Contributed by Nizar Halabi (name is changed to protect authors family in Syria)
Blindfolded and being driven away by armed men from a residential district of Damascus, Omar (not his real name) thought of his three children and wondered if he would live to see them again. It was only hours ago that he was trying to go about his life as best he could under the present circumstances. But despite his best efforts, Omar was now a kidnapping victim—a witness to a growing and unnerving trend that has become more widespread across Syria, even in the heart of Damascus.
The cruel carnage and loss of life all over Syria and especially in Homs, Hama, Deraa is awful and criminal. Absolutely inexcusable for a government to be massacring its own people. But for many Syrians in Damascus and Aleppo, while there is no ongoing assault in the heart of these cities, there is a sense of fear and anxiety that would have been unimaginable only two years ago. The increase in criminal activity, including kidnappings, is intensifying an already tense situation close to a breaking point.
The most recent kidnapping drawing international attention is the abduction of Hadi Alshamaa, a 16 year old American citizen who is feared to be taken by Syrian government security forces. He is still missing. Although impossible to verify, there are as many as 200,000 Syrians currently incarcerated by the Syrian regime for “crimes” against the state that include blogging or voicing their right of dissent. In many cases, when the accused perpetrators cannot be found, family members including mothers, fathers and siblings are detained by the Syrian regime in an attempt to force the accused to turn himself or herself in.
Further illustrating this new reality facing everyday Syrians is the situation Omar found himself in. He was confronted in Damascus by men identifying themselves as government security forces (الأمن). The men showed Omar their government IDs and accused him of participating in anti-regime protests. Despite pleading that he was never involved in any politics, let alone any protests, Omar was blindfolded and taken away. Driven to the Syrian Mediterranean coast, he was put into a room and tied to a chair. He realized he was not unique: Each room in the building he was in had other kidnapping victims in similar predicaments. Thankfully though, his kidnappers seemed more interested in money than killing him. They placed a call to his family and demanded a ransom of over 1 million SP ($20,000+). Any police involvement and not only would Omar be killed, but the kidnappers threatened to hunt down and execute Omar’s family as well. After spending one freezing cold night tied to a chair, Omar was released unhurt when his family was able to gather the money ransom money and make the exchange with the kidnappers.
What are the implications of this worrying incident? As with most things in Assad’s Syria, the lack of information leaves one to speculate on a number of possible scenarios. Could these men actually be security forces as they claimed? Or simply criminal gangs taking advantage of the breakdown in law and order?
In either scenario, the situation is frightening. If these kidnappers were indeed regime security forces or linked to regime security forces, it would mark the rise of a troubling, but potentially highly effective regime tactic. By kidnapping seemingly random people and holding them for ransom, the regime achieves two things. First, they provide a form of payment to buy the continued loyalties of the men perpetrating the kidnappings. Second, they intimidate the extended social circles of the kidnapping victims, effectively ensuring their continued avoidance of anti-regime protests. And if the kidnappers were not affiliated with the regime, but rather opportunistic thugs, it would simply confirm the ineptitude and inability of the Assad regime to provide for and protect its own people during this trying time.
For 30 years the Assad regime maintained a “deal” with the people of Syria: Stay out of politics and in return, we will keep the country safe. The vast majority of Syrians accepted this deal, especially when viewing a region plagued by violence in nearby Lebanon and Iraq. So the regime prospered, while Syria itself fell behind the nations of the world in nearly all measures of socioeconomic indicators: Syria has ranked in the bottom 10th percentile of nations in terms of accountability and the bottom 20th percentile of nations in controlling corruption according to the World Bank. Less rigorous metrics point to a failing education system, a failing banking system, and a failing judiciary.
Yet despite these failings and the stagnated and backward society that resulted, for many years the Syrian regime got a free pass for the simple reason it kept your average middle class family in Aleppo and Damascus safe from violence and persecution.
Well, the deal with the devil is over. The Assad regime is now failing across the board: A failing economy, a failing education system, a failing judiciary, rampant corruption and zero accountability. The Assad regime cannot keep the Syrian people safe nor provide basic services such as electricity or fuel oil. The Assad regime, now an international pariah, will soon be up for international trial for crimes committed against the people of Syria in Homs, Hama, and other communities. And despite all these failings, the Assad regime is still attempting to kill, kidnap, and intimidate the Syrian people into submission.
The time has come for every Syrian man and woman to make a choice: Either give in to this campaign of fear or chart a new course for Syria—a prosperous Syria that fulfills its potential free of the atrocities and ineptitude of the Assad regime.
