Assad and other top officials to strengthen
their positions vis-a-vis their hard-line critics within the regime.
The move also reflected the current split within the regime with regard
to how to deal with the country's revived Islamist currents. Although
the Atasi Forum is primarily a secular grouping, at a recent session
participants were read a letter from the exiled head of the Syrian
branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, Ali Sadreddin Bayanuni. The
Brotherhood has been outlawed since the 1980s. Earlier, the security
services had arrested Ali Abdullah, the dissident who read Bayanuni's
letter, as well as Mohammad Raadoun, a Syrian lawyer and human rights
activist. Raadoun had warned Syrian exiles to receive clear guarantees
for their safety before accepting the government's recent call to return
home. His warning came against a backdrop of recent arrests by the
security forces of Islamist exiles who returned thinking they would be
safe.
The arrests reflect decisions taken at the highest levels of power in
Syria and cannot be ignored. Baath leaders, it is now clear, will brook
no challenge to their leading position in the country and are willing to
revert to old hard-line tactics to prevent this. Indeed, the recent
arrests were all made under the authority of Law 49, which makes
membership of the Muslim Brotherhood a capital offense, as it does
entering into contact with the organization. The arrests, therefore,
were far from being symbolic or benign. They merit serious reflection on
the part of Syrian dissidents, opposition figures and interested
international observers and parties.
If the arrests are ignored, even if only for the few days now separating
us from the Baath Party congress, the Syrian regime will feel emboldened
to crack down further on its adversaries in the near future. It will
also more readily attempt to impose on the rest of the country whatever
half-baked "reform package" it intends to agree to at the congress.
For this reason, the arrests should not be ignored or dismissed as
something episodic. Rather they are symptomatic of what is wrong in
general with Syria and its present regime. The idea of seriously
expanding the sphere of participation in the country's decision-making
process is not something the current leaders are willing to deliver.
Their hold on power is not something they are willing to see weakened or
seriously readjusted. The "reforms" they are willing to engage in are
merely designed to reaffirm their authoritarian hold on power. The
"freedoms" Syrians enjoy will invariably depend on the whims of the
regime and on its own particular interpretation of what is "suitable"
for the flock.
Such a situation is intolerable. Over the years, the regime has become
increasingly cut off from reality. Members of the political and military
elite do not have what it takes to run a modern state, deal with the
modern world, and introduce genuine political, economic and social
reforms that the country needs in order to meet its increasing
developmental challenges. Indeed, the regime has insisted on
monopolizing the decision-making process, exiling Syrians to
participatory oblivion.
Considering the current scheme of things, Syria's leaders are more
likely to transform the country, so rich yet in natural and demographic
resources, into another failed state - not unlike Sudan, or even
Somalia. As such, for the sake of Syria's future and that of its 17
million people, Syrians must take a bold and united stand in the face of
the increasingly authoritarian predilections of the Assad regime.
Rather than attempt to appease the leadership in Damascus, the
international community should seek to isolate it even further, while
maintaining contacts and cooperation with Syrian dissidents and
opposition groups. It should be made clear to the Syrian regime that if
it seeks a way out of its current predicament, the only way to do so is
by satisfying the basic demands of the opposition for justice and the
right to participate actively in all aspects of public life.
The month of June, largely because of the Baath congress, should be a
make-or-break month for the Assad regime. If it seeks to survive, now is
the moment for it to demonstrate its viability by loosening its grip on
society.
|
