UN Experts Welcome Lifting Of Sanctions To Rebuild Syria
'Sanctions on Syria are no longer justified for the actions of the al-Assad Government after it was deposed in December 2024. Their lifting opens promising pathways to recovery. We urge the interim Government to prioritise the reconstruction of sustainable infrastructure and public services to fulfil the wide range of human rights at risk in Syria,' the experts said.
In 2011, the al-Assad Government ordered its security services to crack down on pro-democracy protesters and anyone deemed to be affiliated with them across the country. Widespread arbitrary arrests, detentions, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings constituted crimes against humanity.
Several States introduced sectoral and financial sanctions on the al-Assad Government, its officials and related entities in response. These aimed to prevent repression of the democracy movement, human rights violations, and international crimes committed during the subsequent armed conflict with armed and terrorist groups. They also aimed to prevent the use of chemical weapons and alleged State sponsorship of terrorism.
'Despite being targeted and providing for humanitarian exemptions, the sanctions had the unintended consequences of seriously impeding the human rights of the Syrian people and the delivery of humanitarian relief,' the experts said. The rights affected included the rights to life, food, health, housing, an adequate standard of living, water and sanitation, education, a healthy environment, development, and access to essential financial services and the internet.
Such violations disproportionately affected women, children, persons with disabilities, older persons, migrants, internally displaced persons, rural people, and ethnic, national and religious minorities.
'The legacies of armed conflict, the deadly earthquakes in northeastern Syria and the COVID-19 pandemic have made effective national recovery and sustainable reconstruction even more urgent,' the experts said.
While the EU lifted sectoral sanctions on energy, transport and banking, and all economic sanctions, individuals and entities linked to the former al-Assad Government will remain listed to 1 June 2026. EU security sanctions, including the arms embargo and export restrictions on equipment and technology that could be used for internal repression, will remain in place. The United Kingdom has similarly relaxed sectoral sanctions on energy, transport, banking and finance.
The initial relaxation of US sanctions, including by General Licence 25 (GL 25) in May 2025 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, allowed US persons to do business in Syria. However, the underlying Sanctions Framework, including designations under the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list ('SDN'), remained in place at that time, together with the US Export Controls, Foreign Terrorist Organization and State Sponsor of Terrorism schemes, among others.
The US Executive Order of 30 June 2025, 'Providing for the Revocation of Syria Sanctions', significantly removes sanctions on Syria, including a number of SDN Designations, while maintaining them on Bashar al-Assad, his associates, human rights abusers, drug traffickers, individuals involved in chemical weapons activities, the Islamic State in the Levant and its affiliates, and alleged Iranian proxies. It also provides for possible whole or partial suspension of secondary sanctions under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, and reconsideration of Syria's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.
'We call on all actors maintaining sanctions, and engaged in the reconstruction of Syria, to abide by international human rights law,' the experts said.
'All types of assistance, technical or financial, must respect human rights and non-discrimination. This includes avoiding reinforcing sectarian, ethnic or religious divisions. Human rights assessments of reconstruction efforts must consider gender and intersectional vulnerabilities and needs,' they said.
The experts also expressed alarm at recent sectarian violence in Sweida province, and unlawful intervention there by Israel, and called on all parties to cease fire and allow the interim Government to restore order in full respect for international law.
*The experts: Astrid Puentes Riaño, Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; Surya Deva, Special Rapporteur on the right to development.
Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent fromany government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.
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