Iran, Russia, and Turkey Will Influence New Syrian Constitution

On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the formation of a “Syrian-organized and Syrian-led Constitutional Committee.” The committee will be comprised of 150 members with “a third picked by the regime, another by the opposition, and the remaining third by the United Nations.”

Formation of a committee was discussed earlier this month at a meeting in Ankara between the presidents of Turkey, Russia, and Iran. The committee is to be composed of individuals ranging from various factions such as, the Assad “government, opposition and civil society members.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has asserted this project is important for Syria: “…the work of the constitutional committee will be decisive in finally normalizing the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic.” Very little information has been released so far.

This ambitious project proposed by the trio of authoritarians could be their way of exerting more influence and control over the Syrian government and its resources.

Moreover, the three governments (Iran, Russia, and Turkey) seeking to lead this effort are all egregious violators of human rights with immense disdain for democracy. Iran, Russia, and Turkey are some of worst abusers of human rights in the world, according to Freedom House.

Iran is a theocracy with majority of the political, executive, and military powers held by the Supreme Leader – currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, elected by the Assembly of Experts. The Ayatollah, along with the Assembly of Experts, have control of the country even though the President is the elected representative of the country, and the Supreme Leader’s decisions are rarely challenged. The Council of Guardians, half of whom are appointed by the Supreme Leader, determine the competency of individuals who can run for seats in Parliament and the Assembly of Experts.

In Iran, many journalists been sentenced to long terms in prison for simply reporting on events involving criticism of the Iranian government.

Turkey is democratic in name only. Technically, the President and Parliament are elected by the people. Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the separation of powers has eroded and been replaced by an autocratic presidency. Following a reform of the Turkish Constitution, Erdogan reduced the legislative and judicial powers, successfully centralizing decision making. Twelve of the fifteen members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President – and judicial oversight of the executive branch has been reduced. The Parliament can no longer challenge the President’s decisions, table a “vote of no confidence”, or approve cabinet ministers and other executive positions.

In Turkey, free speech is almost non-existent and it is illegal to criticize the president. News agencies, including Zaman and Daily Sabah,  once critical of Erdogan’s Administration were forced into a quasi-government takeover. The agencies were forcibly sold and now disseminate pro-Erdogan messages. This year, Turkish Opposition leader Canan Kaftancioglu, was sentenced to over 9 years in prison for criticizing the president and terrorism charge.  One of the offenses was criticizing Erdogan’s “government’s crackdown on 2013 Gezi Park protests and the killings of three Kurdish women activists affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party.”

In Russia, the President and the legislature are officially voted in by the people. There are individuals called “plenipotentiaries” who represent the President in each federal district and hold no constitutional powers. However, the President exerts overwhelming control of Russia’s political and administrative spheres. Putin punishes critics of his policies. It was reported that as of March 2019, there were “236 political prisoners” in Russian prisons while others have fled the country.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a human-rights activist and critic of Vladimir Putin, was imprisoned in Russia in 2003 for 9 years with a renewed sentence 12 years. He was later pardoned by Putin and fled to London. During his second trial, Khodorkovsky said that millions around the world would be “watching with the hope that Russia will after all become a country of freedom and of the law…Where supporting opposition parties will cease being a cause for reprisals…Where human rights will no longer depend on the mood of the Tsar.”

This initiative will further legitimize Bashar al-Assad, another serial human rights abuser.

Currently, there has not been a definitive allocation of duties for each group. It’s likely that Russia, Iran, and Turkey will be influential in the decisions of the Assad regime. Based on the composition of the constitutional committee, outcome of its efforts should be met with skepticism.