Law enforcement in Syria

History

Police history in Syria dates back to the French Mandate, when colonial authorities established a Gendarmerie in order to maintain law and order in rural areas; it was poorly armed, disciplined and equipped and did not prove very effective against rebel forces, despite several attempts to ameliorate at least discipline and morale.

From 1940s to 1950s: Independence and development

During the second half of 1944, France transferred most of the directorates of the Common Interests to the national governments, except the Levantine Special Forces and the police. To both the Lebanese and the Syrians, and to the Syrians in particular, the transfer of the army and police was of utmost importance; after several months of tense confrontation with the Syrian and Lebanese establishment, by July 1945 France had agreed to transfer control of the Levantine Special Forces. As with the Levantine Special Forces, French officers held the top posts in the security establishment, but as Syrian independence approached, the ranks below major were gradually filled by Syrian officers. By the end of 1945, the gendarmerie numbered some 3,500.

At the dawn of the independent era of the Syrian Republic, of around 15,000 troops under French control, some 5,000 would be converted into the Syrian Army of one brigade with auxiliary services; equal number would be taken into the Gendarmerie; half of remaining third would be needed for police and frontier customs control; remainder would be pensioned off. Several British officers were detailed as “training team” to assist the Syrian Gendarmerie.

Since independence, Syria's police and internal security apparatus have undergone repeated reorganization and personnel changes, reflecting the security demands of each succeeding regime. In 1945, Armenian general Hrant Maloyan was appointed by president Shukri al-Quwatli as the General Command of the Internal Security Forces in Syria and served this position until 1949. Maloyan would eventually be known to modernize the Syrian police ranks and improve discipline; members of the Gendarmerie doubled to 9,751 members by the time his post finished in 1949. On the wake of 1946, the Gendarmerie was considered the only reliable and effective support of the Government; it was purged and successfully deployed to quell a revolt: in late 1940s, the national police force, grown out of the Gendarmerie, was deemed understaffed and poorly disciplined, with several cases of corruption among its ranks.

While continuing discipline-improving efforts, in 1948 the Gendarmerie was transferred from the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Defence. When Husni al-Za'im seized power in 1949, the director-general of police was Adib Shishakli, who in turn took the power in 1953.

Until early 1960s, the Syrian government sought the support also from former German officers for both the Army and the police forces. President of Syria Husni al-Za'im recruited German officers and police specialists. According to CIA records, two Nazi officials, Alois Brunner and Franz Rademacher, as soon as 1957 were granted asylum in Syria and advised Syrian police until the early next decade.

As of late 1950s, Syrian non-military internal security forces totalled about 5,000 personnel, including a National Gendarmérie of 2,800, a Desert Patrol of 400 and 1,800 uniformed police, under the authority of the Ministry of Interior. Both the gendarmérie and police were deployed in strategically important posts throughout the country. One desert patrol company was located in Central Syria and the other in Eastern Syria. The standard of training was deemed as being very low. In addition to the uniformed police, the police services included the Sûreté, a plain-clothes service of about 300 men. At the time, the United States Department of State deemed the non-military security forces to be unable to restrict the Communist action; nevertheless, due to the strength of political forces deemed as leftist (Communist and Ba'ath parties), the U.S. Department of State adopted a policy of avoiding to take actions aimed strengthen Syrian internal security forces.

1960s: United Arab Republic and Ba'ath coups

Under the United Arab Republic, Syrian Minister of Interior Colonel Abdel Hamid al-Sarraj regained control over Syrian gendarmerie and the desert patrol; the Gendarmerie, the Desert Patrol and the Department of General Security (under military control) and the police (under the Ministry of Interior) were merged in the overall organization, called Police and Security, on 13 March 1958; the organization was placed under al-Sarraj's Ministry of Interior. Syrian police higher post were taken over by Egyptians even if three of the four intelligence networks operating in Syria were under Syrian direction; the other was attached to the President’s Office in Cairo. In each Governorate, a Major General of Police was appointed to the influential position of Director of Security.

