Troops Occupy Damascus Suburbs
Army’s attempts to paralyse neighbourhoods reflects regime’s fear of protests spreading.
Troops Occupy Damascus Suburbs
Army’s attempts to paralyse neighbourhoods reflects regime’s fear of protests spreading.
As the Syrian army moves into more and more Damascus suburbs, Wissam Tarif, executive director of the Insan human rights organisation, looks at the regime’s strategy to control protest in the capital.
How far does the army’s control of the areas around Damascus now extend?
Nine suburbs of Damascus have now been occupied by the army and checkpoints set up to isolate them; we are receiving reports of many people being detained and of shooting being heard in the early hours of this morning, May 9, 2011. People are literally locked in their neighbourhoods and unable to travel to work or communicate with each other.
The suburbs are significant because it is the regime’s worst nightmare to see mass organised protest in Damascus. There have already been two attempts in the last few weeks when protesters from the suburbs travelled to Abasin Square in central Damascus.
The regime especially doesn’t want protests to reach the wealthiest neighbourhoods of Damascus – so far the protesters have come from the working and middle classes. The army’s actions here have gone beyond the symbolic – they are trying to prevent a big gathering, a huge demonstration being staged in a key area of the city to which people will travel. This would be incredibly damaging for them. But the suburbs are an integral part of the city so it’s hard to control and isolate them.
What tactics is the army using to gain control of the outlying areas of the capital?
The regime’s strategy is to enter a suburb, deploy soldiers to set up checkpoints, cut off communications – sometimes even the electricity supply – and make arrests, sometimes targeted, sometimes arbitrary. During the day, lists of wanted people are circulated at the checkpoints – the state has announced that all those who have been involved in protests should surrender before May 15. Many of those who have already been detained have been forced to sign a commitment promising not to engage in any more protest.
This strategy has a number of goals. First, they are managing to detain opposition figures and people who have been involved in dissent. These are community leaders, university students, people who have been photographing or videoing the demonstrations.
The tanks and soldiers that people are reporting in so many areas are also paralysing life in the suburbs, and the random raids that have been taking place are a tactic to spread fear.
This spreading of fear is important to them. In every area, people arbitrarily detained by the army have been tortured - severely beaten, had fingernails torn out, been stripped and humiliated and doused with cold water - and on their release instructed to share their experiences.
What do these latest moves say about the regime?
The regime is frightened. They say that the unrest is because of extremists, Salafist groups. But there aren’t any – so they have basically declared war on their own people.
People in Syria are now mocking this – you can hear it in the chants at protests. “No Salafis, no Muslim Brotherhood, we are Syrians and only Syrians,” they shout, or “united, united, united.”
The regime’s line is not being bought - neither inside nor outside the country. Yes, Syria is a Muslim country, and many places are very conservative. But they are not jihadis.
And people are becoming more and more angry and frustrated. People tell us they feel that they have been invaded, with troops entering their homes.
The government is managing to paralyse these neighbourhoods, and isolate other areas such as Dera’a. But the protests have been going on for eight weeks - how long can the army continue like this?
Daniella Peled is an IWPR editor in London.
