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DIGITAL DOMINION:
How the Syrian regime’s mass digital surveillance violates human rights
Recommended Citation
Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak, Nino Guruli, & Dima Samaro, DIGITAL DOMINION: How the Syrian regime’s mass digital surveillance violates human rights (March 2021)
https://repository.law.uic.edu/whitepapers/20
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March 2021
Contact: Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak Nino Guruli
UIC John Marshall Law School International Human Rights Clinic 300 South State Street Chicago, Illinois, USA 60604 Tel. +1 (312) 386-2888 [email protected]
Dima Samaro
Access Now 463 Lincoln Place #241 Brooklyn, New York 11238 [email protected]
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
UIC John Marshall Law School International Human Rights Clinic
The UIC John Marshall Law School International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan law school legal clinic dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights in the United States and around the world. The IHRC offers students a background in human rights advocacy through the practical experience of working in international human rights cases and projects.
Access Now Access Now (https://www.accessnow.org) defends and extends the digital rights of users at risk around the world. By combining direct technical support, comprehensive policy engagement, global advocacy, grassroots grantmaking, legal interventions, and convenings such as RightsCon, we fight for human rights in the digital age.
Other Contributors:
Michael Drake Marshall Janevicius Abigail Simmons Maritza Jaimes Clayton Dant Michael Hopkins Michael Lynn
Digital Design Contributors:
Ryan Ruffatti Salome Guruli
Supporting Organizations:
Syrian Justice & Accountability Centre MedGlobal
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Introduction
II. Factual Background: Telecommunications Infrastructure and Key Players
- A. The Infrastructure of Surveillance
- B. Regime Intelligence Agencies
- C. The Syrian Electronic Army and Third-Party Hacking
- D. Mass Surveillance and Persecution
III. Human Rights and Surveillance
- A. The Right to Privacy
- B. Freedom of Expression and the Right to Participate in Public Affairs
- C. Right to Life and Freedom from Torture and CIDT
- D. The Right to a Remedy
IV. How Surveillance Leads to Censorship, Monitoring, Hacking and Violence
- A. Abuse Enabling Legal and Institutional Infrastructure
- B. Access Shutdowns, Censorship and Self-Censorship
- C. Hacking, Tracking, and Monitoring
- D. Detention, Torture, and Executions
- E. Corporate Involvement
IV. Conclusion
Table of contents
- I. Introduction
- II. Factual Background - Telecommunications Infrastructure and Key Players
- III. Human Rights and Surveillance
- IV. How Surveillance Leads to Censorship, Monitoring, Hacking and Violence
- V. Conclusion