Back to the regained independence in 1961, Adnan Quwatli, a professor of Law linked to business community, was appointed Interior Minister; on 15 December 1961 Colonel Muhammad Hisham al-Samman was appointed Commander of Internal Security Forces, assisted by a Committee under his presidency and including the Directors-General of Police and Public Security and six provincial superintendents. The Kuzbari government pledeged to establish political liberties and to disestablish emergency laws; despite this, the civil police forces are believed to have been used extensively to combat internal security threats to the government, including pro-Nasserites Baathists and other secular socialists (opposed to the business-Islamist alliance), especially in the universities, which were subjected to several forms of control; also trade unions were harshly confronted by the police in 1962.

With the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, Amin al-Hafiz was appointed Ministry of Interior under Salah al-Bitar and Naji Jamil became the head of Military Police (until 1966), and in 1964 large-scale riots erupted in Hama, and in the late 1960s and early 1970s disturbances erupted over the secular constitution. With the Legislative Decree No. 67, issued on 24 March 1965, the police received the title of Internal Security Forces; according the law the ISF were part of the armed forces, linked to the Minister of Interior, and specialized business and the tasks entrusted to them according to the regulations in force. The law granted the same status of the Syrian Arab Army and his men to the Internal Security Forces.

In 1966, as a result of the Syrian Regional Ba’ath Party’s coup, Abd al-Karim al-Jundi assumed the leadership of the security apparatuses as head of the National Security Bureau of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region.

During the subsequent decades, however, police forces assumed a more conventional civil police role; this change in role coincided with increased professionalization and the parallel development of an effective and pervasive internal security apparatus. Nevertheless, the police continued to receive training in such functions as crowd and riot control.

From 1970s to 1980s: Islamist insurgency

During the relative political stability of the 1970s and 1980s, police and security services were credited with having grown and become professional; however, they remained highly secretive, and in 1987 only the bare outlines of their institutional makeup were known.

With the success of Hafez al-Assad'a Corrective Movement in November 1970, a partial reform of the law enforcement was carried out, with some crimes dealt with by the police instead of the Army; with the 1970s state building process, the local security chiefs gained more prominence, with the whole security apparatus being seen as the Regime «bedrock».

According to Alasdair Drysdale, the Hafiz al-Asad's rule was characterized by a marked increase of the Alawite presence in key posts in the officer corps, in the internal security forces and in the Ba'ath Party, possibly also due to the Islamist unrest. During the 1980s, the internal security apparatus was under the command of Rifaat al-Assad, brother of President Hafez al-Assad. During the unrest caused by the Muslim Brotherhood in 1976, the Internal Security Forces were heavily employed in the northern-central region, in Aleppo, Hama and Homs. During 1970s, Ali Haydar's Special Forces formed a key part of the Syrian government's security apparatus; they participated to the quelling of the Islamist uprising in Jisr al-Shughur in March 1980 and in Hama in February 1982.

In the 1980s a national police force was responsible for routine police duties, although it was confronted by the insurgents in the 1982 Islamist uprising in Syria and held isolated skirmishes in Aleppo and in Latakia. The police system incorporated the 8,000-man Gendarmerie, which had originally been organized by the French Mandate authorities to police rural areas. The civilian security police dealt with internal security matters. As of late 1980s, the internal security forces were given an high status: typically, provincial police chiefs are member of the relevant Ba'ath Party provincial command.

From 1990s to 2000s: Confrontation with Kurds and Islamists and reform of the security sector

Starting from the 1990s, the Syrian security sector underwent a series of reform, which were part, from mid-2000s, of a broader-range reform process. As of 2016, some 1993 estimates put the Gendarmerie as still being in force within the Internal Security Forces and being 8,000-men strong. In 1996 the Government of Syria reformed police and established the Anti-Narcotics Division. In 2002, Syria elevated the Anti-Narcotics unit from a branch to a separate Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior. The Economic Security Courts, established under the 1970 emergency laws and tasked with dealing with economic crimes, were disestablished in February 2004. In late 2000s, training programmes focusing on human rights were launched.

