Agreement between elders and the Yarmouk Martyr Brigade

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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 - )
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: 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 (opens in new tab) | Download PDF
Agreement document (original language): SY_150512_Agreement between elders and the Yarmouk Martyr Brigade_AR.pdf (opens in new tab)| 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

Ritual/prayer and process (including use of scripture): No specific mention.
Grievance List: The agreement addresses the consequences and grievances that arose from a series of clashes between the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigades, Jabhat al-Nusra and other Islamist groups in Daraa governorate.
Cattle rustling/banditry: No specific mention.
Social cover: No specific mention.

“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.

Agreement between elders and the Yarmouk Martyr Brigade

Local agreement properties

Local issues

Source agreement