Syria’s Ministry of Interior has issued a “Code of Conduct for Personnel” aimed at strengthening integrity and discipline and raising professional performance standards across the security sector.

In a statement on Friday, 21 November, the Ministry said the Code reflects its commitment to a fair security service that strengthens citizens’ trust and supports the rule of law. It stressed that the Code applies to all personnel without exception and comes as part of its efforts to develop institutional work and entrench the principles of the rule of law.

According to the Interior Ministry’s definition, the Code of Conduct is a set of rules that determine how ministry staff should behave in a way that guarantees respect for rights and freedoms, equality before the law, and greater trust between society and the security institution, through binding professional and behavioral standards.

The Code clarifies the basic principles governing the conduct of ministry personnel, including:

• Belief that serving the state and society is an honor and a privilege to take pride in.
• Full compliance with applicable laws and regulations and working to implement them properly within the limits of one’s powers without any overreach.
• Protecting and consolidating human rights for all persons and treating everyone with dignity, in line with relevant international conventions ratified by the state and applicable laws and regulations.
• Dealing well with citizens in a way that reinforces the conviction that all people are equal before the law without any discrimination.
• Acting at all times in a manner that strengthens and preserves core values of integrity and good reputation.
• Using force only within limits prescribed by law and in proportion to security situations.
• Not invoking ignorance of the law or of instructions, or justifying misconduct by orders from superiors.
• Subjecting any violator of the Code to disciplinary and legal accountability.

In addition to general principles, the Ministry has included a set of duties that personnel are required to observe, among them:

• Preserving human dignity, rights, and freedoms and refraining from all forms of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, as well as verbal or behavioral abuse.
• Responding to citizens’ calls and providing necessary assistance to them without discrimination at all times and under all circumstances.
• Entrenching the principles of equality, justice, and neutrality when dealing with citizens, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, social status, or political affiliation, and enforcing the law fairly and objectively.
• Strictly adhering to the rules governing investigative procedures, especially search, arrest, and inspection, and interviewing all those linked to investigations in a way that preserves citizens’ dignity and rights.
• Treating defendants and suspects properly by respecting their rights at every stage of the investigation.
• Personally carrying out assigned work with honesty and dedication, and devoting working hours fully to the duties of the job.
• Performing their tasks with seriousness, efficiency, and integrity, without negligence or delay, even in the most difficult conditions.
• Wearing the approved official uniform, and all related items, while on duty without any additions or alterations.
• Maintaining neat dress, personal hygiene, and a proper public appearance.
• Keeping hair, beards, and moustaches trimmed in an orderly and consistent way befitting the status and nature of the job, so that their length does not exceed the limits specified in appearance regulations.
• Refraining from inappropriate hairstyles that do not fit a professional work environment or violate prevailing social norms.
  

  Syria’s Interior Ministry Caught Between Security Setbacks and Abuses Undermining Public Trust

Obstacles to discipline

In earlier comments to Enab Baladi, Nawar Shaban, a researcher at the Arab Center for the Studies of Contemporary Syria, said that the security situation in Syria is “acceptable to some extent” despite existing violations. He noted that the length of the Syrian conflict means it will take “huge” effort to restore discipline among personnel in the Interior and Defense Ministries in line with modern security and military structures and sciences in order to prevent such abuses.

However, the obstacles that hinder such discipline are many, Shaban added, foremost among them past grievances and newly generated ones driven by what he described as “sectarian and destructive terror tendencies” among the parties confronting these forces, which creates an environment conducive to violations.

In this context, he argued, the state must rise above sectarian or destructive behavior targeting its personnel and avoid being drawn into responding to abuses by adversaries with similar violations.

Shaban stressed that this issue represents a major challenge for the Defense and Interior Ministries in terms of ensuring discipline within security and military cadres and helping them move from a state of revolution to the stage of building a strong state based on law and institutions.

When it comes to assessing the effectiveness of a security actor, Maen Tallaa, a researcher at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, previously told Enab Baladi that there are several theoretical approaches and entry points for such an evaluation and that it must be tied to a set of indicators.

For example, he noted, the “Paris School” of international relations and security studies focuses on organizational and legal structures and on the concept of civil security relations.

Tallaa pointed out that the Interior Ministry has begun to pay increasing attention to organization linked to restructuring, the Code of Conduct, and the mindset and philosophy of internal security work.