The U.S. "Caesar Law" sanctions on Syria deepen the suffering of the Syrian people, keep the regime in power – Analyst
Washington – North-Press Agency
Hadeel Oueiss
After many rounds the "Caesar Law" went through, which was presented to the U.S. Congress in 2016, as it was rejected in its initial form, where the law aspired to establish a no-fly zone to support the Syrian opposition and accompany it with other laws that pressure the Syrian government, the Syrian organizations which fought to pass the law, have waived a number of the laws attached to the "Caesar law", to finally find a chance to pass and reach the office of the U.S. President Donald Trump, to sign it within weeks.
In its current form, the law aims to impose sanctions on Syria and its allies, including Russia and Iran, and any country that provides the Syrian government with aircraft, aircraft spare parts, engineering, construction, and energy projects controlled by the Syrian government.
Under the law, the U.S. President Donald Trump can cancel sanctions on a case-by-case basis, and he can suspend sanctions if meaningful negotiations are held to stop violence against civilians, as the resolution states.
Caesar's law was named after a Syrian military photographer who deserted the Syrian government in 2014, and published what he said, were "images of torture inside Syrian prisons", the name of “Caesar” was used to conceal his true identity, as those images were later displayed in the U.S. Senate.
What is the benefit of Caesar's law?
British political analyst Chris Doyle considered the ongoing economic sanctions by Europe and the United States on Syria, as an ineffective way to change the behavior of the Syrian government, rather, it benefit mostly warlords, owners of illegal money-transfer companies and smugglers of foreign goods and basic building materials to Syria, who are in the position of power and authority in Syria. Consequently, this means the accumulation of more wealth in the hands of those whom sanctions seek to change their behavior or force them to move away from power, while the Syrian society faces severe economic crises that affect the least wealthy people in Syria and prevent them from obtaining basic services such as fuel and food, which will be exacerbated by a new sets of sanctions.
Doyle said in an article he wrote on sanctions against Syria, that the European boycott is the most effective step against the Syrian economy, due to trade relations between Europe and Syria before the war, "but it has been proven over the years that it will not change the goals or behaviors of the Syrian regime in addition to ignoring those who stand with sanctions for history lessons," he said. "The sanctions enabled Saddam Hussein to benefit from the ruling Iraqi junta and from the boycott and isolation to which Iraq was subjected. The sanctions also enabled Hamas to tighten control over Gaza Strip. The Castro regime in Cuba survived after decades of U.S. sanctions, which authoritarian regimes have always created ways to confront and solutions to use them to increase their wealth,” he added.
"The sanctions package is a way to show off politics"
Analyst Chris Doyle wrote that European countries and the United States, which throughout years have abandoned any coherent strategy for Syria in the absence of international demands for Assad's departure, are finding in the sanctions and isolation imposed on Syria a way in which they can save their face in front of their abandonment of the Syrian people who have been killed and displaced while the West didn't move a finger.
Thus, the "Caesar" sanctions sets would be only a way for the Trump administration to show off that it still has influence in Syria and is still working on what it calls a political solution, as the years have proven that neither Assad will proceed to achieve nor do the sanctions.
Doyle believes that the best option is holding "conditional international talks with the Assad regime, with gradual easing of the sanctions provided for the release of peaceful civilian detainees, international inspections of chemical weapons sites and an end to bombing campaigns on civilian sites," he said.
"As for the sanctions, it is only a Western way to circumvent the international laziness to cause any change in Syria, and if it lasts for decades, it will only affect the economy of the Syrian civilian citizen who is not benefiting from the rule, while the sanctions will not change, however long they may be, the political reality in Syria and the regime's survival," the British political analyst Chris Doyle added.
"These sanctions will not change the lifestyle of the rulers and their relatives inside and outside Syria, but rather increase their wealth and increase their opportunity to do illegal business and economic activities that the people pay for," he asserted.