Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
n former politician and writer. He was a member of the Regional Command of the
Baath Party
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...
in Syria and Minister of Industry in the government of
Salah Jadid
Salah Jadid (; 1926 – 19 August 1993) was a Syrian military officer and politician who was the leader of the far-left bloc of the Syrian Regional Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and the ''de facto'' leader of Ba'athist Syria from 1966 until 1970 ...
. Following a successful coup d'etat against Jadid's leadership in 1970, Habash was imprisoned along with others perceived to be Jadid loyalists. One of the world's longest-held
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...
s, he was released in 1993. He has since become a writer and public analyst.
Early career
Born in
Jubata ez-Zeit
Jubata ez-Zeit (, ''Jubātā az-Zayt'') was a Syrian village situated in the Golan Heights. According to an Arab resident of a nearby town, it had a population of around 1,500 to 2,000 people prior to the forced expulsion of the town's residents ...
in the
Golan Heights
The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...
, Habash was a member of the Regional Command for the Ba'ath Party between August 1965 and November 1970. Habash also served as the Minister of Front Line Villages Affairs and the Minister of Industry in the government of
Salah Jadid
Salah Jadid (; 1926 – 19 August 1993) was a Syrian military officer and politician who was the leader of the far-left bloc of the Syrian Regional Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and the ''de facto'' leader of Ba'athist Syria from 1966 until 1970 ...
.
When the Ba'ath Party split, Habash belonged to the faction that remained loyal to the National Command based in
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
.
Imprisonment
When followers of then-Defense Minister
Hafez al-Assad
Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria ...
launched a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
against Jadid's leadership of the government in 1970, Jadid and his loyalists (among whose number Habash was counted), known as the "February 23 Movement", were imprisoned in November and December of that year in al-Mezze military prison in
Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
.
Over the course of his 23-year detention, Habash was
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
'Ali al-Madani
Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib and ...
, and
Ali Duba
Ali Issa Ibrahim Duba (, 1933 – 21 June 2023), better known as Ali Douba, was a Syrian military officer who was the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate of Syria under Hafez al-Assad as well as his close adviser. Under Douba’s lead ...
. He was released by order of President Hafez al-Assad in 1993.
Writings and public analyses
Habash published more than 50 articles, covering some 300 pages, that detailed his experiences as a political prisoner, and covered part of the history of the Ba'ath movement in Syria prior to his imprisonment in ''Kulluna Shuraka' fi al-Watan'', and other Arabic-language media, between 2002 and 2009. Among these articles were: ''Harakat 23 Shubat… al-Dawa'i wa al-Asbab'' ("The 23 February Movement, its Motives and Reasons"), ''Muhawalat 'Usyan al-Ra'id Salim Hatum fi al-Suwayda' Yawm 8 Aylul 1966'' ("The Revolt Attempt of Major Salim Hatum in al-Suwayda' on 8 September 1966"), and ''Harb Huzayran: al-Muqaddimat wa al-Waqa'i'' ("The June War: its Preludes and Facts").
In 2002, Habash was summoned for questioning by Syrian
intelligence agent
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...
s after publishing an article calling for the strengthening of