- Protests against HTS in Syria, amid prison mistreatment allegations
- Activists demand HTS leader’s removal and prison reform
- HTS promises reforms following anti-government demonstrations
In recent weeks, individuals in northwestern Syria have taken to the streets to protest an armed group formed from an al-Qaeda renegade faction despite the dangers of dissent.
In Sarmada, close to the Syria-Turkey border, demonstrations against Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls a significant portion of the province of Idlib, commenced on February 25.
Demonstrators adorn banners accusing HTS prisons of being “slaughterhouses” in response to the treatment of inmates by the organization’s security branch, the General Security Service (GSS). Protests involving hundreds of individuals have commenced throughout Idlib at this time.
Mohammed Ali Basha, age 29, and his companions spent the night before an anti-HTS demonstration in Binnish last week assembling banners and flags.
The activist applied three red stars to the Syrian opposition’s emblem, consisting of a green, white, and black background. Basha and his colleague protesters wish to convey the following via a large banner: that the Syrian revolution, which commenced in 2011, is not limited to President Bashar al-Assad but rather targets all “tyrants.”
It bears the slogan “All of them means all of them,” which has been widely embraced by Syrian opposition members to express their dissent towards autocrats of any ideology. In Basha’s estimation, this includes HTS and its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani.
Basha said, “Our demonstrations against HTS are similar to our initial protests against Bashar al-Assad and his regime in that we have both taken to the streets to denounce injustice and defend our dignity and freedom.” “Over recent years, I have become aware of the inequities inflicted upon the inhabitants of the liberated regions that are not under al-Assad’s control. Furthermore, I have observed that the security branches associated with HTS have adopted the same heinous practices as al-Assad’s security forces, including arbitrary detention and torture-induced deaths.”
Executed by torment
According to Ahmad Alhakim, he is well aware of the dangers that can ensue in an HTS institution. Abdulqadir, his sibling, was executed by torture in one.
Abdulqadir, a 27-year-old father of three and Jaish al-Ahrar opposition fighter, was apprehended by HTS on suspicion of collaborating with foreign powers a year ago.
Alhakim stated, “They kidnapped my brother for ten months without our knowledge of his whereabouts, any information about him, or the ability to retain an attorney to pursue his case.”
A released detainee informed Alhakim in mid-February that Abdulqadir had passed away as a result of maltreatment suffered in prison. HTS notified Jaish al-Ahrar of his demise on February 22.
In response to our request for the General Security Service to surrender the remains of my brother, they informed us that he had been interred and provided us with the location of the mass grave,” Alhakim explained, elaborating on the burial site as a vast trench filled with numerous corpses. “Many of the graves were unnamed and merely numbered.”
Demands to depose al-Jolani
The demise of Abdulqadir was the catalyst for the rapid dissemination of the protest movement throughout the major cities of Idlib.
The following day, Basha and his fellow activists in Binnish carried their banners and flags to the town centre, where they joined a small gathering of a dozen individuals.
Protesters demanded that HTS leader al-Jolani be removed from areas under the control of HTS and its affiliated Salvation Government and that the organization be replaced with an elected body, as a significant portion of the outrage was directed at him.
Basha stated, “The Syrian revolution of 2011 marked the end of an era of slavery and tyranny, and the Syrian people, having paid a high price for their freedom and dignity, will not permit it to be taken away.”
This is an audacious position to adopt. Idlib province continues to be predominantly occupied by Syrian opposition forces, with HTS holding a dominant position following its progressive expulsion of other opposition factions and subsequent monopolization of regional governance.
The European Union, Turkey, and the United States have all labelled HTS a “terrorist” organization. It was established in 2017 as an alliance of various factions that were in opposition to al-Assad during the ongoing conflict in Syria. The principal entity in the alliance was Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, previously referred to as the Nusra Front, an affiliate of al-Qaeda.
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Over the years, HTS has endeavoured to reposition itself by severing ties with al-Qaeda and presenting itself as a more moderate organization with regional objectives; al-Jolani even appeared on PBS, an American media outlet, to discuss this.
It has emerged as the preeminent insurgent organization in the northwestern region of Syria; however, resistance to its governance is growing as activists emphasize the importance of exposing the group’s violent activities and regaining control of security.
During a gathering in Idlib, Abdulrahman, a 30-year-old activist who declined to provide his complete name, he reaffirmed the movement’s demands.
He stated, “We demand the release of all prisoners of conscience, the revelation of the whereabouts of those who have gone missing while incarcerated, and the dissolution and reorganization of the General Security Service.”
Commitments to fulfil requirements
In light of the protests, HTS convened meetings presided over by al-Jolani, wherein Salvation Government ministers addressed community elites and village elders. The demonstrators articulated their demands during these gatherings and were assured of corresponding commitments.
The HTS media office stated, “The street demonstrations… against Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham and the Salvation Government are natural, and we do not interpret them otherwise.” “We do not doubt that errors occur among those in the workforce, and any protests that have recently taken place are an attempt to rectify these errors,”
HTS informed that the demands put forth by the demonstrators were multifaceted, necessitating a considerable amount of time to resolve. According to the document, the Shura Council would require time to enlist community representatives from various regions to increase participation in the group’s leadership.
In Idlib, anti-HTS demonstrations have persisted, notwithstanding these endeavoured assurances. However, no substantiated reports of protesters being detained by HTS have surfaced as of yet.
