The Damascus Spring...the “lost decade” that preceded the Syrian revolution

Bashar al-Assad before his announcement as leader of the Baath Party during the plenary session of the party conference on June 18, 2000 (French)

What is known as the “Damascus Spring” began after the death of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar al-Assad assumed the reins of power in mid-July 2000. Syria witnessed some “political liberalization,” and many voices rose calling for judicial, legal, and economic reforms. This marked the beginning of an “awakening.” political movement” in the country, but it was met by the Syrian regime with a series of arrests and a repression campaign that targeted many of the symbols of this movement, and observers consider that this was one of the preludes that led to igniting the fuse of the Syrian revolution in 2011.

From the beginning of the “Damascus Spring” until February 2001, Syria witnessed relative changes, with a level of freedom of expression and the establishment of informal political forums, but they were soon closed after the arrest of 10 opponents of the regime, so the “spring” ended within 7 months, and the organization described “ Human Rights Watch called that period and what followed it the “lost decade.”

The beginning of spring and the “99 Manifesto”

Bashar al-Assad's speech, which he delivered immediately after assuming the presidency, contributed to spreading hope among the opposition about the possibility of improving the conditions of the country that he inherited from his father in a country whose political system is a parliamentary republic, as he said that "democracy is our duty towards others before it is our right."

After this speech, Riad Al-Turk published several articles, one of which he wrote, “It is not possible for Syria to remain the kingdom of silence.” The Syrian thinker, Antoun Makdisi, sent Bashar through Al-Hayat newspaper in August 2000, congratulating him on assuming the presidency and reminding him of what he said in his speech about respect. The other opinion and the elevation of the concept of the state over leadership.

Among what he mentioned in his message: “Sir, allow me to congratulate you on the first presidency, and also with the words contained in your statement, which are truly promising (..) It is the beginning of a long path that, if we follow it, we can gradually move from nomadism and tribal rule to the rule of law,” but because of this message he was dismissed. From his job, which he held since the 1960s at the Ministry of Culture.

Then a group of Syrian thinkers and intellectuals began to meet and study the situation in the country, and among those who started the “Damascus Spring” were journalist Michel Kilo and politician Riad Seif, who established the “National Dialogue Forum” in his home.

Informal political forums (salons) were held to open debate on political issues in the country, civil society issues, and reforms, until it was said that there was not a town or neighborhood left without its intellectuals calling for the establishment of a forum, and it was rumored that their number reached about 170.

The most prominent of them is the “Jamal Al-Atassi” forum, which was established by Suhair Al-Atassi after her opposition father. From within these salons, demands for political and judicial reform emerged.

Bashar al-Assad (left) receives parliamentary approval from Parliament Speaker Abdul Qadir Qaddoura for his candidacy for the presidency in 2000 (Getty)

The former Director of Internal Security, Bahjat Suleiman, said about these forums - which he pointed out that the state was aware of them and their contents - that “the majority of so-called civil society organizations are nothing but a means and a cover for the activities of international Masonic organizations or are linked to the Rotary Clubs that are controlled by Jews with the intention of controlling the world.” .

The official beginning of the emergence of demands was the “Statement of the 99,” which was signed by intellectuals and artists on September 27, 2000, that is, two months after Bashar’s speech, in which they demanded political and intellectual pluralism, the release of public freedoms, the release of political detainees, and the abolition of the state of emergency that was declared a year ago. 1963.

It was followed by the "Statement of 1,000" in January 2001, in which the signatories insisted on previous demands, demanded multi-party democracy, and lifting the state of emergency imposed in the country.

Another statement was issued by a group of Syrian lawyers in which they called for a comprehensive constitutional review, the abolition of laws and exceptional courts, and the release of public freedoms.

Corrective measures

The regime did not officially acknowledge the data, but the country began to notice a series of reform measures in the first months of Bashar's rule, followed by the announcement of a number of amnesties and the release of hundreds of political prisoners after the closure of Mezzeh prison in November 2001.

During that period, many human rights organizations re-emerged, and others were founded in parallel with the government’s reform steps. The authorities did not prevent civil society organizations or prevent their spread, in contrast to their previous trends during the days of Hafez al-Assad.

Slowly, newspapers supporting the regime began to spread and respond to articles by opposition journalists. To tighten its grip, the six parties that make up the ruling National Progressive Front (led by the Arab Socialist Baath Party) were allowed to open regional offices and publish their own newspapers.

