Azaz City Agreement between Ahrar al-Sham (AAS) and Jabhat al-Sham

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Country/entity: Syria
Region: Middle East and North Africa
Agreement name: Azaz City Agreement between Ahrar al-Sham (AAS) and Jabhat al-Sham
Date: 13 Nov 2016
Agreement status: Multiparty signed/agreed
Interim arrangement: Yes
Agreement/conflict level: Intrastate/local conflict
Syrian Conflicts (1948 - ) (1976 - 2005) (2011 - )
The agreements relate to three different conflict contexts. Israel-Syria and Syria-Lebanon. The Syrian-Israeli conflict was a key factor for the Syrian intervention during the Lebanese Civil War, with Syrian-backed Palestinian Liberation Army units intervened in 1976 against the Palestinian/Leftist militias. Following a massacre at Tel al-Zaatar that year, Syria was forced to accept a ceasefire at a meeting of the Arab League. However, the Arab League also mandated an Arab Deterrence Force, consisting of mostly Syrian soldiers with token contributions from other Arab League states, thus further legitimizing the Syrian presence in Lebanon. During a second bout of fighting that began in 1989, caused by the formation of rival Lebanese regimes in East and West Beirut, the Syrian-backed regime won and in 1991 the ‘Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination’ was signed to legalize the Syrian occupation as a means to ensure the security of Syria. Syrian forces were forced to withdraw in 2005 following possible involvement in the assassination of Lebanon’s President Hariri.

Syria-internal. In 2011, domestic upheaval following a wave of protests across the Arab World soon led to violent repression of protestors by Syrian government troops. The violence progressed steadily and by July 2011 the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was formed consisting of defected military units and new recruits. The FSA and rebel umbrella group known as the Syrian National Council represented the first attempt at coordinating rebel factions in late 2011. However, a steady influx of foreign fighters and increased sectarianism radicalised opposition groups, which relied on foreign funding. The nature of the conflict changed drastically in late 2013 as infighting among the opposition groups increased. One of the more significant developments was the split between the al-Qaeda outfits the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, ISIS), and Jabhat al-Nusra in early 2014 in addition to the intensified targeting of other rebel factions by ISIS fighters in particular, including the Kurdish Peshmerga, the FSA and other jihadist outfits. Since the summer of 2014, the conflict was further internationalized when ISIS announced the formation of an Islamic state eroding the state line between Iraq and Syria and also in mid-2015 when Russian forces intervened on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad government in Damascus.
Stage: Implementation/renegotiation
Conflict nature: Inter-group
Peace process: Syrian Local Agreements
Parties: Harakat Ahrar al-Sham;
Jabhat al- Shamiyya
Third parties: President of the Central Court – Azaz, [illegible]
Description: Following a dispute over a checkpoint in the City of Afrin between Harakat Ahrar al-Sham and Jabhat al-Shamiyya, the Central Court in Azaz ruled that Harakat Ahrar al-Sham owes an apology to Jabhat al-Shamiyya and that control over the checkpoint return to the Central Court according to the previous rulling on 25/7/2016.

Agreement document: SY_161114_Azaz City Agreement Between Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat al-Sham_EN.pdf (opens in new tab) | Download PDF
Agreement document (original language): SY_161114_Azaz City Agreement Between Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat al-Sham_AR.pdf (opens in new tab)| Download PDF

Groups

Children/youth: No specific mention.
Disabled persons: No specific mention.
Elderly/age: No specific mention.
Migrant workers: No specific mention.
Racial/ethnic/national group: No specific mention.
Religious groups: No specific mention.
Indigenous people: No specific mention.
Other groups: No specific mention.
Refugees/displaced persons: No specific mention.
Social class: No specific mention.

Gender

Women, girls and gender: No specific mention.
Men and boys: No specific mention.
LGBTI: No specific mention.
Family: No specific mention.

State definition

Nature of state (general): No specific mention.
State configuration: No specific mention.
Self determination: No specific mention.
Referendum: No specific mention.
State symbols: No specific mention.
Independence/secession: No specific mention.
Accession/unification: No specific mention.
Border delimitation: No specific mention.
Cross-border provision: No specific mention.

Governance

Political institutions (new or reformed): No specific mention.
Elections: No specific mention.
Electoral commission: No specific mention.
Political parties reform: No specific mention.
Civil society: No specific mention.
Traditional/religious leaders: No specific mention.
Public administration: No specific mention.
Constitution: No specific mention.

Power sharing

Political power sharing: No specific mention.
Territorial power sharing: No specific mention.
Economic power sharing: No specific mention.
Military power sharing: No specific mention.

Human rights and equality

Human rights/RoL general: No specific mention.
Bill of rights/similar: No specific mention.
Treaty incorporation: No specific mention.
Civil and political rights: No specific mention.
Socio-economic rights: No specific mention.

Rights related issues

Citizenship: No specific mention.
Democracy: No specific mention.
Detention procedures: No specific mention.
Media and communication: No specific mention.
Mobility/access: Page 1, The present Central Court in Azaz has entered the conflict situation that has arisen between Harakat Ahrar al-Sham [The Movement of the Free Men of the Levant] on the one side and Jabhat al- Shamiyya [The Levant Front] on the other side concerning the dispute that arose by the major traffic checkpoint in the city of Afrin. The solution of the situation was that the Central Court will supervise the situation in Azaz by overlooking the conduct of the affairs of the checkpoint and crossing to the city of Afrin by removing the two sides from the management of the checkpoint. The Central Court will take over [the management]. The checkpoint of the National Hospital will be subject to supervision and management standards.
Protection measures: No specific mention.
Other: No specific mention.

