Syria in the Nation's Capital

Sanctions Violation Settlements: This week, The Department of the Treasury reached a legal settlement with a French bank for $8.5 million over 127 violations of U.S. sanctions on Syria between August 2011 and April 2013. The majority of the violations were conducted through a U.S. bank. The transactions totaled over $2 billion. Treasury also reached a legal settlement with a Saudi Arabian bank that had violated U.S. sanctions against Syria. National Commercial Bank (NCB) has agreed to pay a $653,000 penalty for eight violations that took place between November 2011 and August 2014. The Office of Foreign Asset Control disclosed the violations were voluntarily shared with U.S. investigators who concluded NCB did not act with willful intent to violate U.S. sanctions law or act with reckless disregard for U.S. sanctions obligations.

Terrorism Sanctions Report: The latest report to Congress from the Department of the Treasury on sanctions enforcement against Syria showed an uptick in the number of funds blocked. According to the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), the U.S. in 2019 was responsible for holding back just over $36 million in four blocked properties under a series of executive orders going back to 2011. The report noted Syria has not shown an interest in these assets. OFAC estimated the properties to be worth $35 million in 2018. 

Terrorism Financing: Before the close of the 116th Congress, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) introduced legislation (HR 9043) aimed at providing more transparency when U.S.-designated terrorist groups use social media platforms for fundraising purposes. The bill would require social media companies to perform regular disclosures of groups designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) that are using their platforms to solicit funding. Another provision in the measure would establish financial and criminal penalties for any social media company that knowingly permits accounts tied to FTOs to solicit support and resources on its platform.

Syria at the UN and Abroad

Rayburn Region Meetings: U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Joel Rayburn traveled to the Middle East to hold meetings with government officials and civil society groups in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. The purpose of the trip is to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to work with international partners on the economic and political pressure campaign against the Assad regime and its enablers. 

UN Official Opposes Caesar Act: An academic with preconceived views on the use of unilateral sanctions called on the U.S. to lift its economic pressure on Syria. Alena Douhan, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the negative impacts of unilateral coercive measures on human rights, highlighted ending the enforcement of the Caesar Act (P.L. 116-92), which she viewed as a violation of Syrian human rights to housing, health, and adequate living. In a statement, U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Joel Rayburn categorically denied these assertions, pointing out that U.S. sanctions do not target humanitarian assistance. The Syrian Opposition Coalition denounced Douhan for repeating claims made by the Assad regime that sanctions are to blame for economic failure in Syria. Appointed to her post by the Human Rights Council in March 2020, Douhan is not UN staff and works voluntarily. 

Oil Tankers Evade Syria Sanctions: Syria continues to receive oil shipments in the face of U.S. efforts to designate oil tankers and the firms that own them. EnergyFuse examined the operations of two tankers that provided the Assad regime liquified petroleum gas through a shipping route between Albania and the Syrian port of Baniyas. The Melody, sanctioned by the U.S. in 2015, was spotted off the coast of Baniyas in early December. Also reported to be spotted off Baniyas last month the Jaguar S delivered gasoline to Syria from the same Albanian port.  

Syria on the Ground

Prison Bribes: The release of many Syrians from detention centers controlled by the Assad regime such as Sednaya prison have been obtained through extortion. The Association of Detainees and the Missing of Sednaya Prison drafted an extensive report based on testimonies of interviews with over 500 families who had loved ones that were forcibly taken by regime officials. They found that more than a quarter of the respondents to the study indicated that relatives had paid sums of money to obtain information about the forcibly disappeared. Additionally, more than seven percent of them indicated that they had paid money for a promise to visit those arrested. The total sum to have family members be promised information on the missing, ability to visit or obtain release topped $2.7 million.

Human Rights Report: The Syrian Network for Human Rights released its latest assessment of human rights violations carried out against Syrian civilians in 2020. The report tallied the deaths of 1,734 civilians, including 326 children and 169 women for the year. These numbers include 99 civilians, including 12 children, nine women, and one media worker, who were documented killed in December alone. The numbers also include at least 1,882 cases of arbitrary arrest and detention last year throughout Syria. 

ISIS Attacks: In recent weeks ISIS is being held responsible by the Assad regime for several attacks on troop convoys in central Syria. Reuters cited two separate attacks that involved an ambush of buses that according to pro-regime media sources killed as many as nine soldiers and a previous assault that an Islamic State news source claimed killed as many 40 soldiers. Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute highlighted the latest developments on Twitter, noting what took place should come as no surprise but has been ignored or dismissed. 

Humanitarian Work and Civil Society in Syria

We are proud to be highlighting the work of humanitarian and civil society groups both outside and within Syria that are striving for a free Syria. 

SACD’s Year In Review: The Syrian Association for Citizen’s Dignity has published its year in review, a comprehensive report on the civil rights grassroots popular movement’s efforts to “ensure that millions of displaced people have a strong voice in all decisions that affect them and the future of Syria”. The timeline found that the greatest threats facing displaced Syrians were the ongoing forced displacement of Syrians, the premature return to an unsafe Syria, the situation of internally displaced people and refugees, the dangers faced by those forced to return to “reconciliation areas”, and the continued efforts by the Syrian regime and its allies to gain reconstruction funding without conditions being created for a safe, voluntary and dignified return.

Analysis

“Obstruction and Denial: Health System Disparities and COVID-19 in Daraa, Syria”: Justine McGowan publishes a new report for Physicians for Human Rights on the human rights crisis that originates in the “systematic and intentional neglect by the Syrian government of the overall health system and COVID-19 response effort”  in the province of Daraa.

“Enclave governance: How to circumvent the Assad regime and safeguard Syria’s future”: Ranj Alaaldin delves into the ongoing conflict in Syria for Brookings, arguing for the “embrace of enclave governance in non-regime-held areas” instead of  the restoration of regime rule to limit further humanitarian crises.