SYRIA

 HISTORY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY 

Law enforcement in Syria is carried out by the Public Security Police, which is a
force for general policing duties; internal security duties are carried out by different
intelligence agencies. The Political Security Directorate is one of these agencies and is
under the guidance of the Ministry of Interior of the Syrian government. The Directorate
is used for covert intelligence gathering and internal security issues within Syria. Syria
has been an INTERPOL member since 1953. Since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil
War, much of Syria has been outside the control of the Syrian government. Currently,
the Asayish are responsible for policing in the Autonomous Administration of North and
East Syria, the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Police in areas under the Turkish
occupation of northern Syria, and various Syrian opposition groups around Idlib

Syrian riot police in central Damascus.

The Ministry of Interior controls the Internal Security Forces. There are also other
specialized organizations, such as the special metropolitan police
in Damascus (overseen by the Director General of the Public Security and Police), the
Gendarmerie for control in rural areas and the Desert Guard for border control
(especially the Syria-Iraq border). General Nasser Deeb is the head of the Criminal
Security Directorate.

● TYPE OF GOVERNMENT
○ Totalitarianism - a form of government that theoretically permits no
individual freedom and that seeks to subordinate all aspects of individual
life to the authority of the state.
 ○ Semi-presidential System - a republic in which a president exists
alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being
responsible to the legislature of the state.
○ Unitary State - a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the
central government is the supreme authority.
○ One Party State - a type of sovereign state in which only one political
party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing
constitution.

● Police System:
○ Public Security Police - a force for general policing duties; internal
security duties are carried out by different intelligence agencies.

According to the official website of the Ministry of Interior, its task are limited to the
protection and enforcement of security. Alongside with other Directorates, the Ministry
of Interior controls the Internal Security Forces, through the Criminal Security
Directorate, which are organised into at four separate divisions of police forces under a
Director General: Administrative Police, Traffic Police (whose official Day is on 4 May),
Criminal Investigations, and Riot police, as well as a fanfare and the Khan al-Asal Police
Academy. The Internal Security Forces are part of the Ministry of Interior but makes
uses of military ranks. Also specialist organizations exist.

● CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

○ Judiciary System of Syria - A synthesis of Ottoman, French, and Islamic
Laws.
 ● Juvenile Justice System:

27. The definitions of the child, as set forth in Syrian legislation, are basically consistent
with the definition contained in article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
which stipulates that a child means "every human being below the age of eighteen
years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".

28. Under Syrian law, "child", "minor" and "juvenile" are legal terms with the same
connotation, namely a person (human being) below the age of 18 years.

29. Article 46 of the Syrian Civil Code promulgated in Legislative Decree No. 84 of 18
May 1949 stipulates that every person who has attained the age of majority, who is in
full possession of his mental faculties and who is not subject to any form of
guardianship, is fully competent to exercise his civil rights. The age of majority is
attained on reaching the age of 18 full Gregorian years.

30. Article 1 of the Juvenile Delinquents Act No. 18 of 30 March 1974, as amended,
stipulates as follows:

"For the purposes of the implementation of the provisions of this Act, the expressions
listed below shall have the following meanings:

Juvenile: Any male or female person under 18 years of age".

31. However, Syrian law stipulates specific ages for some special purposes, including
the following.

Age for assumption of civil and criminal responsibility

34. The legal principles embodied in Syrian law stipulate that a person who is incapable
of acting with discretion does not bear civil or criminal responsibility for his acts. Article
165 of the Civil Code contains the following provision:

1. " A person is responsible for his unlawful acts if he commits them while capable
of acting with discretion."

35. Article 2 of the Juvenile Delinquents Act further stipulates: "No juvenile shall be
liable to criminal prosecution for an offence that he committed when he was under
seven years of age".

36. According to article 111 of the Civil Code: "A minor does not have the right to
dispose of his property and all such acts of disposal shall be deemed null and void".

Age of competence to testify before the courts

47. No person under 15 years of age is deemed competent to testify before the courts.
This is in accordance with article 59 of the Law of Evidence, which stipulates:

2. ". No person under 15 years of age is competent to testify.

