North-Press Agency
Dr. Mouhib Salha
In view of the state of security chaos, profaning the prestige of the judiciary and the rule of law in al-Suwayda governorate, southern Syria, in light of the deliberate absence of the state agencies which are responsible for preserving the security of the citizens and their properties, and because the local community is about to get impatient due to the consequences of this chaos, such as kidnappings, thefts, seizing the private and public properties, trading in the food of the people, unfair logging of forests, peasant's orchards, promoting and trading of drugs and contraband, the news of the formation of the traditional community "Rescue Committee" in the governorate is being spread like wildfires, which is consisted of representatives of the three al-Aqel Sheikhs, traditional elders, clerics, clan elders and representatives for some families, while the cultural community which is composed of intellectuals, thinkers, innovators, politicians, civil society, political forces and youth forces weren't represented, in addition to the complete absence of the female representation.
The mission of this committee – as it is rumored – is to follow the security situation in the governorate and to take the necessary procedures socially, to confront the security threats and challenges that threaten the governorate. From the formation of the committee, it isn't excluded, but it is almost certainly that it hasn't got the blessing and support of the official government agencies, and that it will communicate and coordinate with it in detail in terms of the scale of the tasks and goals which are entrusted to it to achieve or follow-up with the responsible authorities.
In this regard, many local authorities and national figures have already warned against the consequences of being silent or lowering the gaze under any pretext about the yobs who wreak havoc in the governorate of al-Suwayda under the eyesight of the responsible governmental authorities without blinking or moving a muscle against them. They even conducted what they call reconciliations, in the branch of the "Ruling al-Baath Party", but they took it as a cover for them to expand their criminal activities, flouting the appeals of the people and their concern for their lives and the lives of their sons and daughters, and their fear for their properties and their livelihoods, in addition to the public property which has become unbridled for everybody to act as he pleases, as the preoccupation of the pockets of the buildings, the arenas and the roads, in addition to preoccupying the city center with random stalls and kiosks in an ugly and disgusting way for the viewers and passersby, so that al-Suwayda became unique from other Syrian cities as it is the only city which is suffering from a fuel crisis, while all kinds of fuels are sold on the main and subsidiary roads in a way that violates the law, ethics, safety and security.
The state of the security chaos and arms chaos wasn't transient nor temporary situation, but its development coincided with the beginning of the repression practiced by the authorities and its followers on the peaceful demonstrators in the governorate of al-Suwayda, then distributing weapons openly and officially to the loyalists, and the formation of armed militias linked to the security services and al-Baath Party, the Syrian National Party, the Iranians, the Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Lebanese Unification Party led by former Minister Wiam Wahhab.
At the beginning, this situation constituted a force preventing the spread of the peaceful movement, and then a deterrent force to drag the governorate into the furnace of the armed conflict, as it forced its youth to migrate and take refuge in European and other countries.
Soon, after the calm witnessed by al-Suwayda and its tendency to a positive neutrality, this situation turned into a security chaos and an arm chaos deliberately and in a planned manner, where the militias and the uncontrolled members used to achieve illegal collective and personal gains, and share their gains with their operators, without any legal or moral reason, until al-Suwayda governorate has become one of the unsafe places in Syria, which isn't recommended to travel to or reside there.
The problem isn't about the formation of a civil committee or not to confront the security chaos, because many attempts have already been made to prepare for a public meeting at the level of the area, where many committees were formed, and legal, economic, administrative, security and environmental studies were prepared.
If the meeting was held, it is expected to form a "reference" or a civil committee, representing all components of the local community, and benefits from the specialists who are abundant in the community in all fields in order to fill the void which the authority intends to have in the area, including the security void which has become a problem for everyone, in addition to the deterioration of the economic and living conditions of the majority of the population of the governorate.
However, all attempts were doomed to fail due to the confusion of the national responsibility, the absence of the independence in decision-making in the religious and traditional references, the fragmentation of the cultural and civil society, and acute political divisions over the public affairs and the implications on the local issue.
It isn't expected that a "rescue committee" from a traditional society, which has no legal or moral authority over society, will succeed in curbing the yobs and ending the state of security chaos, and violating the rights of the citizens in life and work, as long as the state, which is present in the governorate of al-Suwayda with all its authority and judgment, doesn't want to end this situation, nor it intends to work for the rule of the law and its application to all.
This task is the task of the state which everyone adheres to, and not the task of the civil society, especially since the latter with all its components and formations, despite its reasons will never fail to provide a helping hand and assistance to the state institutions in order to play its role and perform its tasks. On the other hand, insisting that the situation remains as it is now may lead, in the absence of an appropriate political solution to the Syrian issue, and the deterioration of the population’s livelihood, to complete chaos where the state's institutions won't be immune from. At the same time, if the local community remains passive towards what is being tried to it, it may become a fuel for regional conflicts, where the state won't be able to keep away from it, because of the geo-strategic location of al-Suwayda governorate in southern Syria.
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