According to American professor Joshua Landis, the Internal Security Forces in mid-2000s altered their own ethnic/religious composition, under the guidance of then-Minister of Interior Ghazi Kanaan. This alteration was reportedly carried out in order to make the national police (subject to the law) reliable to step in dealing with national security issues, thus diminishing the extra-law Syrian intelligence community's role, as part of broader reforms of the same years. The decision reportedly caused criticism by Sunni Arab officials. Nevertheless, the police devoted to general duties was poorly equipped: according the United Kingdom Home Office, as of 2009 there were few police checkpoints on main roads or in populated areas.

In mid-2000s Syrian police was involved in operations against Islamist militants, across the decade. Also the Military Police was involved in confrontations against Islamist militants detained in Syrian prisons. During the same period the Syrian police confronted also against Kurds and dealt with Kurdish demonstrations; clashes and shoot-outs were a not so uncommon occurrence throughout the decade.

With regard to other law enforcement and security organizations, according to Jane‘s Assessment, cited by 2012 U.K. Country of Origin Information report, as of 2006 the number of border guards deployed was increased to about 10,000. On the international front, late 2000s were marked by an intensive cooperation with INTERPOL on terrorism issues.

2011 onwards: Syrian Civil War

At the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, the Syrian security apparatus appeared, to Middle East scholar Professor Joshua Landis, a cohesive group, without significant disertion problems; Syrian police was in charge of quelling demonstrations and they exercised violence against demonstrators; some sources claim that often the police violence was a reaction against violent opponents. According to government lists presented to and published by the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, in 2011 the death toll for Syrian police forces was 478. During the following phases of the Civil War, also regular police units were deployed on the front lines.

According to Fars News Agency, in 2016 Iranian police commander, Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari, said that Iran is ready to offer support in police training. Following the conquest of Aleppo by the Syrian Government, the Russian news agency Interfax reported that a Russian Military Police battalion arrived in Aleppo in order to support the law enforcement and to secure the peace commission, as well as, according to the pro-Russian Sputnik news agency, to train local personnel.

Following the deepening of the civil war, police forces have been established also by insurgent factions, as well as by Rojava Kurdish-held region and, on 24 January 2017, a Syrian security force was established by Turkey in Turkey-controlled Syrian border town Jarablus; a video reportedly showing ranks and files of armed men chanting Islamist and pro-Turkey slogans was released on YouTube.

Police system

According to the Ministry official website, its task are limited to the protection and enforcement of security. Alongside with other Directorates, the Ministry of Interior controls the Internal Security Forces, which are organized into four separate divisions of police forces under a Director General: Administrative Police, Traffic Police (whose official Day is on 4 May), Criminal Investigations, and Riot police, as well as a fanfare and the Khan al-Asal Police Academy. The Internal Security Forces are part of the Ministry of Interior but makes uses of military ranks.

At territorial level, the Syrian Police is organized into Police Provincial Commands, each led by a Major General, who is assisted by a Brigadier General acting as a deputy.

The police reportedly undergo military-type training. As for total manpower of the Syrian police, in 2011 reportedly were about 100,000 police plus reserves, while 2016 estimates put the total force of 28,000 personnel, and 8,000 to 9,000 injured soldiers. Syrian women are allowed to serve and to reach senior positions.

Specialist organizations

Aside of the general police, there are also other specialized organizations, such as the special metropolitan police in Damascus and the country's other major cities (overseen by the Director General of the Public Security and Police), the Gendarmerie for control in rural areas and the Desert Guard for border control (especially the Syrian-Iraqi border), up to 10,000-men strong. These latter two organizations have a military character.

The Anti-Narcotics Directorate has responsibility for anti-drug law enforcement and intelligence gathering. The anti-narcotics establishment was separated from the police in 2002.

Other elements of the internal security, albeit separated by the Internal Security Forces, are the Shabbiha and the People‘s Army.

