RAMTHA, JORDAN // The first case taken on by the Islamic court in Deraa was a trivial affair, especially viewed against the backdrop of a devastating conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people.
A baker was caught flirting with a married woman while selling her bread and, after complaints from her husband, the court stepped in, sentencing the would-be suitor to public naming and shaming as a dishonourable man.
That was a year ago and since then the Islamic court system has expanded in rebel-held areas of southern Syria. Now at least four courts – known as Hay’at Al Sharia, or Islamic justice committees – are operating in Deraa province.
The courts have run into resistance, although most of the problems appear to have been caused by powerful armed rebel factions who do not like being called to account for crimes.
Among civilians, the courts appear to have won a certain amount of respect for their use of a mixture of Islamic, civil and tribal law to administer justice, and for helping prevent rebel-held areas from sliding into a lawless chaos.
Ahmed Al Balki, a lawyer from Deraa, is opposed Islamic courts on principle because they are founded on Sharia. But even he admits the courts have been effective.
“They are not going around chopping off people’s hands, in fact they’re not doing a bad job. There are some mistakes but they are working in a way that helps overcome problems, their attitude is to try to achieve reconciliation,” he said.
He and other members of the Deraa Free Lawyers Association rejected an offer to take part in the system, having been asked to provide two people in what began as a six-person court, when it was being set up.
“I want civil courts and Syrian law but the Hay’at Al Sharia are much fairer and less corrupt than the old regime-run courts ever were, and people respect them, they listen to the judgments,” he said. “They are better than not having courts.”
After success with the initial court in western Deraa last year, another three courts, in the north, south and east, were established. All are connected with local rebel brigades and cooperate on cases that cross their jurisdictions.
The rebels backing the courts are affiliated with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Deraa military council, an organisation linking them to the Supreme Military Council (SMC) – the rebel command unit supported by Western and Arab Gulf states.
Another two courts were established in the province by Jabhat Al Nusra, an Al Qaeda-affiliated faction, which remains outside of the loose-knit FSA network and the SMC.
One of the Nusra courts merged with the FSA court in eastern Deraa to create a combined court, according to FSA field commanders in the region and rebels involved in setting up the system – a move moderates hope will reign in Nusra’s hardline tendencies. The other Nusra court remains independent.
A major reason for residents embracing the court system seems to be that the seven to nine judges attached to each court are all local people and well respected.
In contrast, Islamic courts in other parts of Syria have, in some cases, seen young foreign extremists handing out harsh judgments, with little legal justification, making them unpopular with the more moderate Syrian population.
“There are problems in other regions because the judges are uneducated. The more they know about Islamic law, the better the sentence, as the Prophet Mohammed taught us the best solution is a compromise,” said one part-time member of the western area court, who recently attended classes on international human-rights law in Amman.
“Realistically we cannot apply the sentences in all cases. For example, it is difficult for us to keep prisoners, so on those matters we come to agreements with the community, based on customary law,” he said.
Others familiar with the courts said they were largely flexible and pragmatic in their sentences, guided by the principle of “solh” – reconciliation – rather than revenge.
“The judges are a mixture of civil lawyers, tribal sheikhs and Islamic clerics; they often have training and understanding of all three systems,” said Yamama, 25-year old-opposition activist from Deraa.
She estimated 80 per of the court verdicts and sentences were appropriate, a record she said was good given the difficulties of carrying out criminal investigations in a war zone.
“The Hay’at Al Sharia are like an umbrella: underneath them are religious laws, tribal laws and civil laws, it’s a flexible system,” she said. “People here would not accept extremists giving rulings.”
Even by its own standards the system does not always work. In the very first case of the womanising baker, an FSA unit added their own extrajudicial punishment of a serious, prolonged beating to the more lenient sentence handed out by the court.
And on at least two occasions the courts have gone up against powerful rebel commanders, with mixed results, according to members of the FSA and political activists from Deraa.
In December, the western region court convicted Amid Abu Nuqta, an FSA battalion commander, of murder. The court ordered him to surrender his weapons, pay 5 million Syrian pounds (Dh162,600) as compensation to the victim’s family and to go into exile from his home village – the latter stipulated in deference to traditional tribal norms of casting out criminals.
In response, Abu Nuqta took a group of armed men and kidnapped the judges, an abduction that ended when a more powerful FSA brigade turned up with hundreds of armed men to free them.
A second clash between a different FSA commander and the southern area court produced a similar result, although the court building was burnt down and, three months later, the court has not been reopened.
“The courts are supported by most of the FSA commanders because it means we don’t have to get involved with small legal matters and can concentrate on fighting but there are a few stray men who do not like to have their power questioned,” said an FSA field commander from Deraa.
Not all verdicts are made public, although a handful of death sentences have been openly passed by the courts, including one against a rapist who killed his victims and another of a man convicted of murder. Bothe were executed by firing squad
Those found guilty by the courts of working as regime spies are also put to death by firing squad, although there are no figures for how many of those have been killed.
Local support for the death sentence in such cases is broad, according to residents of the rebel-held zone in Deraa province.
“At the start we had to be 100 per cent sure that an informant had given specific information that led to a killing but now we say all informants should be put to death because the intelligence they give always kills someone,” said an FSA commander who works with the courts.
“The system does work; there is no chaos in the liberated areas. It’s not perfect, but under the circumstances it is acceptable,” he said.
psands@thenational.ae
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THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now
Alan Rushbridger, Canongate
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
Europa League semi-final, second leg
Atletico Madrid (1) v Arsenal (1)
Where: Wanda Metropolitano
When: Thursday, May 3
Live: On BeIN Sports HD
Origin
Dan Brown
Doubleday
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
TICKETS
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The Orwell Prize for Political Writing
Twelve books were longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing. The non-fiction works cover various themes from education, gender bias, and the environment to surveillance and political power. Some of the books that made it to the non-fiction longlist include:
- Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie
- Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy
- Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
- Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims by Hussein Kesvani
- Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS by Azadeh Moaveni
