Some of the corruption in Syria

Corruption has never been a stranger to the Syrian state, as it exists in every state sector, institution, ministry and especially in its judicial sector. It has reached the point that Syrian citizens consider bribes to be at the core of every law, and that they cannot get their rights without bribes. One judge has expressed the state of the judiciary in Syria by saying: “Whoever pays more wins the case.”

For example, the Latakia National Hospital has witnessed a number of directors of health. One of them occupied the position for 23 years, during which he accumulated a fortune worth billions, and had a share in everything, even in the extermination committee! When no one could remain silent in the face of his looting of public funds (the money of the people and patients receiving treatment at the hospital), the charade of the central inspection committees began. They questioned the doctors, nurses and accountants, and four months later, the director of health skipped town to London and stayed there for four years. He then returned to Syria and is relaxing on his farm worth billions.

The heath director who succeeded him was rewarded for his corruption and was promoted to the position of Syrian ambassador to an Arab country. The one after him stole around $4.7 million from the country, and his lawyer advised him to leave Syria. He replied arrogantly and mockingly to his lawyer: “The law won’t catch up with me because I have the health minister and justice minister in my pocket.” He was a little mistaken, as he was imprisoned for four months and only repaid $33,000 of the money he stole.

This corruption witnessed and known by every Syrian is nothing compared to the corruption that occurred when the Syrian Revolution began. It opened new doors for corrupt, especially for military officers.

I know, from the testimonies of soldiers, that each one of them paid their officer about $400 a month so they wouldn’t have to carry a gun, kill and fight and in order for them not to be turned into an obituary, “a heroic martyr”.

The families of some soldiers were not well off and so many of them were forced to sell carpets or appliances. It is hard to estimate the millions collected by their officer, especially because he would be responsible for hundreds of soldiers. Years later, the stink of his corruption spread to the point that state decision-makers were forced to sack him. He has not been prosecuted or held accountable, despite the fact that some claim he was imprisoned for two weeks.

This officer’s case is not unique, as there are many other officers like him or ever more corrupt. In the Baath Party centres, people talk about the bribes and huge amounts of money demanded by the senior employees at the party’s office. Some were sacked after it was proven that they exploited and took advantage of citizens and stole millions. None of them were held accountable though.

Things are getting harder for Syrians and it is no longer possible to smuggle out young men in order for them to avoid serving in the Syrian army, as was the case two years ago. Getting a visa to Turkey is almost impossible, as is entering Turkey using smugglers.

Lebanon has also greatly limited the entry of Syrians, so now several young men are locked up at home, not daring to walk into the streets or sit at a café so that they are not forced into the security forces’ cars that pick up any young man to join the army and “fight whether they like it or not and die a martyr whether they like it or not!”

The stories of young Syrian men have outnumbered the stories of One Thousand and One Nights and science fiction stories. One of them insisted on fleeing death in Syria and made a plan to travel to Sudan and then Algeria. He had hoped that he would reach a European country from Algeria. Another rich young man paid $9,000 to an officer to exempt him from his duty as an armed soldier, but the money was lost and he did not benefit from it. The young man remained in a house he rented to hide from the police who are looking for human fuel for their dirty war.

Stories weaved with unspeakable pain and unspeakable despair have become the Syrians’ daily talk. No one cares about these people whose tragedy the entire world decided to call the tragedy of the century. How can trust be built between the state and the citizen in light of this shameful failure of accountability? What meaning does drafting a new constitution for Syria have if the Syrian citizens do not see the corrupt being prosecuted and imprisoned? Can we blame the poor young children who were deprived of education and food for their small deviations and petty theft to curb their hunger? What sort of miserable future awaits the Syrians in a state where corruption has become stronger than the state and bribes have become stronger than every law?

Translated from Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, 10 February 2017

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