Police equipment

Syrian equipment is an issue. According to Telegraph, which cites Wikileaks, the Syrian police was supplied with advanced radio communications equipment, including 500 hand-held VS3000 radios, by Finmeccanica as late as 2011. Syrian riot police appears to use typical riot equipment, such as riot helmets, shields and rubber batons. Other heavier equipment includes armoured personnel carriers, water cannons and tear gas.

According to pro-opposition website Zaman al-Wasl, in 2014 the Ministry of Interior received two Russian MI-171SH helicopters.

Police uniforms

Police uniforms vary according to the police branch which it is considered. Generally speaking, policemen assigned to security tasks wear the military olive green; since 2009, the Government has decided to change traffic policemen’s uniforms from military olive green to grey pants, a white shirt with yellow shoulder patches and black belt and shoes. As of 2011, Anti-terrorism police wore dark blue uniforms.

Issues

According to GlobalSecurity, police impunity and corruption are serious problems. In 2008 President Assad issued a law that mandates that only the General Command of the Army and Armed Forces may issue an arrest warrant in the case of a crime committed by a military officer, member of the internal security forces, or customs police officer in the pursuit of his normal duties, and that such cases must be tried in military courts. Arbitrary and false arrests are also problems, and detainees had no legal redress. According to the accusations, the authorities use the Emergency Law to detain persons critical of the government and charge them with a wide range of political crimes, including treason. Incommunicado detention was a severe problem. Many persons who disappeared were believed to be either in long-term detention without charge or possibly to have died while detained. Many detainees brought to trial were held incommunicado for years, and their trials were often marked by irregularities and lack of due process. A shortage of available courts and lack of legal provisions for a speedy trial or plea bargaining led to lengthy pretrial detentions.

According a 2005 Freedom House report, women are discouraged from presenting their claims in police stations, which are largely staffed by male police officers, for fear of experiencing discomfort or sexual harassment. According to the report, Syrian police officials are not sympathetic to women victims of violence.

A human rights police training program funded by the Swiss and Norwegian governments continued throughout 2008. The Geneva Institute for Human Rights, with support from the Ministand the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, began a third training course in October.

Torture accusations

The law prohibits such practices as torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, and the penal code provides punishment of a maximum imprisonment of three years for abusers. Under article 28 of the constitution, "no one may be tortured physically or mentally or treated in a humiliating manner." Nevertheless, security forces reportedly continued to use torture frequently. Local human rights organizations continued to cite numerous credible cases of security forces allegedly abusing and torturing prisoners and detainees and claimed that many instances of abuse went unreported. Individuals who suffered torture or beatings while detained refused to allow their names or details of their cases to be reported for fear of government reprisal.

Former prisoners, detainees, and reputable local human rights groups report that methods of torture and abuse included electrical shocks; pulling out fingernails; burning genitalia; forcing objects into the rectum; beatings while the victim is suspended from the ceiling and on the soles of the feet; alternately dousing victims with freezing water and beating them in extremely cold rooms; hyper-extending the spine; bending the body into the frame of a wheel and whipping exposed body parts; using a backward-bending chair to asphyxiate the victim or fracture the spine; and stripping prisoners naked for public view.

In previous years Amnesty International documented 38 types of torture and mistreatment used against detainees in the country. AI reported that torture was most likely to occur while detainees were held at one of the many detention centres operated by the various security services in the country, particularly while authorities attempted to extract a confession or information. Courts systematically used "confessions" extracted under duress as evidence, and defendants' claims of torture were almost never investigated.

Criminal procedure

Upon arrest, the individual is brought to a police station for processing and detained until a trial date is set. At the initial court hearing, which can be months or years after the arrest, the accused may retain an attorney at personal expense or be assigned a court-appointed attorney, although lawyers are not ensured access to their clients before trial. The individual is then tried in court, where a judge renders a verdict. Although the prison code provides for prompt access to family members, human rights organizations and families reported inconsistent application of the code, with some families waiting as long as a year to see relatives. Civil and criminal defendants had the right to bail hearings and possible release from detention on their own recognizance.

