Syria
(2003)
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government
generally respects this right in practice; however, it imposes restrictions
in some areas.
There was no change in the status of respect for religious
freedom during the period covered by this report. The Government monitors
the activities of all groups, including religious groups, discourages
proselytizing, particularly when it is deemed a threat to the relations
among religious groups, and has banned Jehovah's Witnesses as a "politically
motivated Zionist organization."
The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed
to religious freedom; however, there were occasional reports of friction
between religious faiths.
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government
in the context of its overall dialog and policy of promoting human rights.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country has a total area of approximately 71,498 square miles,
and its population is approximately 17 million. Sunni Muslims represent
approximately 74 percent of the population (approximately 12.6 million
persons). Other Muslim groups, including Druze, Alawi, Ismailis, Shi'a,
and Yazidis, constitute an estimated 16 percent of the population (approximately
2.7 million persons). A variety of Christian denominations make up the
remaining 10 percent of the population (approximately 1.7 million persons).
The great majority of Christians belong to the Eastern groups that have
existed in the country since the earliest days of Christianity. The
main Eastern groups belong to autonomous Orthodox churches, the Uniate
churches, which recognize the Roman Catholic Pope, and the independent
Nestorian Church. There also are believed to be approximately 85 Jews.
It is difficult to obtain precise population estimates for various religious
denominations due to government sensitivity to sectarian demographics.
The largest Christian denomination is the Greek Orthodox Church, known
in the country as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All
the East. The Syrian Orthodox Church is notable for its use of a Syriac
liturgy. Most Syrians of Armenian origin belong to the Armenian Apostolic
Church, which uses an Armenian liturgy. The largest Uniate church in
the country is the Greek Catholic Church. Other Uniate denominations
include the Maronite Church, the Syrian Catholic Church, and the Chaldean
Catholic Church, which derives from the Nestorian Church. The Government
also permits the presence, both officially and unofficially, of other
Christian denominations, including Baptist, Mennonite, and the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).
Sunni Muslims are present throughout the country. Christians tend to
be urbanized and most live in Damascus and Aleppo, although significant
numbers live in the Hasaka governorate in the northeast. A majority
of the Alawis live in the Latakia governorate. A significant majority
of the Druze population resides in the rugged Jabal al-Arab region in
the southeast. The few remaining Jews are concentrated in Damascus and
Aleppo. Yazidis are found primarily in the northeast.
Foreign missionary groups are present but operate discreetly.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
Legal/Policy Framework
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government
generally respects this right in practice; however, it discourages public
proselytizing and carefully monitors groups it considers to practice
militant Islam. There is no official state religion; however, the Constitution
requires that the President be a Muslim.
All religions and orders must register with the Government, which monitors
fundraising and requires permits for all meetings by religious (and
non-religious) groups, except for worship. The registration process
can be complicated and lengthy, but the Government usually allows groups
to operate informally while awaiting the Government's response.
Recognized religious groups receive free utilities and are exempt from
real estate taxes and personal property taxes on official vehicles.
There is a strict de facto separation of church and state. Religious
groups tend to avoid any involvement in internal political affairs.
The Government, in turn, generally refrains from becoming involved in
strictly religious issues. Nevertheless, government policies tend to
support the study and practice of moderate forms of Islam. For example,
the Government selects moderate Muslims for religious leadership positions,
is intolerant of and suppresses extremist forms of Islam, and accepted
the election in 2003 of a devout, yet moderate Muslim to the Parliament.
The Government generally does not prohibit links by its citizens with
coreligionists in other countries or with a supranational hierarchy.
In 2001 Pope John Paul II visited the country and conducted a public
mass in Damascus, which representatives of all of the country's Orthodox
and Uniate Christian denominations attended. The Government also allowed
the Pope to tour the Ummayyad Mosque in Damascus, which was the first
time in history that a Pontiff visited a mosque. At a ceremony welcoming
the Pope to the country, President Bashar al-Asad gave a speech that
was denounced widely as anti-Semitic (see Section IV).
All schools officially are government-run and nonsectarian, although
some schools are run in practice by Christian and Jewish minorities.
There is mandatory religious instruction in schools, with government-approved
teachers and curricula. Religion courses are divided into separate classes
for Muslim and Christian students. In the past, Jews had a separate
primary school which offered religious instruction on Judaism and other
traditional subjects. However, it recently was closed due to the dwindling
size of the Jewish community. Although Arabic is the official language
in public schools, the Government permits the teaching of Armenian,
Hebrew, Syriac (Aramaic) and Chaldean in some schools on the basis that
these are "liturgical languages."
Both Orthodox and Western Easter and three Muslim religious holidays
(Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr, and the Prophet Mohammed's birthday) are
recognized as national holidays.
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
In 1964 the Government banned Jehovah's Witnesses as a "politically
motivated Zionist organization." However, members of Jehovah's
Witnesses have continued to practice their faith privately despite the
official ban.
