Damage limitation? Assad's death notices for the missing

Since May, Syrian authorities have been quietly updating civil registries to show that thousands of people detained or disappeared since the beginning of the seven-year-old conflict have died, often claiming they had succumbed to a "heart attack".

In many cases, relatives of the deceased have found out that their missing family members actually died years ago, in the wake of the 2011 uprising. In one such instance, the family of Syrian activist Yahya Shurbaji discovered through an update to a municipal registry that he died just a couple of years after he was detained.

Shurbaji, dubbed the "man with the roses", was arrested in September 2011. He had played a key role in organising peaceful protests against Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Damascus suburb of Darayya from the onset of the uprising

Shurbaji's family said his record, updated earlier this year, showed he died on 15 January 2013, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.

His family isn't the only one to find out the fate of a loved one under such circumstances. Local sources have put the latest batch of detainees declared dead at some 5,000, reveals Amnesty International's Syria researcher Diana Semaan. "Some families have received notices before, but it was never in big numbers or in one batch as we are seeing now" she said.

Life after death

While the Syrian government has yet to comment on the recent updates, regional experts see a variety of reasons for the move.

For Mohammad al-Abdallah, director of the Washington-based Syria Justice and Accountability Center and a former Syrian prisoner, a likely reason behind the mass update to civil registries stems from Law Number 10 decreed earlier this year.

Law Number 10 allows the Syrian government to create re-development zones and expropriate property that has not been claimed. Under the measure, following official notification of intent to re-develop, claimants have 30 days to make a case before the property reverts to municipal or provincial authorities. Claimants can be either the property owner, the owner's relatives or a designated agent, in which case they have to stake a legal claim to the land in a process that is anything but clear.

"There is a legal side to it, how the life of the family could continue in the future with this mass number of missing people. As you know, if somebody is missing, it is going to be difficult for the family to do anything with their property," said al-Abdallah.

Turki al-Hassan, a Damascus-based political analyst and former brigadier general, confirmed that the updates were in the Syrian government's interest, saying the reason behind the development was because the Assad regime had gained control of the situation in Syria.

"It establishes the rights of the deceased and his family, such as inventory and property inheritance or marriage for those who lost their husband and other things," asserted al-Hassan. "This is evidence of stability in the country."

But receiving notification of death isn't the end of the story. Under Syrian law, families have one month thereafter to apply for an official death certificate. Without one, they are unable to move forward on legal aspects of the death. If they fail to apply for a death certificate, they are fined some 70,000 Syrian pounds (€120, $140).

"The government wants people to have legal documents, to act on these problems," al-Abdallah said. "The civil registry is informing families that the fine will be enforced strictly and that they have to apply and receive the death certificates within one month. This shows that the government wants people to obtain the legal proof of death quickly."

Case closed?

For some, Damascus' move is even more strategic. Noura Ghazi, a lawyer and founding member of Families for Freedom, believes that the Syrian regime is consolidating its gains with an eye towards the end game.

"The regime is issuing these death notices because it feels that it's winning and making victories," Ghazi said. "Part of releasing the notices is to terrorise the people, by killing the symbols of the peaceful revolution."

Fadwa Mahmoud, a founding member of Families for Freedom and relative of a Syrian detainee, is convinced that the "purpose of these notices is to deliver a message that the prisoner's file has been closed forever and there is no way to reopen it or hold those responsible for their death."

UN envoy Steffan de Mistura, who is tasked with mediating the Syrian conflict, has previously raised the issue of detained, missing and disappeared Syrians, saying their fate must be known in order to progress towards a political solution.

Yet, as Damascus continues to consolidate military gains across the country, some Syrians, such as former prisoner al-Abdallah, believe the regime is trying to wash its hands of their deaths before heading to the negotiating table.

"This is the Syrian government version of solving the issue," al-Abdallah said.

Lewis Sanders IV and Emad Hassan

© Deutsche Welle 2018