3. " The statement of a person under 15 years of age may be heard only on oath
and solely for purposes of inference".

However, in cases involving rape or indecent acts, the Syrian judiciary regards the child
victim of such offences as the principal witness (Syrian Court of Cassation Ruling No.
28 of 23 January 1979 and Ruling No. 156 of 3 March 1979, which were published in
the Criminal Law Compendium compiled by the lawyer Yaseen al-Darkazalli, vol. 1, pp.
64-65).

Police Force Public Security Police

Salary & Benefits PHP 9,570.54

Uniforms Military olive green with garrison caps, but

also camouflage.

Training & Promotion The police reportedly undergo military-type

and counter-terrorism.

Equipments Supplied with advanced radio

communications equipment

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_in_Syria

 UNIFORMS
Police uniforms vary according to the police branch which it is considered. Generally
speaking, policemen assigned to security tasks wear the military olive green with
garrison caps, but also camouflage.
 A traffic police officer in Damascus.

Since 2009, the Government has decided to change traffic policemen's uniforms
from military olive green to grey pants, a white shirt with yellow shoulder patches and
black belt and shoes.

A traffic police officer carries out traffic in downtown Damascus.

As of 2011, Anti-terrorism police wore dark blue uniforms. Ceremonial uniforms

consist in jackboots, white peaked cap and white tunic, with dark trousers with a red trim
for infantry and motorcycle units, and white cavalry pants for mounted troopers. or, its
task are limited to the protection and enforcement of security.
 Police officer in standard brigadier hat and leather jacket

The Internal Security Forces are part of the Ministry of Interior but makes uses of
military ranks.

 EQUIPMENTS
Syrian police equipment is an issue. According to The Telegraph, which
cites WikiLeaks, the Syrian police was supplied with advanced radio communications
equipment, including 500 hand-held VS3000 radios, by Finmeccanica as late as 2011.

Browning Hi-Power, the main police service pistol

According to pro-militant website Zaman al-Wasl, in 2014 the Ministry of Interior
received two Russian MI-171SH helicopters. Regular police units appear to be
equipped with the AKM assault rifle and the Browning Hi-Power, Makarov PM and GSh-
18 pistols.
GSh-18, new service pistol purchased from Russia
Elite police units, such as Special Mission Forces, are equipped with AK-
103 and AK-104 assault rifles.

 TRAINING
The police reportedly undergo military-type and counter-terrorism training, having a
school in al-Hasakah. Education for all police personnel is provided at three institutes:
two central Police Training Schools in Damascus and Aleppo - Khan al-Asal Police
Academy and the Officers College in Homs, where junior officers are sent for six-month
courses in specialized areas of expertise.

 RATIO AND POPULATION

Hundreds of billions in future government funds are what we need to recruit a
minimum of 10,000 policemen every year to ensure that there would be an adequate
number of cops needed to fulfill the ideal 1:500 ratio or 1 policeman for every 500
population ratio.

COMPARISON
The Syrian government's civilian police service is managed by the Criminal
Security Directorate, a branch of the Ministry of Interior. It has five police divisions and
branches: The Administrative Police, also known as Neighborhood Police: responsible
for general security and deals with non-emergency situations. The Emergency Division,
deals with emergency situations and operates roving patrols. Criminal Security
Department, Riot Division, Electronic Criminal Branch, in charge of combating
computer- and web-based crime. According to pro-government newspaper Al-Watan,
the Electronic Criminal Branch has a dedicated criminal laboratory. The
capital Damascus is policed by a special metropolitan police force and rural areas are
policed by gendarmerie forces. The Asayish police force is responsible for law
enforcement in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. In Turkish-
occupied northern Syria, the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Police is responsible for
policing, while various Syrian opposition groups provide policing services in Idlib.
The Philippines is investigating the involvement of Filipino Islamists in the three-
year civil war in Syria after two locals were reported killed fighting for Islamic State
militant group. The Philippines has been battling its own small but violent Islamist
militant group, Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for kidnappings, beheadings and
bombings in the south. Since 2002, a U.S. special forces unit has been advising and
training local troops.
Reference:https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-philippines-
idUSKBN0H804R20140913