Protests rock government-held areas in southern Syria as economy crumbles

A handout picture released by the Suwayda 24 news site shows people protesting in the southern Syrian city of Suwaida on August 21, 2023. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 22 August 2023
Follow

Protests rock government-held areas in southern Syria as economy crumbles

  • The protests were concentrated in the southern city of Sweida, home to the country’s Druze minority, and the nearby province of Daraa, often considered the birthplace of Syria’s uprising 13 years ago

BEIRUT: Protests spread Monday in two government-held provinces in southern Syria amid widespread anger over the crash of the Syrian pound and the dwindling purchasing power of many people in the war-torn country, opposition activists said.
The rare protests are still limited to southern Syria and are far from government strongholds along the Mediterranean coast, the capital Damascus and the largest cities, including Aleppo and Homs.
The protests came a week after Syrian President Bashar Assad issued two decrees doubling public sector wages and pensions, sparking inflation and compounding economic woes for others.
The US dollar has strengthened from 7,000 Syrian pounds at the beginning of 2023 to 15,000 now. At the onset of Syria’s uprising turned-civil war in 2011, the dollar was trading at 47 pounds.
The protests were concentrated in the southern city of Sweida, home to the country’s Druze minority, and the nearby province of Daraa, often considered the birthplace of Syria’s uprising 13 years ago. Sporadic protests in Sweida against the government and corruption have intensified and turned violent, while Daraa, back under government control since 2018, has experienced high crime and clashes between militias.
There was no immediate comment Monday from the government about the second day of protests in Sweida and Daraa.
On Sunday, the pro-government Sham FM radio station reported that final exams at branches of Damascus University in Sweida were postponed until further notice because some students could not reach campuses because of road closures.
Assad’s decision to hike wages and pensions comes as the cash-strapped government continues to restructure an expensive subsidy program for fuel, gasoline and wheat for bread. Soon after the decision, public transport and fuel fares increased. The economy has already been struggling after years of conflict, corruption and mismanagement, and Western-led sanctions on the government over accusations of war crimes and involvement in the illicit narcotics trade.
“We only kneel to God,” chanted dozens of protesters in the city of Sweida who were accompanied by Druze clerics, according to Suwayda 24, a news website run by activists in the region.
It said protesters were coming to the provincial capital from nearby villages.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, reported that protesters closed main roads in Sweida, including the road leading to the local headquarters of Assad’s ruling Baath party.
In Daraa province, where protests against the government in March 2011 spread across the country, protesters marched in villages including Nawa, Jasem Sanamein and Dael calling for the downfall of Assad’s government and for the expulsion of Iranian influence from the region, according to opposition activist Ahmad Al-Masalmeh. Iran has been a main backer of Assad, helping to tip the balance of power in his favor.
The United Nations estimates that 90 percent of Syrians in government-held areas live in poverty and that over half of the country’s population of 12 million struggles to put food on the table.
 

 


Turkiye should investigate ‘police violence’ against protesters: Amnesty

Updated 3 sec ago
Follow

Turkiye should investigate ‘police violence’ against protesters: Amnesty

Authorities said they arrested nearly 1,900 people during the protests
Amnesty said it had “verified dozens of videos documenting how protesters were beaten, kicked and dragged”

ISTANBUL: Amnesty International called on Turkish authorities Thursday to launch an investigation into alleged “police violence” during a wave of protests this year, saying some instances “could amount to acts of torture.”

The arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on March 19, the leading opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, sparked Türkiye’s worst street protests in over a decade.

“Our findings reveal damning evidence of unlawful force frequently used by law enforcement officers,” said Esther Major, a deputy director at the global human rights group.

“The authorities used tear gas, pepper spray, kinetic impact projectiles and water cannons against people who were simply exercising their rights,” she said in a statement.

“The violations documented constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and, in some cases, may amount to torture,” Major said, calling for the launch of an investigation.

Imamoglu was widely seen as the biggest political rival to Erdogan and his jailing is likely to prevent him from running in the 2028 presidential election.

Authorities said they arrested nearly 1,900 people during the protests, most of whom were accused of participating in illegal gatherings.

The vast majority have since been released.

Amnesty said it had “verified dozens of videos documenting how protesters were beaten, kicked and dragged on the ground by law enforcement officials even when they were dispersing, not resisting or were already restrained.”

The NGO said some “protesters were subjected to water cannon, tear gas, kinetic impact projectiles by police, often at very close range directly targeting the head and upper body, in violation of international human rights law.”

One of them required retinal surgery and may lose sight in one eye, Amnesty said.

France preparing to help its citizens in Israel, Iran leave, Barrot says

Updated 59 min 29 sec ago
Follow

France preparing to help its citizens in Israel, Iran leave, Barrot says

  • Barrot told reporters that a convoy will be arranged by the end of the week
  • French citizens in Israel will be able to board buses starting Friday morning

PARIS: France is preparing to help its citizens in Israel and Iran to leave those countries amid a week of strikes exchanged between the two rivals, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday.

Barrot told reporters that a convoy will be arranged by the end of the week to get French nationals without their own means of doing so to the Turkish or Armenian borders from Iran to access airports in those countries.

