Syria's security force risks being an instrument of government control, report finds

Dismantling of non-state armed groups, rather than their integration into state structures, is needed, analysts argue

A fighter with Hayat Tahrir Al Sham stands outside the Palestine Branch security complex in Damascus, Syria. Reuters

Syria's decision to integrate all armed opposition factions under a unified armed force was "arguably the most crucial step taken by the new government", but it risks becoming an instrument of state control, much like the Syrian army under the Assad regime, warn analysts.

According to a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the restructuring process for Syria's new security forces has lacked transparency and civilian oversight, with senior positions in the Ministry of Defence filled by loyalists of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), Syria's post-Assad rulers.

This, the report says, risks turning the security apparatus into an "instrument of control and patronage for the new authorities, much like the [Syrian Arab Armed Forces] was during the Assad regime".

Former president Bashar Al Assad was toppled at the end of last year by a lightning offensive led by HTS, which was formerly linked to Al Qaeda. The group's founder, Ahmad Al Shara, took over as interim Syrian leader.

Mr Al Shara hosted a “victory conference” in Damascus on January 29, at which he announced the dissolution of all armed factions, political and civilian revolutionary bodies, and their merging into state institutions.

While the decision was largely welcomed as an opportunity for stability, analysts argue that the "dismantlement of the various non-state armed groups, rather than their integration into state structures, is needed".

"The pathway for such a process would need to incorporate a well-structured and resourced disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration process, at the end of which most former fighters would return to civilian life," the IISS report said. "Only some, after a proper vetting process for past war crimes and other abuses, would be able to individually join the new forces," it concluded.

While the process does run some risks, failure to do so would lead to a "potential return to the model of the Assad period, where the security sector is primarily an instrument of political patronage and repression rather than a nonsectarian defender of the nation", according to the report.

Additionally, Syria's current security apparatus has been met with distrust from the country's minority groups – another obstacle in the country's push for a unified and neutral armed force. This comes after several instances of mass killings of members of the Alawite and Druze communities since HTS assumed power.

On March 7 and 8, about 1,300 Alawite civilians were killed in connection with a military campaign by the government and allied militias to subdue the coastal area. It had been in response to what the authorities described as attacks by Assad regime remnants on security forces in Latakia and other areas on the coast. In April, more than 100 members of the Druze community were killed in clashes after a fake video of a Druze sheikh being derogatory about the Prophet Mohammed surfaced, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.

This, according to the IISS, "shows the challenges of relying on poorly trained militia to maintain law and order in a society divided along sectarian lines".

It also undermines "the trust of ethnic and religious minorities in the country" and damages the government’s standing abroad at a time when Syria is attempting to reintegrate into the global community after years of being sidelined and sanctioned.