The American Senate approves the repeal of the Caesar Act, amid Syrian welcome

The Syrian government welcomed the US Senate’s vote, on Friday, to repeal the Caesar Act, which was imposed on Syria during the rule of the regime of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani said on the “X” platform: “Over the past months, under the guidance of President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and with the determination of my team in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we have worked to lift one of the heaviest burdens that have shackled our country economically and politically: the Caesar Act.”

Al-Shaibani added that repealing the law is “a step that restores Syria’s first breath, and opens a new path towards construction and recovery. Through it, the dignity of the Syrian person and his right to populate his land and create his future will be restored, and state institutions will regain their pulse to rise and flourish. It is the beginning of a new era of construction and revival, an era based on dignity and justice.”

For his part, Syrian Finance Minister Muhammad Yusser Barneyah confirmed that the US Senate’s vote on the decision to cancel the Caesar Act, which was imposed on Syria during the rule of the previous regime, is a success for Syrian diplomacy in getting rid of the last and most severe US sanctions imposed on the country.

The Minister of Finance said in a post on Facebook: “Exciting news a while ago: The US Senate approved, within the budget of the Ministry of Defense, an article to repeal the Caesar Act. The next step is for the House of Representatives to align (through a joint committee with the Senate) to approve the same article within the budget of the Ministry of Defense, leading to the US President signing the new budget before the end of the year, and thus the repeal of the Caesar Act comes into effect.”

It is noteworthy that the Caesar Act is the pseudonym of the former photographer in the Syrian military police, Farid Al-Madhahn, who defected from the regime in 2013, carrying with him about 55,000 photos documenting torture and violations inside Syrian prisons.

The US Congress, with both houses of Representatives and Senate, approved the law in December 2019, and the US President signed it as part of the 2020 Defense Budget Act.

The law imposed sanctions on Syrian individuals and institutions involved in war crimes, and prohibited financial dealings with influential figures in the Syrian regime or those linked to it. It also stipulated the punishment of any local or foreign entity that invests or deals with Syria in sectors such as energy, aviation, construction, and banking, and also targeted companies and countries that support the Syrian regime, such as Iran and Russia.