Editing Martial law (section)

===Syria===
The martial law regime between the [[1963 Syrian coup d'état]] and 2011 is the longest ranging period of active martial law.{{disputed inline|text=disputed content|Syria: martial law vs exceptional state|date=May 2017}}<ref name="reuters20110421">{{Cite news |date=2011-04-21 |title=Syria's Assad ends state of emergency |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria/syrias-assad-ends-state-of-emergency-idUSTRE72N2MC20110421 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904135026/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria/syrias-assad-ends-state-of-emergency-idUSTRE72N2MC20110421 |archive-date=2017-09-04 |access-date=2019-10-30 |newspaper=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> Similar to other countries, martial law in Syria was established as a response to the declaration of a state of emergency.<ref>International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol. 41, No. 4 (Nov., 2009), pp. 545-547 (3 pages) Published By: Cambridge University Press</ref> When on 8 March 1963, the Baath Party seized power, the prime minister of Syria, acting as the martial law governor, was granted extraordinary powers through his declaration of a state of emergency.<ref name="hrw2007">{{Cite web |title=No Room to Breathe: State Repression of Human Rights Activism in Syria: IV. Syria's Legal Framework |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/syria1007/3.htm |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=www.hrw.org}}</ref> Syrian laws enabled the martial law governor to place many restrictions on freedoms of individuals, such as with respect to "meetings, residence, travel and passage in specific places or at particular times; to preventatively arrest anyone suspected of endangering public security and order; to authorize investigation of persons and places; and to delegate any person to perform any of these tasks."<ref name="hrw2007" /><ref>Legislative Decree 51, dated December 22, 1962, art. 4(a).</ref> However, the state of emergency declaration in Syria remained intact for nearly 50 consecutive years, prompting intervention and commentary from the international community.<ref name="hrw2007" />

International bodies declared such an extended state of emergency as against international law. Specifically, it was held to be in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (hereinafter "ICCPR"), which Syria is a party to.<ref name="hrw2007" /> Article 4 of the ICCPR "limits the application of emergency laws to a time of 'public emergency which threatens the life of the nation and the existence of which is officially proclaimed.' It further stipulates that the state parties to the ICCPR may derogate from their obligations under the treaty only 'to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with their other obligations under international law.'"<ref name="ohchr">{{Cite web |title=International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=OHCHR |language=en}}</ref>

In 2000, Syria responded to the allegations from the ICCPR, and countered that it was in compliance with the ICCPR in a report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.<ref name="un2009">{{Citation |title=Consideration of reports submitted by states parties under article 40 of the Covenant and of country situations in the absence of a report resulting in public concluding observations |date=2009-12-31 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.18356/81853592-en |work=Report of the Human Rights Committee: 91st Session; 92nd Session; 93rd Session |series=Report of the Human Rights Committee |pages=18–91 |access-date=2023-04-03 |publisher=UN |doi=10.18356/81853592-en |isbn=978-92-1-056786-2}}</ref> Syria justified this ongoing declaration of emergency through their concerns of ongoing threats of war by Israel.<ref name="hrw2007" />

On 28 July 2005, the United Nations responded: <blockquote>"Noting with concern that the state of emergency declared some forty years ago is still in force and provides for many derogations in law or practice from the rights guaranteed under articles 9 14, 19, and 22, among others, of the Covenant, without any convincing explanation being given as to the relevance of these derogations to the conflict with Israel and as to the necessity of these derogations to meet the exigencies of the situation claimed to have been created by the conflict."<ref name="un2009" /><ref name="ohchr" /> </blockquote>In further response, Syria reiterated their position that the ongoing emergency declaration was due to a continued threat of war with Israel.<ref name="un2009" /><ref name="hrw2007" /> Despite ongoing dialogue over a period of years between Syria, the ICCPR, and the United Nations, the declaration remained in effect for the next six years from the 2005 statement made by the United Nations advising of the invalidity of such an extensive state of emergency declaration.<ref name="un2009" /><ref name="ohchr" /><ref name="hrw2007" />

Ultimately, after 48 years, in April 2011, President Bashar al-Assad ended Syria's state of emergency, thereby signaling the end of the longest martial law ruling in history.<ref name="routledge2016">{{Citation |title=Syria's President Bashar al-Assad: State Sponsor of Terrorism? |date=2016-01-08 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315635422-9 |work=Conversations with Terrorists |pages=69–88 |access-date=2023-04-03 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315635422-9 |isbn=978-1-315-63542-2}}</ref> This came as a response to [[Syrian revolution|protests]] demanding freedom from the historically long police rule over Syria.<ref name="routledge2016" />