Syrian civil servants persecuted, military institutes staff forced to clamp down on protests

Syria’s clampdown on the opposition is longer confined to peaceful protestors who are killed on daily basis at the hands of security forces; it has now reached anti-regime employees, who are not only persecuted and fired for their political views, but sometimes even forced to take part in the brutal crushing of demonstrations.

Since the start of the protests, public sector employees have been engaged in endless squabbles that sometimes turn violent, said Lina, an engineer at an institute affiliated with the Ministry of Housing and Development.

“The relationship between employees has become extremely tense, not only because of their fights over supporting or slamming the protests, but also owing to reports written by pro-regime employees about their colleagues who condone the revolution,” she told Al Arabiya.

As a result, she added, several employees are either fired or arrested at their offices, or both. This is despite a ban being imposed on talking politics in the workplace.

“Of course this also applies if any of the employees is discovered to be taking part in the protests.”

Dismissal from the public sector, she explained, is a tragedy for many employees, since getting a job in a government institution is the dream of Syrian youths, especially with an unemployment rate that reached 27 per cent in 2010.

An official document that warns employees against taking part in protests was posted on one of the opposition websites. The document, issued from the northern governorate al-Raqqah, refers to an earlier edict that obliges the management of all government institutions, including universities and banks, to submit a list of employees who take part in the demonstrations and orders their immediate dismissal.

It does not stop at that, Lina added, for even employees who do not display any anti-regime views are not left in peace.

“They are forced to join pro-regime demonstrations, and any employee who doesn’t becomes immediately a suspect.”

According to Lina, employees at military institutions are put under more pressure, since they are forced to take part in the violent clampdown on peaceful protestors.

An employee at the Military Constructions Company confirmed Lina’s statement and said that every Friday they are gathered and forced to crush protests.

“They give us cudgels and force us to beat up the protestors, then later go on a demonstration that supports the regime,” he told Al Arabiya.

Another employee in the same company shared his experience of the clashes with the protestors.

“We attacked the unarmed protestors and kept shouting slogans in support of Bashar al-Assad, and they shouted back that they want freedom for Syria,” he told Al Arabiya.

“At one point, they were able to surround us in one of the squares and prevented us from going out but didn’t hurt us. It was only when the army came and started shooting protestors that we were able to leave.”

For another employee, his dream job has turned into a nightmare.

“Every Friday, I have to beat my Syrian brethren,” he told Al Arabiya.

Each of them is given 500 Liras ($10) in return for the mission, which the government classifies under “syndicate work.”

“Those who do not show up will be reported to the authorities and considered members of the opposition.”


(This article was translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid.)