{"id":98822,"date":"2026-05-05T13:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T13:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/98822\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T13:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T13:51:08","slug":"new-syria-protest-conditions-raise-concern-over-freedoms-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/98822\/","title":{"rendered":"New Syria protest conditions raise concern over freedoms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n      Syrian authorities have expressed that the new conditions don&#8217;t restrict freedoms, but regulate them [Getty\/file photo]<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newarab.com\/news\/syrian-authorities-walk-back-damascus-alcohol-curb-after-protest\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Syrian authorities <\/a>have announced new conditions for street protests, with an official telling AFP on Monday that the move was purely regulatory, despite concerns over restrictions on freedoms.<\/p>\n<p>It is Islamist authorities&#8217; first such move since the ousting of Bashar al-Assad&#8217;s regime in December 2024 following nearly 14 years of civil war that erupted with the longtime ruler&#8217;s brutal repression of peaceful anti-government protests in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>The interior ministry announcement last Sunday said the &#8220;right to demonstrate and gather peacefully&#8221; is guaranteed under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newarab.com\/news\/syria-leader-signs-temporary-constitution-hails-new-history\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Syria&#8217;s transitional constitution<\/a>, but must be exercised according to &#8220;legal conditions and mechanisms&#8221; to ensure security and public order.<\/p>\n<p>It said a committee would decide on applications for demonstrations within five days of being lodged, with applicants having the right to appeal.<\/p>\n<p>An interior ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity on Monday that &#8220;the decision is purely regulatory and aims to protect demonstrators&#8221; from violence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It doesn&#8217;t restrict freedoms but regulates them,&#8221; the official added.<\/p>\n<p>Rights activists have nonetheless criticised the move, saying it reinstates a permit system in place under Assad &#8211; which also included a notional right to appeal.<\/p>\n<p>According to the ministry announcement, authorities will have the right to demand an end to an authorised protest under certain conditions, including if it &#8220;exceeds the limits of the granted permit or if riots take place&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Syrian human rights activist Michal Shammas said on Facebook that the decision &#8220;reinstated the same conditions that were imposed&#8221; by Assad when the former leader sought to put down the 2011 protests.<\/p>\n<p>He said only legislative bodies could impose restrictions on constitutional rights like freedom of assembly, and called the administrative decree &#8220;illegal and in violation of the constitution&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newarab.com\/news\/syrian-families-protest-relatives-detained-israel\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Protests have erupted in different parts of Syria<\/a> since Assad&#8217;s ouster over a variety of issues, including living conditions as well as political and rights issues, sometimes voicing criticism of the new authorities.<\/p>\n<p>At times counter-protests have taken place, with clashes sometimes erupting.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa sought to reassure his Emirati counterpart that Damascus wanted to maintain good relations with the United Arab Emirates, following a violent protest outside its embassy in Damascus.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Syrian authorities have expressed that the new conditions don&#8217;t restrict freedoms, but regulate them [Getty\/file photo] Syrian authorities&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2916,95],"class_list":{"0":"post-98822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-syria","8":"tag-protest","9":"tag-syria"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116522299048707442","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}