The Syrian Minister of Information at the time, Adnan Omran, stated that “civil society advocates are new colonialism,” and Abdul Halim Khaddam, the Syrian Vice President at the time, said, “We will not allow Syria to be transformed into another Algeria or Yugoslavia.”

Michel Kilo was one of the prominent opponents at whose hands the Damascus Spring began (Reuters)

Spring is not complete

Minor reforms began to disappear, and in the name of national unity and stability, the opposition movement was stopped. In February 2001, the political forums were forcibly closed, leaving only two out of 70. To open one of them, an official permit and almost impossible arbitrary procedures were required. Riad Saif, Riad al-Turk, Mamoun al-Homsi, and Arif Dalila were arrested, along with others. They were charged with "attempting to change the constitution by illegal means."

Saif was arrested after he published a study on a “mobile phone project” in Syria in which he indicated that “7 billion dollars were lost to the Syrian state.” He was then arrested and the deal was completed and Bashar sold the two companies to his cousin Rami Makhlouf for a price equivalent to 10% of their actual value.

Bashar stated in mid-March that Syria has “untouchable foundations, based on the interests of the people, their national and national goals, national unity, and the approach of the eternal leader Hafez al-Assad and the armed forces.”

The Syrian regime began a series of widespread arrests targeting many opponents. The government launched a campaign of repression against those who signed the statement. The state’s control over citizens increased and the army tightened its grip and suppressed opponents in an attempt to stop the popular movement.

In mid-April, the second document of the “Civil Society Revival Committees” was issued under the title “General National Consensus,” followed by a statement that brought together 185 intellectuals and deportees in which they expressed their solidarity with the statements issued inside Syria, and demanded the release of public freedoms and allowing the return of the deportees.

Former Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass responded to the statements, saying, "We have rights, and we will not accept that anyone seizes power from us because it comes from the barrel of a gun and we are its owners. We have carried out multiple military movements and shed our blood for power."

In the summer of 2002, the government launched a media campaign that focused on calls to reform the “economy,” ignoring the rest of the angles. This was accompanied by a series of arrests that did not stop with threats of forced arrest of opponents, which quickly extinguished the “Damascus Spring,” the voices died down, and the “opposition movement” disintegrated.

Riad Seif was trying to create a party in addition to the forum that he established in his home, and he was arrested for his opposition political activity (Reuters)

After the spring.. Damascus Declaration

On October 16, 2005, the Syrian opposition launched the “Damascus Declaration,” a document signed by political forces and civilian figures opposed to the regime, including signatories to the previous two statements.

In the declaration, the forces called for an end to Assad’s rule and the establishment of a pluralistic democratic system with the lifting of the state of emergency, and for “a gradual and peaceful transition to democracy and equality among all citizens in a secular and sovereign Syria,” in the first clear opposition statement directly targeting Assad’s rule, and because of it, many of them were arrested. Like Suhair Al-Atassi and Riad Seif for the second time.

The list of bodies that signed the statement included the National Democratic Rally, the Muslim Brotherhood, Kurdish and Assyrian minority groups, and prominent individuals in the “Damascus Spring” movement.

This opposition bloc faced a problem in reconciling the demands of leftists, secularists, and Islamists, so divisions continued within it in late 2007 until the Muslim Brotherhood withdrew from it to join the National Salvation Front, led by Abdel Halim Khaddam, who defected from the regime in 2006.

The opposition was divided into two parts, the first included leftist and nationalist factions, and the other included the opposition Islamic wing and figures from the “Damascus Spring” movement, including Riad Seif and Riad al-Turk, who were arrested by the regime weeks later along with 10 other founders of the Damascus Declaration.

The battles over the leadership of the opposition continued. The coalition failed and was dispersed into other new alliances. Some of its leaders left into exile, and in 2009 new leaders were announced abroad.

The declaration called for the overthrow of the regime and the rejection of dialogue with it, equality, and freedom, especially with regard to minorities. It also called for “a secular state that recognizes Islam as the most prominent cultural element,” the liberation of the Golan Heights, and the correction of relations with Lebanon, which had become strained that year, especially with the Cedar Revolution.

The regime continued to restrict opponents, and practiced many forms of repression, starting with coercive and arbitrary arrests, travel bans, and banning demonstrations, all the way to killing. This sparked a new crisis at the beginning of 2011, and the Syrian revolution began, which claimed the lives of more than 230,000 civilians, including more than 15,000 were killed under torture, in addition to the disappearance and arrest of about 155,000 people and the displacement of nearly 14 million Syrians, according to what was announced by the Syrian Network for Human Rights.

Source: Syrian press + websites