Full Report
Senior researcher Noura Aljizawi speaks with Nalah Ayed from CBC Ideas about her personal experience of returning to Syria to grieve for the first time in 13 years following the fall of the al-Assad regime. Aljizawi recalls how grieving publicly was not allowed in the wake of the 2011 revolution, despite the importance of collective […] The post The Right to Remember: Memorializing in Syria appeared first on The Citizen Lab.
Analysis Summary
# Main Topic
The suppression of collective grief and the right to memorialization in Syria following the 2011 revolution, as discussed by Citizen Lab senior researcher Noura Aljizawi, highlighting the cultural and social restrictions imposed on mourning the deceased, especially after the fall of the al-Assad regime.
## Key Points
- The discussion centers on the difficulty and risk associated with public grieving in Syria following the 2011 revolution, contrasting it with the traditional importance of collective mourning in Syrian culture.
- Researcher Noura Aljizawi returned to Syria after 13 years to grieve, underscoring the enduring need for physical memorialization for victims, including those still missing.
- The political atmosphere restricted overt expressions of grief, indicating a form of societal control being exercised even after regime change.
- The importance of finding bodies and establishing graves for closure remains a crucial, unfulfilled aspect of remembrance for the missing.
## Threat Actors
- **Primary Actor (Contextual):** The former al-Assad regime's security apparatus and associated forces, implied by the context of post-2011 restrictions on public activity.
- **Note:** This report focuses on socio-political restrictions rather than active cyber threat actors or infrastructure.
## TTPs
- **Socio-Political Restriction:** Enforcement of limitations on public assembly and expression of collective emotion (grief/memorialization) in the wake of revolutionary upheaval.
- **Control Mechanism:** Creation of an environment where forms of social processing integral to cultural identity (collective grieving) are deemed illicit or dangerous.
## Affected Systems
- **Victims:** Syrian citizens attempting to mourn deceased friends and loved ones killed during or following the 2011 revolution.
- **Scope:** Social and cultural structures related to public assembly and memorial traditions.
## Mitigations
- **Cultural Practice:** The continued pursuit of personal and collective memory and insistence on the right to memorialize, even in the face of prior adversity.
- **Search for Closure:** Efforts to locate the missing and establish physical graves as a prerequisite for cultural and personal healing.
## Conclusion
This intelligence summary highlights a significant human rights and cultural impact stemming from political instability: the denial of the culturally imperative right to grieve and memorialize the dead. While lacking specific technical Indicators of Compromise (IoCs), the identified "threat" is socio-political repression impacting cultural practice. Recommendations center on supporting post-conflict remembrance efforts and ensuring the right to physical memorialization for victims.