With the start of the Syrian uprising in 2011 and its gradual transformation into a multi-party armed conflict, property rights abuses became rife across Syria. This called for the need to invest additional and focused efforts in the documentation of the various patterns of these abuses, which continue to deprive Syrian citizens of their nationally and internationally protected property rights.
In response to this urgent need, Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) founded the Beyti project—a local initiative dedicated to the protection of housing, land, and property (HLP) rights.
Beyti sheds light on the concept of property rights and the domestic and international legal texts governing these rights. With this, it aims to provide Syrian individuals and groups with a referential tool to understand the multiple facets of property rights, document related violations, and protect properties vulnerable to such abuses and the rights of their owners.
The project will build on and complement the findings of partner organizations active in the same context. Additionally, it will work to bridge existing gaps by addressing marginalized areas that witnessed large-scale and systematic violations and the different types of property violations that remain under-investigated.
Through a dedicated platform, the project seeks to mainstream knowledge about property rights in a simplified manner, using visual and text content, targeting especially property owners who lack expertise or legal capacity in this area. Most importantly, the project will provide a mechanism through which owners can report and document property rights violations they have suffered.
In the frame of spreading knowledge about property rights, STJ, under the mantle of the project, will also publish several procedural guides that build on an analysis of the various contexts surrounding property rights abuses across Syria. The guides shall offer recommendations and steps through which individuals and non-specialized organizations can restore the enjoyment of violated property rights. Furthermore, STJ will publish periodical reports on the most striking property violations, focusing on the repercussions they threaten to bring for victims and justice and accountability efforts, and thus the desired peace and stability in Syria.