Military courts

Military courts have authority over cases involving soldiers or members of other military or police branches. If the charge against a soldier or member of the military or police branch is a misdemeanour, the sentence against the defendant is final. If the charge is a felony, the defendant has the right to appeal to the Military Chamber at the Court of Cassation. Military courts also have authority to try civilians in cases based on military law. Civilians have the right to appeal all sentences in military court. A military prosecutor decides the venue for a civilian defendant.

ISIS police

ISIS maintains a local police force in Aleppo and Raqqa governorates. According to Carl Anthony Wege, ISIS also seems to keep separate local police from religious police; the religious police has a mission of promoting virtue and preventing vice, called Hisbah and including a female unit. The Hisbah forces are organized at battalion-level under their own Emir.

Aside of Hisbah, al-Khansaa and Umm Rayhan brigades are internal security units maintaining their own morality police forces.

Ordinary police

The main official function of the ordinary police forces is to serve as the executive body for the court, but there are also road police services. Additionally, the police forces are tasked with maintaining internal security through the deployment of regular patrols inside towns. According to a well-known ISIS account, ISIS provides local police patrols with dedicated vehicles as well as branded khaki uniforms. According to Daily Mail, ISIS has branded black fatigues and painted police cars.

Despite ISIS claims that its officers “do not rule on any case, but rather transfer cases to the court,” the reality is that extrajudicial detainment and torture are commonplace in ISIS-held territory. According to a report released by Amnesty International in December 2013, ISIS maintains at least seven large detention facilities throughout Raqqa and Aleppo provinces.

Inside its detention centers ISIS holds common criminals who have been sentenced by its judicial branch, but it also detains political opponents, activists, and even children as young as eight years old. On April 28, 2014, an activist movement in Raqqa city publicized a protest by women demanding to know the fate of their male family members, who had been detained by ISIS for some time.

Kurdish police

The Asayîş or Asayish (Arabic: الأسايش‎‎, Kurdish for security) is the official security organisation of the autonomous administration in Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan). It was formed during the Syrian Civil War to police areas controlled by the Kurdish Supreme Committee.

Free Syrian Police

The Syrian National Coalition established in 2013 a Free Syrian Police in Aleppo. The FSP was said to be underequipped and underarmed; according to British foreign secretary Philip Hammond, the United Kingdom in 2014 worked with international donors to provide the Free Syrian Police training, technical assistance, maintenance funds, and basic equipment.

As of 2016, the Opposition factions have reportedly diminished the role of the Free Syrian Police in areas under their control; the Police has reportedly been limited to pursuing crimes and offences, directing traffic and other matters, excluding the Police from the security management.

Organization

According to pro-opposition sources, the label of "Free Syrian Police" does not imply an unified security organization; moreover, there is not an united judicial entity.

The rebel council directing police affairs which pro-opposition sources report is planned to be formed includes the chief for Aleppo police, a director of officers affairs, a director of inspections, regulation and administrative affairs, a director of immigration and crossings, a director of public relations and media and a representative for Idlib Governorate.

Turkey-backed "Free Police"

A Syrian security force was established by Turkey in Turkey-controlled Syrian border town Jarablus on 24 January 2017; a video reportedly showing ranks and files of armed men chanting Islamist and pro-Turkey slogans was released on YouTube. According to Reuters, the force is referred to as the "Free Police", in reference to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) alliance, and consists of 450 recruits, many of whose are former Syrian rebel fighters, who received five weeks of training in Turkey; reportedly, the force is intended to grow up to 5,000 men.

The Turkey-based security force consists of regular police and special forces; the commander is General Abd al-Razaq Aslan, a defector from the Syrian army. Security force members reportedly wear Turkish police uniforms decorated with the word "Polis" (Turkish for "Police") and Special Forces wear distinctive light blue berets. Some wore a Turkish flag patch on their uniforms at the inauguration ceremony on 24 January 2017. According to analytical website South Front, ranks and insignia are those of the Syrian Opposition.

According to Danielle Fife for the Center for Security Policy, the Turkey-backed "Free Police" is part of the Turkish efforts to counter the Kurdish expansionism.