{"id":19958,"date":"2022-12-27T16:48:15","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T13:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stj-sy.org\/idlibs-christians-disenfranchised-until-their-church-bells-ring-again\/"},"modified":"2023-03-28T12:09:33","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T09:09:33","slug":"idlibs-christians-disenfranchised-until-their-church-bells-ring-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stj-sy.org\/en\/idlibs-christians-disenfranchised-until-their-church-bells-ring-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Idlib\u2019s Christians Disenfranchised Until Their Church Bells Ring Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ninar Khalifa<\/p>\n

Violent unrest has left Christians in parts of Syria newly under the control of Islamist militants. To protect themselves, they have been forced to accommodate the whims of their new rulers, who have banned their religious practices, confiscated their properties, and even harassed and abused them.<\/p>\n

For a decade now, Christians in the Syrian city of\u00a0Idlib have wished to celebrate and attend the services of Christmas and New Year, as do other Christian communities in other parts of Syria and beyond.<\/p>\n

However, since taking over Idlib, Islamist rebels have established a stranglehold over Christian citizens, preventing them from practicing their rituals openly; they limited the services to prayers inside the church hall without ringing bells or raising crosses.<\/p>\n

In addition to restricting their religious rights, the Islamist rebels have seized Christians’ properties, kidnapped and even killed them for ransom, desecrated their places of worship, and denied them humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n

As such, since the factions\u2019 takeover, Christians have left Idlib in mass toward other Syrian areas or abroad, leaving everything they own behind. Thus, Idlib\u2019s Christian population has dwindled dramatically. Reportedly<\/a>, before 2010, Idlib was once home to 10,000 Christians distributed in the villages of al-Yacoubiyah, al-Qunaya, al-Jadidah, al-Ghassaniyah, Halluz, and in certain neighborhoods of Jisr al-Shughur and Idlib cities.<\/p>\n

Ghassan (a pseudonym), one of the last Christians in Idlib, confirmed that the waves of displacement from Idlib peaked in late 2013 when the Islamic State (IS) extended control over the area. According to Ghassan, by 2014, when the Al-Nusra Front\/Jabhat al-Nusra (aka Jabhat Fatah al-Sham) seized the area, only 210 Christians, mostly elderly, remained.<\/p>\n

Ghassan pointed out that a large number of displaced Christians left for the city of Latakia, and later some of them migrated to Europe.<\/p>\n

Al-Nusra took over the properties of all those displaced and distributed them to foreign fighters, who were in majority Turkistans, but also included Chechens, Algerians, and Tunisians, Ghassan confirmed.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported that HTS seized most of the absent Idlib Christians\u2019 properties and prevented their relatives from tending to them.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Unfair Usufruct Contract<\/h4>\n

Elias (a pseudonym), a Christian from Idlib residing in Lebanon, confirmed that hardline factions seized the properties of Idlib\u2019s Christians who were forced out of the city.<\/p>\n

Elias said the properties seized by Al-Nusra were under the guardianship of the \u201cOffice of Christians\u2019 properties\u201d, which recorded the houses and farms of Christians in Idlib and then distributed them to foreign fighters. This was accompanied by the confiscation of the cars of absent Christians and the looting of the furniture of their homes and businesses. The factions only left the houses of the Christian elders who remained in Idlib.<\/p>\n

In 2018, HTS claimed that it would reinstate the properties of displaced Christians but nothing came of it. The Christians in Idlib who attempted to restore their farms were forced to sign usufruct contracts. These contracts provided for giving 60% of their crop production to HTS with only 40% remaining to the farmer, even while the farmer remained responsible for the farm\u2019s cultivation and all of its expenses. Upon learning about these unfair terms, all of those who applied to restore their farms refused to sign and withdrew their files. Meanwhile, Christians abroad were not even allowed to demand the restoration of their properties for several pretexts, including residence in Europe and support for the regime.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
\n