Rights institutions

NHRI: No specific mention.
Regional or international human rights institutions: No specific mention.

Justice sector reform

Criminal justice and emergency law: No specific mention.
State of emergency provisions: No specific mention.
Judiciary and courts: Page 1, In order for the Central Court in the province to follow its principle of neutrality in dealing with general issues, the Court has decided that:
There will be an apology for dismissing the implementation of the mentioned agreement between the two sides. The elements of the judicial control and its official documents will be withdrawn.
Prisons and detention: No specific mention.
Traditional Laws: No specific mention.

Socio-economic reconstruction

Development or socio-economic reconstruction: No specific mention.
National economic plan: No specific mention.
Natural resources: No specific mention.
International funds: No specific mention.
Business: No specific mention.
Taxation: No specific mention.
Banks: No specific mention.

Land, property and environment

Land reform/rights: No specific mention.
Pastoralist/nomadism rights: No specific mention.
Cultural heritage: No specific mention.
Environment: No specific mention.
Water or riparian rights or access: No specific mention.

Security sector

Security Guarantees: No specific mention.
Ceasefire: No specific mention.
Police: No specific mention.
Armed forces: No specific mention.
DDR: No specific mention.
Intelligence services: No specific mention.
Parastatal/rebel and opposition group forces: Page 1, The present Central Court in Azaz has entered the conflict situation that has arisen between Harakat Ahrar al-Sham [The Movement of the Free Men of the Levant] on the one side and Jabhat al- Shamiyya [The Levant Front] on the other side concerning the dispute that arose by the major traffic checkpoint in the city of Afrin. The solution of the situation was that the Central Court will supervise the situation in Azaz by overlooking the conduct of the affairs of the checkpoint and crossing to the city of Afrin by removing the two sides from the management of the checkpoint. The Central Court will take over [the management]. The checkpoint of the National Hospital will be subject to supervision and management standards.

Page 1, On Wednesday 9/11/2016, members of Harakat Ahrar al-Sham, under the lead of Abu Hussni Ahrar, came to the mentioned checkpoint, dismissed the members of the court and took over the checkpoint with the force of weapons on the grounds that the court will not ban the passage of cars from the Bab al-Salama crossing towards the city of Afrin.

Page 1, Despite the request of the Central Court to Abi al-Waleed Ahrar al-Sham, Deputy Commander of Harakat Ahrar al-Sham in Azaz, to implement the agreement according to its wording, he did not do so. He did not take the incident of the checkpoint seriously, stating that 80% of the resources of the checkpoint belong to Harakat Ahrar al-Sham.
Withdrawal of foreign forces: No specific mention.
Corruption: No specific mention.
Crime/organised crime: No specific mention.
Drugs: No specific mention.
Terrorism: No specific mention.

Transitional justice

Transitional justice general: No specific mention.
Amnesty/pardon: No specific mention.
Courts: No specific mention.
Mechanism: No specific mention.
Prisoner release: No specific mention.
Vetting: No specific mention.
Victims: No specific mention.
Missing persons: No specific mention.
Reparations: No specific mention.
Reconciliation: No specific mention.

Implementation

UN signatory: No specific mention.
Other international signatory: No specific mention.
Referendum for agreement: No specific mention.
International mission/force/similar: No specific mention.
Enforcement mechanism: No specific mention.
Related cases: No specific mention.
Source: Account of Mete Sohtaoglu, Twitter, 14 November 2016, 3:49am,
https://twitter.com/metesohtaoglu/status/798130794484989953

In the name of Allah the Merciful

Statement

[Illegible]

Council of [illegible]

The present Central Court in Azaz has entered the conflict situation that has arisen between Harakat Ahrar al-Sham [The Movement of the Free Men of the Levant] on the one side and Jabhat al- Shamiyya [The Levant Front] on the other side concerning the dispute that arose by the major traffic checkpoint in the city of Afrin.

The solution of the situation was that the Central Court will supervise the situation in Azaz by overlooking the conduct of the affairs of the checkpoint and crossing to the city of Afrin by removing the two sides from the management of the checkpoint.

The Central Court will take over [the management].

The checkpoint of the National Hospital will be subject to supervision and management standards.

This was agreed on 25/7/2016.

On Wednesday 9/11/2016, members of Harakat Ahrar al-Sham, under the lead of Abu Hussni Ahrar, came to the mentioned checkpoint, dismissed the members of the court and took over the checkpoint with the force of weapons on the grounds that the court will not ban the passage of cars from the Bab al-Salama crossing towards the city of Afrin.

Despite the request of the Central Court to Abi al-Waleed Ahrar al-Sham, Deputy Commander of Harakat Ahrar al-Sham in Azaz, to implement the agreement according to its wording, he did not do so.

He did not take the incident of the checkpoint seriously, stating that 80% of the resources of the checkpoint belong to Harakat Ahrar al-Sham.

In order for the Central Court in the province to follow its principle of neutrality in dealing with general issues, the Court has decided that:

There will be an apology for dismissing the implementation of the mentioned agreement between the two sides.

The elements of the judicial control and its official documents will be withdrawn.

(Allah be behind our intention)

President of the Central Court – Azaz

[illegible]