Syria
(2004)
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 continues
to monitor the activities of all groups, including religious groups,
discourage proselytizing, particularly when it is deemed a threat to
the relations among religious groups, and ban the members of 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 minor
tensions between religious faiths mainly attributable to economic rivalries
rather than religious affiliation.
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government
as part of its overall policy to promote human rights.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country has a total area of approximately 71,498 square miles,
and its population is approximately 18 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 are 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 citizens 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 and in the Wadi
al-Nasara. 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
nonreligious) 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 March 2003 of two devout yet moderate Islamists as independents
to the Parliament. Their election demonstrates the Government's desire
to encourage moderate Islamic voices in the Parliament.
The Government generally does not prohibit links by its citizens with
coreligionists in other countries or with a supranational hierarchy.
Orthodox and Western Easter, as well as 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 and branded it a
"politically motivated Zionist organization" in an attempt
to discredit it; however, individual 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. Proselytizing is not officially illegal; however,
those who proselytize can be prosecuted for "posing a threat to
the relations among religious groups." Most charges of this kind
carry sentences of 5 years to life imprisonment, although often such
sentences are reduced to 1 or 2 years depending on the case. There were
no reported cases in the last 3 years of the prosecution of an individual
or group on this charge.
The security services constantly are alert to any possible political
threat to the State, and all groups, religious and nonreligious, 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 often closes mosques between prayers.
The Government primarily cites tense relations with Israel as the reason
for barring Jewish citizens 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.
Jewish citizens must obtain the permission of the security services
before traveling abroad and must submit a list of possessions to ensure
their return to the country. Jewish persons also face extra scrutiny
from the Government when applying for licenses, deeds, or other government
papers. The Jewish community is prohibited from sending historical Torahs
abroad on the grounds that they are a part of the country's cultural
heritage. There is a law against exporting any of the country's historical
and cultural treasures, and the Government applied this law to the Jewish
community. This creates a serious issue for the dwindling Jewish community
concerned for the preservation of its religious texts.
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 predominant positions 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 expected
not 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.
Jewish citizens are forbidden from serving in the Government and armed
services and are excluded from mandatory military conscription.
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 October 2003, the Government changed the
age at which a woman loses the right to custody of her sons from age
9 to age 13 and her daughters from age 12 to age 15. 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.
All schools officially are government-run and nonsectarian, although
in practice some schools are run by Christian and Druze minorities.
There is mandatory religious instruction in schools for all religious
groups, with government-approved teachers and curriculums. Religion
courses are divided into separate classes for Muslim and Christian students.
There are classes only for Islamic and Christian instruction; other
groups such as Druze, Alawi, Ismailis, Shi'a, and Yazidis participate
in the Islamic courses. In the past, Jews had a separate primary school
that offered religious instruction on Judaism and other traditional
subjects; however, the school 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." There is no mandatory
religious study at the university level.
Abuses of Religious Freedom
Political prisoners held by the Government include an unknown number
of members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Their arrests were motivated primarily
by the Government's view of militant Islamists as potential threats
to regime stability. An unknown number of Islamists may remain in custody.
A Presidential amnesty issued in February 2003, connected to the end
of the Eid Al Adha holiday, reportedly freed more than 130 oppositionist
political prisoners, including many members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
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.
Abuses by Terrorist Organizations
There were no reported abuses targeted at specific religions by terrorist
organizations during the period covered by this report.
Improvements and Positive Developments in Respect to Religious Freedom
The country's Grand Mufti Ahmed Kuftaro and his Abu Nur Mosque continued
to engage in a wide variety of activities promoting Christian-Muslim
understanding.
Section III. Societal Attitudes
The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed
to religious freedom; however, there were occasional reports of minor
tensions between religious faiths mainly attributable to economic rivalries
rather than religious affiliation. 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 publishing anti-Semitic remarks in their anti-Israeli articles;
however, there were reports of anti-Semitic articles in previous years.
During the period covered by this report, a Syrian production company
created an anti-Semitic program and filmed it inside the country. The
theme of this program centered on the alleged conspiracy of the "Elders
of Zion" to orchestrate both world wars and manipulate world markets
to create Israel. The show was not aired in the country but was shown
elsewhere. There were occasional reports of friction between religious
faiths, which may be related to deteriorating economic conditions and
internal political issues. Specifically, in 2003 there were reports
of minor incidents of harassment and property damage against Jews in
Damascus perpetrated by individuals not associated with the Government.
According to local sources, these incidents were in reaction to Israeli
actions against Palestinians.
In March 2003, the usually moderate Grand Mufti issued a statement
urging Muslims to use all available methods (including martyrdom) to
defeat the US/UK/Zionist "aggression." He declared it was
compulsory for every Muslim, female and male, to resist invaders, and
that all those close to Iraq should defend it and the Iraqi people.
During the period covered by this report, there were no similar statements
made by the Grand Mufti.
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 Muslim-to-Christian conversions.
In many cases, societal pressure forces those who undertake such conversions
to relocate within the country or leave the country to practice their
new religion openly.
Section IV. U.S. Government Policy
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government
as part of its overall policy to promote human rights. 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 also during high-level visits, U.S. officials regularly emphasize
the importance of freedom of religion.
U.S. Embassy officials continued to remain 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 |