Throughout 2018, STJ documented the seizure<\/a> of at least 750 houses belonging to Christian residents of rural Jisr al-Shughur. The houses were seized by HTS, the Guardians of Religion Organization\/ Hurras al-Din, and the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) under the pretext of their owners\u2019 absence.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, between late 2018 and mid-October 2019, STJ documented the seizure<\/a> of no less than 550 houses and businesses owned by Christians in Idlib by HTS.<\/p>\n

Eyewitnesses confirmed to STJ that the armed factions in Idlib leased some of the Christians\u2019 seized properties and settled families of their members in others.<\/p>\n

In late 2018, HTS fully appropriated three markets in Idlib city, namely, Khan Kabbad for cereals, Khan Fahdi for selling oil, and Khan Ghannoum. These street markets include warehouses and shops owned by Christian merchants and are of great symbolic importance to Idlib\u2019s people.<\/p>\n

Moreover, in 2017, HTS took over the only Christian church in Idlib city, a section of which has been transformed into an educational institute after it was rented to someone. According to a local source, HTS\u2019 rental revenue from the Christian-owned houses in Idlib alone has exceeded 70,000 USD per year.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Impossible Conditions for Restitution<\/h4>\n

Juliet (a pseudonym), a Christian from Idlib residing in Latakia, told STJ that in 2018 HTS seized her home and agricultural land and she has failed to recover them. Juliet recounted:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn early 2022, I authorized my cousin to reclaim my properties through a court of the Salvation Government, operating in Idlib. However, an HTS Sharia committee ruled that the faction has the right to use my property, especially since I reside in a regime-held area and work as a teacher for a government school. I tried to sell my home\u2019s furniture, but the faction prevented me and confiscated it. All Idlib\u2019s Christians are treated the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Juliet continued to say that displaced families in Idlib who leased the seized houses of the absent Christians pay their rents to HTS, noting that the leasing proceedings are all oral not written.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
After 2018, the Salvation Government began to change its attitude toward Idlib’s Christians and began allowing<\/a> them to restore their properties on the condition permanently residing in the area.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

\u00a0Domestic and International Laws Safeguard the Right to Property<\/h4>\n

A Syrian judge, Riyad Ali, confirms that the right to property is a basic human right enshrined in international covenants and conventions and is closely linked to the right of every person to live with safety and dignity. Ali stressed that under no circumstances is it acceptable to take someone’s property unjustly.<\/p>\n

This right was affirmed in Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948<\/a>. In addition, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement<\/a> emphasizes in Principle 21 that:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cNo one shall be arbitrarily deprived of property and possessions.<\/li>\n
  2. The property and possessions of internally displaced persons shall in all circumstances be protected, in particular, against the following acts:\n
      \n
    1. Pillage;<\/li>\n
    2. Direct or indiscriminate attacks or other acts of violence;<\/li>\n
    3. Being used to shield military operations or objectives;<\/li>\n
    4. Being made the object of reprisal; and<\/li>\n
    5. Being destroyed or appropriated as a form of collective punishment.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Moreover, protecting the properties and possessions of internally displaced persons is a binding obligation on all parties of a conflict regardless of their legal status, as stipulated in Customary International Humanitarian Law (Customary IHL)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      The Al-Nusra\/HTS\u2019 seizure of private properties and forced displacement of their owners blatantly violates the aforementioned international covenants and conventions. Such practices may amount to a war crimes and crimes against humanity, referring to Articles 8.2.e.xii and Article 7.1.d of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of 1998<\/a>, which entered into force in 2002.<\/p>\n

      According to Article 8.2.e.xii:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. For the purpose of this Statute, \u2018war crimes\u2019 means:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        (xii) Destroying or seizing the property of an adversary unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

        According to Article 7.1.d:<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. \u201cFor the purpose of this Statute, \u2018crime against humanity\u2019 means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          In addition, the appropriation of the property of others, movable or immovable, by any party, constitutes an explicit violation of Article 15 of the 2012 Syrian Constitution in force, which states:<\/p>\n