The Suffocating Hold of HTS on Northwest Syria

More than a decade after the onset of Syria’s civil war, the conflict continues with multiple state and non-state actors vying for power. Today, one of the most notable non-state actors is the militant Islamist rebel group and former al-Qaeda affiliate Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Although President Bashar al-Assad has regained control of about 70% of Syrian territory, HTS has maintained a strong resistance in the northwest, setting itself up as the civic authority in areas including the strategically important province of Idlib. Despite HTS’s recent efforts to rehabilitate its militant jihadist image and rebrand itself as a legitimate governing force, it continues to pose serious threats to religious freedom. USCIRF recommended in its 2022 Annual Report that the U.S. Department of State redesignate HTS—a U.S. designated terrorist group since 2018—as an “entity of particular concern,” or “EPC,” for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act.Dr. Aaron Zelin, the Richard Borow Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a visiting research scholar at Brandeis University, joins us today to analyze religious freedom conditions in 2022 under the governance of HTS. With Contributions from:Susan Bishai, Policy Analyst, USCIRFVeronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Associate, USCIRF