Aref Dalila
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Short description|Syrian economist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Aref Dalila
| native_name = عارف دليلة
| native_name_lang = ar
| image = Aref Dalila, Mustafa Dalila (3088618073).jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Aref Dalila (left)
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1942}}
| birth_place = Latakia, Syria
| death_date =
| death_place =
| known_for = 2001–2008 imprisonment
| occupation = Dean of the Faculty of Economics in Damascus University (former), economics professor
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
| alma_mater = Moscow University
| movement = Damascus Spring
}}
Aref Dalila ({{langx|ar|عارف دليلة}}) (born 1942) is a Syrian economist and former Dean of the Faculty of Economics in Damascus University. He is currently working as a Senior Economic Researcher at Orient Research Center in the UAE.[http://orc-dubai.com/view/pages/viewPages.php?id=4&pLang=en Orient Research Center: Our Team ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505130128/http://orc-dubai.com/view/pages/viewPages.php?id=4&pLang=en |date=May 5, 2014 }} He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in 2002 on charges of "trying to corrupt the constitution, inciting armed rebellion and spreading false information" for his political activity during the Damascus Spring period, and imprisoned until released by presidential pardon in 2008.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7547647.stm |title=Syrian dissident economist freed |date=7 April 2008 |work=BBC News |access-date=19 July 2012}}
Academic career
Born in Latakia, Dalila holds a doctorate in economics from Moscow University.{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/2011/06/201162764247546667.html |title=Profiles: Syrian opposition figures |date=27 June 2011 |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=19 July 2012}} In the 1980s, he worked in Kuwait. Later he returned to Syria, taking the post of Dean of Economics at Damascus University. In 1998, however, his criticism of the economic policies of President Hafez al-Assad allegedly led to his being banned from teaching.
Following his dismissal, he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the People's Council of Syria.{{cite web|url=http://syria-today.com/index.php/politics/20061-qaa-aref-dalila-former-dean-of-the-faculty-of-economics-at-damascus-university-and-member-of-the-national-coordination-committee-for-democratic-change-ncc |title=Q&A: Aref Dalila, Former Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Damascus University and member of the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change (NCC) |author=Muhammad Atef Fares |date=June 2012 |work=Syria Today |access-date=19 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807124458/http://syria-today.com/index.php/politics/20061-qaa-aref-dalila-former-dean-of-the-faculty-of-economics-at-damascus-university-and-member-of-the-national-coordination-committee-for-democratic-change-ncc |archive-date=7 August 2012 }}
2001-2008 imprisonment
In 2000, Dalila was active in the "Damascus Spring", the title used for the period of political activism that followed following the death of former president Assad in June 2000 and the succession to the presidency of his son, Bashar al-Assad. During a general crackdown on the Damascus Spring activists, Dalila was arrested in Damascus on 9 September 2001, reportedly following a lecture advocating greater democracy and transparency in government and an end to corruption. The lecture was titled "The Syrian Economy: problems and solutions" and also addressed Syria's worsening economy and called for the abolition of state monopolies.
Dalila's lawyer, Anwar al-Bunni, reported that Dalila was beaten by police during his subsequent interrogation, presenting as evidence a blood-stained handkerchief. Upon making the allegation, al-Bunni was banned from future practice before the Supreme State Security Court. On 31 July 2002, Dalila was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2164049.stm |title=Two Syrian dissidents jailed |date=31 July 2002 |work=BBC News |access-date=19 July 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/1494/prmID/174 |title=Syria: Aref Dalila |publisher=PEN American Center |access-date=19 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603092914/http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/1494/prmID/174 |archive-date=3 June 2012 }}
France and the U.S. objected to Dalila's imprisonment and pressed for his release. In 2006, U.S. President George W. Bush named Dalila in a speech as a political prisoner unfairly jailed by Syria.{{cite web |url=http://www.nysun.com/editorials/road-to-damascus-2006-12-14/45204/ |title=Road to Damascus |date=14 December 2006 |work=The New York Sun |access-date=19 July 2012 |archive-date=26 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126140503/https://www.nysun.com/editorials/road-to-damascus-2006-12-14/45204/ |url-status=dead }} President Assad responded that the complaints amounted to foreign interference in Syrian domestic affairs.{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-opponent-idUSL720166320080807 |title=Syrian dissident Dalila freed |author=Khaled Yacoub Oweis |date=7 August 2008 |publisher=Reuters |access-date=19 July 2012}} Dalila was later adopted by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience.{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/syria-amnesty-international-welcomes-release-prisoner-conscience-2008080 |title=Syria: Amnesty International Welcomes Release of Prisoner of Conscience |date=8 August 2008 |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=22 January 2012}} PEN American Center also protested his sentence, stating that his trial "did not comply with international standards."
During his imprisonment, Dalila suffered from diabetes and heart disease, undergoing a heart surgery; both conditions were reportedly worsened by the poor conditions of his confinement. He began a hunger strike to protest these conditions in July 2005. In May 2006, he also suffered a stroke.
When he was released from prison on 7 August 2008 by presidential amnesty, he was the longest-serving prisoner from the Damascus Spring. He had served seven years of his ten-year sentence, the majority of which was spent in solitary confinement.
Role in Syrian uprising
When the Syrian Revolution began in 2011 as a part of the Arab Spring movement, Dalila was active in trying to calm sectarian tensions in his home city of Latakia.{{cite web |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-55936320110328 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306095827/http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-55936320110328 |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 March 2016 |title=Notables calm sectarian tensions in Syrian city |author=Khaled Yacoub Oweis |date=28 March 2011 |publisher=Reuters |access-date=19 July 2012}}
He later served on the executive committee of the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, a political bloc calling for democratic reform and opposed to President Assad. In 2012, he criticized the Syrian National Council established by exiled opponents, stating that the situation in Syria has continued to decline since its formation: "Instead of solving the problem, it made it more complicated".
References
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{{2011 Syrian uprising}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalila, Aref}}
Category:Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Syria
Category:Moscow State University alumni
Category:Academic staff of Damascus University
Category:People of the Syrian civil war
Category:Syrian prisoners and detainees
Category:Recipients of Syrian presidential pardons
Category:Syrian democracy activists