VII. Recommendations

Short of disbanding the court there is no way to improve an institution whose very existence is antithetical to human rights.

-Western diplomat who monitors the Court[173]

To the Syrian Government

In order to comply with its international human rights obligations, the Syrian government should:

With respect to the SSSC and individuals sentenced by it

• Dissolve the court. Given the magnitude of the SSSC's non-compliance with international human rights law, and its explicit role as an exceptional court centered on the emergency law, the SSSC cannot be reformed.
• Create an independent judicial commission to review the existing cases before the SSSC and order the release of defendants facing prosecution solely for their non-violent exercise of freedom of expression or association.  In cases where there is evidence that the defendant committed recognizable criminal offenses, the judicial commission should transfer the cases to the regular criminal courts where the defendants should be provided with a fair trial in accordance with international human rights standards.
• Allow defendants serving a sentence imposed by the SSSC to appeal their conviction and sentence to the Criminal Court of Appeal. In reviewing such sentences, the Court of Appeal should reject any evidence obtained by coercion and reverse sentences under penal code provisions used to criminalize free speech and free association.

With respect to the continuing State of Emergency

• Lift the state of emergency and repeal Syria's Emergency Law. The continued application of the Emergency Law since 1963 violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Syria is a party. The Syrian government has failed to show that the state of emergency is strictly necessary for its security.

With respect to the legal system

• Decriminalize peaceful political activity in Syria by revising the vague and overbroad statutes in the penal code that are used to prosecute individuals for the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom association.
• Amend or abolish the vague security provisions under the Syrian Penal Code that permit the authorities to arbitrarily suppress and punish individuals for peaceful political expression, in breach of its international legal obligations, on grounds that "national security" is being endangered, including the following provisions:

o Article 278 (undertaking "acts, writings, or speech unauthorized by the government that expose Syria to the danger of belligerent acts or that disrupt Syria's ties to foreign states");

oArticle 285 ("issuing calls that weaken national sentiment or awaken racial or sectarian tensions while Syria is at war or is expecting a war");

oArticle 286 (spreading "false or exaggerated information that weaken national sentiment while Syria is at war or is expecting a war");

oArticle 307 (undertaking "acts, writings or speech that incite sectarian, racial or religious strife.")

• Define broad terms such as "national sentiment" and "incitement to sectarian, racial or religious strife" in narrow terms that do not violate  internationally guaranteed rights of free expression, association and assembly;
• Excise from the Penal Code provisions that criminalize "insults" against government leaders, including Article 376 (which imposes a sentence from one to three years against anyone who insults the President).
• Ensure that confessions obtained by coercion or under torture are inadmissible in all criminal proceedings

With respect to practices by the security agencies

• Order the security services to stop (i) the arbitrary arrest of individuals, (ii) the practice of incommunicado detention and (iii) the ill-treatment and torture of detainees under interrogation.
• Create mechanisms and guidelines to ensure access of lawyers and family members to detainees promptly after arrest.
• Investigate allegations of torture and hold those who have committed torture and those who have ordered it accountable, including through prosecutions.

To the Arab League

The entry into force of the Arab Charter on Human Rights in 2008 represents an important opportunity for the Arab League to become an advocate for human rights in the region. We urge the Arab League and its member states to adopt the recommendations in this report and raise these items in discussions with senior Syrian government officials, including with president Bashar al-Asad.

We also urge the Secretary General of the Arab League to communicate the Arab League's strong disapproval of the SSSC and the practices of arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention and torture during interrogation to the highest levels of the Syrian authorities and ask them to dissolve the SSSC and implement the recommendations of this report.

To the European Union and its Member States

The improved relationship between the European Union and many of its member states on the one hand and the Syrian government on the other presents an important opportunity for a more assertive and vocal European role in addressing ongoing human rights violations in Syria.

We urge the European Union and its member states to adopt the recommendations in this report and raise these items in discussions with senior Syrian government officials, including with President Bashar al-Asad.

Our specific recommendations to the European Union and its members states are:

With respect to the SSSC

• Communicate your strong disapproval of the SSSC and the practices of arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention and torture during interrogation to the highest levels of the Syrian authorities and ask them to dissolve the SSSC and implement the recommendations of this report.
• In the meantime, continue to monitor the trials at the SSSC while making more active use of the information collected through:

oIssuing public reports about the findings of these trial observations. 

oDiscussing the findings of your trial observations with the SSSC's judges as well as Syrian government officials on a periodic and continuing basis.

oUndertaking diplomatic demarches for defendants facing prosecution before the SSSC solely for their exercise of freedom of expression or association.

With respect to Syria's more general respect of human rights

• Condition any further progress in your relations with Syria, in particular the entry into force of the Association Agreement, on real and lasting improvements in Syria's human rights situation, such as the dissolution of the SSSC, as well as on concrete and measurable commitments by Syria to further improve its policies in this field.
• Identify specific and measurable indicators for use by senior EU officials to assess and publicly report on the steps being taken by the Syrian government to improve its human rights record.
• Adopt the improvement of the human rights situation in Syria as a guiding principle of your foreign policy. In particular, adhere to the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Dialogues (adopted in 2001)which state that "issues of human rights, democracy and the rule of law will be included in all future meetings and discussions with third countries and at all levels, whether ministerial talks etc, joint committee meetings or formal dialogue led by the Presidency of the Council."