Agreement between elders and the Yarmouk Martyr Brigade

• Country/entity

  Syria
  
• Region

  Middle East and North Africa
  
• Agreement name

  Agreement between elders and the Yarmouk Martyr Brigade
• Date

  12 May 2015
• Agreement status

  Multiparty signed/agreed
• Interim arrangement

  Yes
• Agreement/conflict level

  Intrastate/local conflict ( Syrian Conflicts (1948 - ) (1976 - 2005) (2011 - ) )
• Stage

  Ceasefire/related
• Conflict nature

  Inter-group
• Peace process

  Syrian Local Agreements
• Parties

  Notables from Yarmouk
  The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade
• Third parties

  -
• Description

  Five point agreement providing for the withdrawal of the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade from Saham al-Golan, Heit and Al-Suruji checkpoint in exchange for finding a neutral external party to take over the areas.

• Agreement document

  SY_150512_Agreement between elders and the Yarmouk Martyr Brigade_EN.pdf | Download PDF
• Agreement document (original language)

  SY_150512_Agreement between elders and the Yarmouk Martyr Brigade_AR.pdf | Download PDF

Local agreement properties

• Process type

  Isolated example
  
• Rationale

  -> Local issues only; no external support mechanism; no culture of signing There is no formally established mechanism to support the negotiation between Salafi armed groups and local populations. It is the first recorded case of a written agreement between those signatories.
• Is there a documented link to a national peace process?

  No
• Link to national process: articulated rationale

  No link to the national peace process in Syria is mentioned in the agreement, neither it can be inferred from further research. While the agreement involves local notables, it is unclear whether they are affiliated to any governance body and they are surely not official state representative. Second, Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade was affiliated to the Islamic State and rejects the national peace process, which would maintain Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian government in power. Finally, the agreement should be understood in the context of an “intra-religious insurgent groups” conflict where several factions that all oppose Bashar al-Assad engaged in fighting.
• Name of Locale

  Saham al-Golan, Heit and Al-Suruji checkpoint
• Nature Of Locale

  Region
• GPS Lat/Long (DD)

  32.770206, 35.915851
• Participant type

  Local armed group
  Local community/civilian group(s)/civil society organisations
  
• Mediator, facilitator or similar

  No mention of mediator or similar

Local issues

“After a meeting between the notables of the Yarmouk area with the leadership of the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, to find a solution to the bloodshed between the fighting factions in the area, praise to God the following proposals were reached to stop this bleeding:

First - The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade promises to withdraw from the areas that have been contested ((Sahem and Hit)) in exchange for finding a neutral external party to take over the town of Sahem Al-Golan, prevent the entry of any military faction, and make it a safe, demilitarized civilian area.

Second - The second party that stationed in the town of Hit promises to withdraw its heavy machinery, and all the factions and elements that came to Hit while they are from outside Hit, and only the Muslims from the people of Hit and the affiliated and dissident factions who were previously in Hit will remain in the Hit.

Third:

As a good-gesture, the Yarmouk martyrs [Brigade] promises to withdraw the al-Suruji checkpoint, provided that the checkpoint will be taken over by a faction that is acceptable to both parties.

Fourth:

After the al-Suruji checkpoint is withdrawn, the Hit factions must start withdrawing their fighting factions and begin removing those mentioned in the second article.

Fifth:

The work will begin on the ground seriously after the two parties agree to sign this paper by the notables of the region.