ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday warned that Syria’s newly-approved constitutional declaration consolidates power in the hands of the president and risks entrenching “authoritarian control.” The global human rights monitor urged the new leadership in Damascus to revise the declaration to better safeguard human rights.
HRW’s Deputy Middle East director, Adam Coogle, stated that “the design of Syria’s new declaration risks entrenching authoritarian control, rather than facilitating a genuine transition to a rights-respecting democracy.” He added that transitional frameworks can warrant extraordinary measures but “must not come at the expense of fundamental rights.”
In mid-March, Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a 53-article constitutional declaration that centers on Islamic jurisprudence, mandates that the president must be Muslim, and sets a five-year transitional period. It also maintains Syria’s official name as the Syrian "Arab" Republic.
The interim constitution grants Sharaa exclusive executive power, including the sole authority to appoint and dismiss cabinet ministers. HRW censured the allocation of such “significant authority” to the president, warning that “without stronger safeguards and independent oversight, this declaration risks consolidating executive control at the expense of fundamental freedoms.”
The interim constitution also gives Sharaa the power to appoint one-third of the legislature, while the other two-thirds would be selected by a committee, whose members are appointed by Sharaa. Parliament would also have no authority to impeach the president, or approve or remove ministers.
HRW criticized the interim president’s “near-total control over legislative appointments.” It highlighted that the interim constitution further grants him “authority to appoint all seven members of the Higher Constitutional Court without parliamentary or other oversight.” This court is the only body that can hold him accountable.
HRW warned that this could jeopardize judicial independence and “likely strengthen the president’s influence over constitutional interpretation, excluding parliamentary input.”
Of note, the constitutional declaration has in recent weeks come under fire from Syria’s Kurdish, Christian and Druze communities over its exclusion of ethnic and religious communities in Syria.
HRW’s deputy Middle East director, Coogle, on Tuesday urged the Syrian authorities to revise the interim constitution “to incorporate strong protections for judicial independence and legislative oversight,” to “ensure that Syria’s transition respects human rights, holds those responsible for past abuses accountable, and fosters a future of greater accountability.”
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