Youssef Al-Labbad and the reform of the security services

Introduction:

The death of Syrian citizen Youssef al-Labbad following his arrest by security forces represents a shocking moment that reveals the continued lack of accountability and conflicting official narratives regarding violations.

In this study, we present this event as a pivotal historical turning point that pushes for the restructuring of security doctrine and the activation of religious objectives and human rights principles as reform pillars within the entire Syrian security establishment.

General Context and Facts:

At the end of July 2025, the Syrian Ministry of Interior contacted the family of the young man Youssef al-Labbad to inform them of his death. This occurred after his arrest from inside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, where he reportedly was in an unstable psychological state.
While the official narrative stated that his death resulted from self-harm due to his critical psychological condition, the victim’s family confirmed that there were clear signs of physical torture on his body. A meeting was then organized between dignitaries from the Qaboun neighborhood and a government delegation. This was an accommodating step, but it lacked a transparent investigative framework or institutional accountability. The Minister of Interior was also called in to confirm the opening of an official investigation into the incident, while an official statement disavowed responsibility for the mass killing.

Analyzing the symbolism of the event, we find the following:

Location: .1
The choice of the location where the arrest took place was the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus (the Umayyad Mosque). This opens the door to understanding the connection, on the one hand, and the profound confusion between religious and security authorities, on the other. The mosque is a sacred space where spirituality and symbolic sovereignty converge. Violating this space (if it occurred) reflects the absence of a moral structure in security practices, especially since the deceased’s family confirmed that he had vowed to seclude himself in the Umayyad Mosque for three days in celebration of his return from Germany.

The nature of the individuals: .2
The return of the deceased Youssef from Europe just two days before his arrest and subsequent death may reflect a continuing pattern of suspicion toward the country’s citizens, both expatriates and expatriates, with their hostile civil or intellectual backgrounds. This is a security strategy (if implemented) that undermines the foundations of national reconciliation and reinforces societal division. It is possible, however, that the deceased was actually in an unbalanced psychological state, as the videos of his arrest clearly show, or that he reached that state due to the security services’ treatment of him (i.e., he was pushed to the point of tension, manifested by being prevented from completing his seclusion, or being questioned about his origins and lineage, and other matters that expatriates no longer accept, digest, or even tolerate).

Conflicting Narratives: .3
The official denial of torture, in light of visual evidence and family testimonies, places security institutions directly confronting a legitimacy crisis (despite our profound understanding of the difficult and sensitive phase our nascent state is going through). However, the lack of transparency and the delay in completing the stages of independent investigation may create a general climate of discontent, which we do not wish for, and open the door to narratives of injustice, deepening the gap between state and society.

Here, we emphasize the need for the Minister of Interior’s statements to be absolutely transparent, to prevent a recurrence of what happened and to achieve the desired outcome of this harsh and necessary test.

The Jurisprudential and Legal Necessity for Rebuilding the Security Doctrine:

The Objectives of Religion as a Reform Engine: .1
According to the Five Maqasid (observance of life, religion, reason, honor, and wealth), attacks on human dignity directly contradict the state’s role as a guardian of society. In this context, security institutions should be relied upon as a tool for preserving rights, not as a mechanism for repression, as Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa emphasized.

Human Rights as a Foundational Reference: .2
The principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, particularly those related to dignity and freedom from torture, provide a foundational framework that enhances the state’s legitimacy domestically and internationally. Restructuring the security establishment in accordance with these principles repositions the state as a legitimate actor in the international arena.

Therefore, there is an urgent need today to build an alternative security doctrine, based on the following concepts and premises:

1. The Logic of Community Prevention, Not Authoritarian Deterrence:
   The security structure must shift from a “logic of deterrence” based on prior suspicion and harsh treatment to a “logic of prevention” based on sensing societal crises and activating the role of psychology and society in managing public behavior.
2. Community Security as a Participatory Concept:
   A security model based on community interaction must be adopted, where citizens are partners in producing security, rather than simply being subjected to surveillance or detention.
3. This model requires educational reforms and training of security personnel in communication and trust-building skills.
4. Separating Security from Ideological Doctrine:One of the most important reforms to the security doctrine (which we have written about previously) is the complete separation of security duties from political or ideological loyalties. Security functions must be primarily civil and legal, based on clear rules of accountability and ethical standards.
   

Therefore, we, in the Syrian Future Movement, recommend the following:

1. Open an independent and impartial investigation into the death of Youssef Labbad, under the supervision of experienced and credible national judges and observers, with the deceased’s family nominating one of them, if possible.
2. Retrain security personnel according to curricula based on international humanitarian law and human rights principles.
3. Integrate the concepts of Islamic objectives into internal security training plans to enhance the ethical value dimension within their work and assigned tasks.
4. Establish an independent civilian body to monitor security performance and investigate complaints and violations.
5. Launching a national “Trust and Security” program in cooperation with civil society to restore the relationship between citizens and the security establishment.

The Youssef Al-Labbad case is an ordeal for the judicial police, which highlights the need to restructure the security services to ensure they are the guardians of the Syrian citizen. Since we are in a phase of building state institutions, it would be professional to make this incident a pivotal moment in the way the security services deal with citizens, given the necessity for these services to bear responsibility for the safety of all citizens, and to hold undisciplined elements accountable in a firm manner that prevents the recurrence of such crimes.

References:

• Ibn Ashur, Al-Tahir. The Objectives of Islamic Law. Tunis: Dar Sahnoun, 1946.
• Hannah Arendt. The Origins of Totalitarianism. New York: Harcourt, 1951.
• Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Paris: Gallimard, 1975.
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations, 1948.
• Human Rights Watch Report on Torture in Syria, 2023.
• Noam Chomsky. Media Control. London: Pluto Press, 2002.
• John Rawls. A Theory of Justice. Harvard, 1971.