Kuwaiti businessman and former MP who was vocally supportive of the Assad regime.

Former first lady of Syria married to Bashar al-Assad. Born and raised in London to Syrian parents. She was placed under sanctions by the EU in 2012 and later by the UK in 2020 and 2025.

Led Syria from 2000 until he was overthrown in 2024. His rule was characterised by a continuation of his father’s authoritarian style. He was placed under sanctions by the US, UK and EU.

A cadaster is an official public register of the real properties of one country. It usually provides details of ownership and boundaries of real properties within the statutory system.

Physical impediments to passage, directing or restricting flows of goods, capital and people. Often located at borders.

Any critical point in flows of goods, capital and people that can potentially be used to direct or restrict these flows, for example checkpoints.

(Compagnie maritime d’affrètement – Compagnie générale maritime)
The CMA-CGM Group is a French multinational, world-class leader in transportation and logistics, operating a global shipping line.
In 2009, CMA-CGM partnered with Souria Holding to establish Latakia International Container Terminal under a 10-year contract. The company has maintained connections to Latakia through both its founders and local partners. In 2019, CMA-CGM secured a 99% stake in the port and extended its contract for an additional five years. In 2025, it reached a new agreement with the Syrian government to reconstruct the port.

As per Weizman, 2019: An evolving information and media environment enables authoritarian states to manipulate and distort facts about their crimes, but it also offers new techniques with which civil society groups can invert the forensic gaze and monitor them.

Legislative Decree No. 66 of 2012 was enacted by Assad to ‘redevelop areas of unauthorised housing and informal settlements’ in two zones in Damascus. The law gave the authorities legal ground to demolish informal areas and turn them into development projects.

De-construction. Literal meaning being ‘to un-build’. Construction means to ‘pile up’, ‘place on top of each other’. Something is destroyed when it is torn apart so badly it can no longer be used.

A gradual unfolding; bringing out the possibilities inherit in something.
1. The process of growing or changing and becoming more advanced.
2. The process of making a latent image captured on film become a visible photograph.
3. The building of houses, stores, or offices, often done by a company to make profit.

The act of putting out of possession. The fact of having property, especially buildings or land, taken away from you, or the act of taking property away from a person or group. The loss of property often generates further loss in terms of connections, relations, and sense of belonging.

The deliberate destruction of homes or living environments, often with the intention of causing displacement and suffering.

The physical components of a checkpoint.

A checkpoint that remains in one place for an extended period, usually constructed from permanent elements.

A temporary checkpoint subject to rapid changes in location and construction.

Division of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) led by Maher al-Assad, involved in paramilitary action such as warlord structures and organized crime – further research for example from the New Lines Institute, 2023 or the AFP, 2025.

A designated area where goods can be imported, stored and processed without being subject to normal customs duties, taxes or regulations, often encouraging trade and investment. Free zones can be understood as spaces carved out from the state’s ordinary legal order, but reveals how logistical freedom can be used to reinforce state control.

(GALSB) Established after the fall of the regime to group customs, ports and free zones under a single administration in a bid to simplify procedures and unify oversight.

(GOT) The General Organisation of Tobacco is a state-owned Syrian entity responsible for governing and controlling the tobacco industry in Syria. Its documented functions include the production, distribution and sale of tobacco, including licensing for foreign brands. The organisation has also been subject to sanctions.

Led Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000, when he was succeeded by his son. His rule was highly centralised and authoritarian.

Widely believed to be a front for Maher Al-Assad, operating in business sectors spanning engineering and construction. Subsidiaries include Hadeed Metal Manufacturing (Hamsho Steel)

The United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement describe internally displaced persons (IDPs) as: “persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized state border.”

Syrian businessman and brother of Rami Makhlouf. He was sanctioned by the US, UK and EU for violence against the civilian population during the Syrian uprisings and for helping his brother evade sanctions.

The youngest of Hafez al-Assad’s brothers, and father of Fawaz al-Assad and Munzir al-Assad, both reportedly involved in smuggling and corruption.
Founder of the Al-Sahel Customs Clearance Company, which operated branches at land and sea border crossings.

