⚔️ Damascus: Conference Warns Against Building the Economy on the Ruins of Human Rights

On Sunday 2 November, three syrian/" class="auto-internal-link">syrian civil society organizations convened a symposium in damascus under the title “From the Rubble to Responsibility: Human Rights, Business, and the Future of syria. ” Organized by the Syrian Legal Development Program, the Global Syrian Business Association, and Syria Report, the conference brought together representatives from administration ministries, civil society, the business community, UN agencies, and donor states—all aiming to shape a shared vision for a more sustainable and accountable future. Development Inseparable from Human Rights Saad Baroud, Director of International Organizations and Conferences at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asserted that development and human rights are fundamentally linked. Recalling the 2011 Syrian revolution, he noted its calls for dignity and national unity made the question of rights central to Syria’s post-crisis discourse. “Reconstruction cannot proceed on goodwill alone,” Baroud stated. It requires clear public policy and legal frameworks that balance individual freedoms with the protection of human rights.

He stressed that reconstruction is not merely about rebuilding structures, but is intrinsic to transitional justice. While buildings can be quickly restored, trust and rights take far longer to repair. Housing and property rights, he argued, are pivotal to any severe redress of the seizures, forced displacements, and disappearances that have marked both the revolution and the preceding decades. Citing international experiences, Baroud identified three essential pillars for sustainable economic recovery: sound governance, a responsible private sector, and an engaged civil society.

He praised Syrian civil society’s leadership during the revolution in advocating for rights, pursuing accountability, and exposing violations. Indeed, it now adapts to shifting priorities with notable agility. “No development can be allowed to come at the cost of human dignity,” he concluded. Averting the Return of Violations Sana Keikhia, Executive Director of the Syrian Legal Development Program, described the Syrian tragedy not only as a political and armed forces crisis but as a failure of institutions. Key sectors of Syria’s economy—construction, finance, telecommunications, and industry—she stated, were complicit in the regime’s repression.

Over fourteen years of war, following decades of authoritarian rule, some businesses did more than survive under state coercion—they thrived by directly profiting from rights abuses, including the systematic expropriation of property from detainees and relocated persons. Keikhia criticized numerous post-crisis “reconstruction” projects as thinly veiled attempts to entrench these illicit gains. Telecommunications and tech services were repurposed into surveillance tools used to monitor activists, transforming infrastructure into weapons of fear. She…