French citizens in Israel will be able to board buses starting Friday morning from the Jordanian border for airports in Jordan, with a flight chartered from Amman by the end of the week to aid the passage of French citizens who are vulnerable or in emergency situations, Barrot said.

Separately, Barrot reiterated that France was committed to holding a conference on a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, after France postponed one scheduled for this week.


UN rights chief condemns civilian toll of Israel-Iran escalation, warns of regional conflagration

Updated 19 June 2025
Follow

UN rights chief condemns civilian toll of Israel-Iran escalation, warns of regional conflagration

  • ‘Threats and inflammatory rhetoric by senior officials on both sides suggest a worrying intention to inflict harm on civilians,’ says Volker Turk
  • Official figures from both sides put the death tolls at 224 in Iran and at least 24 in Israel, and mass displacement is surging, particularly in Tehran

NEW YORK CITY: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Thursday condemned the mounting civilian toll in the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran, and warned that the conflict risks plunging the wider region into war.

In a strongly worded statement he said the “wide-scale, continuing attacks” by Israel on Iranian territory and the retaliatory missile and drone strikes by Iran were having “severe human rights and humanitarian impacts” on civilians.

“The extensive airstrikes and missile and drone attacks have already caused significant harm beyond military objectives,” Turk said, citing attacks that have killed civilians and damaged critical infrastructure including hospitals, homes, water supply systems and energy facilities.

According to the latest official figures from Tehran, 224 people have been killed in the attacks on Iran, though human rights groups estimate the toll to be more than twice that number. In Israel, government figures report at least 24 dead and more than 840 wounded. Displacement is surging, particularly in the Iranian capital, where evacuation orders have prompted the large-scale flight of people from affected areas.

Turk urged both nations to adhere to the principles of international humanitarian law, emphasizing the in particular the legal obligation to distinguish between military and civilian targets, and to refrain from indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks.

“It is appalling to see how civilians are treated as collateral damage in the conduct of hostilities,” he said. “Threats and inflammatory rhetoric by senior officials on both sides suggest a worrying intention to inflict harm on civilians.”

He called for “maximum restraint,” respect for international law, and a return to the negotiating table as the only way to halt the “spiraling illogic of escalation.”

The latest flare-up, which began when Israel launched attacks on Iran on June 13, follows months of rising tensions and tit-for-tat strikes that have drawn concern from regional powers and global leaders who fear a wider escalation of war in the Middle East.


Russia warns US against ‘military intervention’ in Iran-Israel war

Updated 19 June 2025
Follow

Russia warns US against ‘military intervention’ in Iran-Israel war

  • Zakharova said: “We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation“
  • Any US military action “would be an extremely dangerous step”

MOSCOW: Russia’s foreign ministry on Thursday warned the United States not to take military action against Iran, amid speculation over whether Washington will enter the war alongside Israel.

Moscow issued its warning after Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in a phone call condemned Israeli attacks on Iran and urged a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

Israel launched an unprecedented wave of strikes at Iran last week, to which Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks.

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday he was considering whether to join Israel’s strikes. “I may do it, I may not do it,” he said.

Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters: “We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation.”

Any US military action “would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences,” she added.

Earlier on Thursday, following the leaders’ call, the Kremlin said Putin and Xi “strongly condemn Israel’s actions.”

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Moscow and Beijing believed the end to the hostilities “should be achieved exclusively by political and diplomatic means.”


Iran’s options against foreign aggression include closing Strait of Hormuz, lawmaker says

Updated 19 June 2025
Follow

Iran’s options against foreign aggression include closing Strait of Hormuz, lawmaker says

  • “Iran has numerous options to respond to its enemies and uses such options based on what the situation is,” the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Behnam Saeedi
  • “Closing the Strait of Hormuz is one of the potential options for Iran“

DUBAI: Iran could shut the Strait of Hormuz as a way of hitting back against its enemies, a senior lawmaker said on Thursday, though a second member of parliament said this would only happen if Tehran’s vital interests were endangered.

Iran has in the past threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz to traffic in retaliation for Western pressure, and shipping sources said on Wednesday that commercial ships were avoiding Iran’s waters around the strait.

“Iran has numerous options to respond to its enemies and uses such options based on what the situation is,” the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Behnam Saeedi, a member of the parliament’s National Security Committee presidium as saying.

“Closing the Strait of Hormuz is one of the potential options for Iran,” he said.

Mehr later quoted another lawmaker, Ali Yazdikhah, as saying Iran would continue to allow free shipping in the Strait and in the Gulf so long as its vital national interests were not at risk.

“If the United States officially and operationally enters the war in support of the Zionists (Israel), it is the legitimate right of Iran in view of pressuring the US and Western countries to disrupt their oil trade’s ease of transit,” Yazdikhah said.

President Donald Trump is keeping the world guessing about whether the United States will join Israel’s bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites.

Tehran has so far refrained from closing the Strait because all regional states and many other countries benefit from it, Yazdikhah added.

“It is better than no country supports Israel to confront Iran. Iran’s enemies know well that we have tens of ways to make the Strait of Hormuz unsafe and this option is feasible for us,” the parliamentarian said.

The Strait of Hormuz lies between Oman and Iran and is the primary export route for Gulf producers such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and Kuwait.

About 20 percent of the world’s daily oil consumption — around 18 million barrels — passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which is only about 33 km (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point.