International branch of Japan Tobacco, one of the three largest Big Tobacco product manufacturers. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it sells brands in 130 countries. Its brands include Winston, Camel and Natural American Spirit.

(LICT) The company that manages the container terminal of the Port of Latakia.

The Latakia Port General Company, also known as The General Company for Latakia Harbor, is the state-run authority that manages Syria’s principal port city.

Law No. 10 of 2018, expanded the scope of Decree 66 of 2012 to the entire country, allowing the Syrian government to create redevelopment zones anywhere in Syria for reconstruction after the war.

Syrian former military officer who served as commander of the Syrian Army’s elite 4th Armoured Division and brother of Bashar al-Assad.

A prominent businessman accused of profiting from Syria’s destruction through the scrap metal trade and operating as a front for Maher al-Assad. He has been under Western sanctions since 2011.

A point in a network.

The act of making something unclear, obscure or difficult to understand, often deliberately.

Prescription is the process of acquiring land rights, and in particular obtaining land ownership, as a result of continuous land use over a period of time.

The act of taking unfair advantage of a situation to make a large or excessive profit and especially in times of crisis or when goods/advantages are limited.

Travel retailer in Syria that operated shops located at airports, sea ports and border crossings. It ran from 1997 until 2010, when it was acquired by Syria Duty Free.

The company has been linked to Rami Makhlouf, who is listed as the ultimate beneficial owner of related Ramak entities in official sanctions databases.

Syrian businessman and maternal cousin of Bashar al-Assad. He was placed under sanctions by the US, UK and EU for alleged involvement in corruption and for providing financial support to the Syrian government and its violence against civilians.

The act or process of changing the classification of something. e.g., land or zoning being assigned to a different use or category.

Literal meaning is a ‘seat’: an army ‘sits down’ before a place until it surrenders. A military operation in which forces surround a town or building, cutting off its essential supplies, with the aim of compelling those inside to surrender. Often a low-intensity yet constant conflict.

A state of economic isolation of an area, often caused by conflict or sanctions, where constraints on the free flows of trade worsen internal conflict, freedom and civil rights.

A holding firm grouping many major Syrian investors that develops projects in the real estate, hospitality, healthcare and transport sectors.

Comes from specere meaning ‘to look’. A visual display made to entertain the public. Used by the French theorist Guy Debord to argue that in modern, capitalistic societies, everything has been reduced to mere representations. Images have been detached from lived life, and the relationship between people is mediated through these images.

Travel retailer in Syria that operates shops located at airports, sea ports and border crossings.
In 2010, Syria Duty Free acquired Ramak Duty Free, a company believed to be at least partly owned by Rami Makhlouf. There is no evidence that he gave up control following the acquisition and he is often reported as the owner. Makhlouf retained ownership until 2020, when the duty-free contracts were transferred to his brother, Ihab Makhlouf.

The armed conflict that began with the Syrian revolution in March 2011 until the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.

(STE) A state entity in charge of the distribution of consumer products. The STE runs a retail network of hundreds of stores that sell their products almost at cost.

Syrian businessperson involved in the production and trafficking of Captagon, especially from the port of Latakia.

(OLAF) The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) investigates fraud against the EU budget, corruption, and serious misconduct within European institutions, and develops anti-fraud policy.

An analysis of the relations between constituent elements. From topos meaning ‘place’.

A phase where a society transitions from a state of conflict to one of peace. Transitional justice refers to the processes implemented in order to respond to legacies of widespread human rights violations. It centres the victims and seeks accountability, acknowledgment, restitution, and reparation. See ICTJ’s website.

A term within law based on the principle that ‘no one should be enriched by the loss or injury of another’. Recently expanded by Joshua Castellino in Calibrating Colonial Crime to cover systemics of injustice. He argues that unjust enrichment should be considered a crime from an international legal perspective, and that focus should be directed towards the private and corporate actors who gained unjustly from colonial exploitation.

The process of revitalising urban areas experiencing decline (physical, economic or social), including re-use or redevelopment of land/assets and the redistribution of opportunities.

When a state’s economy prioritises warfare and its resources, workforce, and manufacturing capabilities is directed towards preparing for and sustaining armed conflict.