Although the law does not prohibit proselytizing, in practice the Government
discourages such activity, particularly when it is deemed a threat to
the relations among religious groups. Foreign missionaries are present,
but operate discreetly.
The security services constantly are alert to any possible political
threat to the State and all groups, religious and non-religious, are
subject to surveillance and monitoring by government security services.
The Government considers militant Islam in particular a threat to the
regime and follows closely the practice of its adherents. The Government
has allowed many mosques to be built; however, it monitors and controls
sermons and closes mosques between prayers.
The Government primarily cites tense relations with Israel as the reason
for barring Jews from government employment and for exempting them from
military service obligations. Jews also are the only religious minority
group whose passports and identity cards note their religion.
Government policy officially disavows sectarianism of any kind. However,
in the case of President Asad's Alawi Muslim group, religion can be
a contributing factor in determining career opportunities. For example,
Alawis hold the predominant position in the security services and military,
well out of proportion to their percentage of the population.
In keeping with the Government's secular policy, the military does
not have a chaplain's corps, members of the military do not have direct
access to religious or spiritual support, and soldiers are not expected
to express their faith overtly during work hours. For example, Muslims
are discouraged from praying while on duty. Religious minorities, with
the exception of Jews, are represented among the senior officer corps.
Religious groups are subject to their respective religious laws on
marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance.
For Muslims, personal status law on divorce is based on Shari'a (Islamic
law) and some of its provisions as interpreted discriminate against
women. For example, husbands may claim adultery as grounds for divorce,
but wives face more difficulty in presenting the same case. If a woman
requests a divorce from her husband, she may not be entitled to child
support in some instances. In addition under the law a woman loses the
right to custody of her sons when they reach age 9 and her daughters
at age 12. Inheritance for Muslims also is based on Shari'a. Accordingly
Muslim women usually are granted half of the inheritance share of male
heirs. However, Shari'a mandates that male heirs provide financial support
to the female relatives who inherit less. For example, a brother who
inherits an unmarried sister's share from their parents' estate is obligated
to provide for the sister's well-being. If the brother fails to do so,
she has the right to sue. Polygyny is legal but is practiced only by
a small minority of Muslim men.
Abuses of Religious Freedom
Presidential amnesties issued in November 2000 and December 2001 reportedly
freed hundreds of oppositionist political prisoners, including many
members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The 1999 arrests were motivated primarily
by the Government's view of militant Islamists as potential threats
to regime stability. There is no current estimate available of the number
of Islamists who may remain in custody.
In 2001 there was a credible report that Syrian intelligence officials
in Lebanon arrested three Syrian Druze men who had converted to Christianity,
possibly on suspicion of being Jehovah's Witnesses. They reportedly
were transferred to prison in Syria, held for 2 months, and then released
after signing papers stating that they would cease attending their church
and cease contact with their pastor.
Forced Religious Conversion
There were no reports of forced religious conversion, including of
minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from
the United States, or of the refusal to allow such citizens to be returned
to the United States.
Section III. Societal Attitudes
Relations among the various religious communities generally are amicable,
and there is little evidence of societal discrimination or violence
against religious minorities. The press, which the Government tightly
controls, generally is careful to avoid making anti-Semitic remarks
in their anti-Israeli articles; however, during the period covered by
this report, on one occasion the press published a book review of the
Arabic translation of David Duke's Awakening that could be construed
as anti-Semitic. There were occasional reports of friction between religious
faiths, which may be related to deteriorating economic conditions and
internal political issues. Specifically, there were reports of minor
incidents of harassment and property damage against Jews in Damascus.
These incidents are believed to be in reaction to Israeli actions against
Palestinians.
During hostilities in Iraq, the Grand Mufti criticized U.S. actions
and called for Muslims to use all available methods (including martyrdom)
to defeat the "invaders." Government officials reportedly
did not support his statement and there were no reports that public
officials made similar statements.
Although no law prohibits religious denominations from proselytizing,
the Government is sensitive to complaints by religious groups of aggressive
proselytizing by other groups and has intervened when such activities
threatened the relations among religions. Societal conventions make
conversions relatively rare, especially in the case of Muslim-to-Christian
conversions. In many cases, societal pressure forces those who undertake
such conversions to relocate within the country or to leave the country
in order to practice their new religion openly.
Section IV. U.S. Government Policy
The U.S. Ambassador and other embassy officials meet routinely with
religious leaders and adherents of almost all denominations at the national,
regional, and local levels. In meetings between embassy staff and Government
officials, and during high level visits, U.S. employees regularly emphasize
the importance of human rights, including freedom of religion. In 2001
the State Department spokesman criticized as unacceptable and regrettable
President Asad's speech during the Pope's visit, in which he characterized
Jews as the betrayers of Christ and the Prophet Mohammed (see Section
II).
Embassy officials remained sensitive to any change
in the degree of religious freedom in the country.
Sources: U.S. State Department - Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor |