The de facto authority in Syria is a designated terrorist group: What happens now?

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an armed group designated as a terrorist organization by the UN Security Council, has emerged as the dominant force in Syria, following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. 

However, according to a core Security Council resolution on Syria adopted at the height of the civil conflict, HTS is regarded as a terrorist group.

Resolution 2254, which was adopted unanimously by the Council in 2015, calls on Member States “to prevent and suppress terrorist acts committed specifically by” HTS’s predecessor, the Al-Nusra Front.

Could this be a barrier to international or UN-led negotiations with HTS, and attempts to build a stable peace in Syria, with strong, inclusive institutions?

And what would it take for HTS to no longer be considered a terrorist organization?

UN News spoke to Kiho Cha, a Senior Political Affairs Officer at the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, to discuss how groups or individuals are sanctioned by the Security Council and what the rules are for officially de-listing them.

People gather to celebrate freedom in Damascus.

Kiho Cha: HTS was listed in May 2014, when the Security Council Committee responsible for overseeing sanctions concerning ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaeda, and individuals associated with these groups, assessed that it was a terrorist organization with ties to Al Qaeda.

As recently as July 2024, the monitoring team of this committee wrote a report in which they said that HTS is the predominant terrorist group in northwestern Syria. Its putative leader, Mohammad Al-Jolani, has also been listed under the same regime, although his listing dates back to 2013.

UN News: What effect has the listing of HTS as a terrorist organization had on its activities?

Kiho Cha: They are subject to three sanction measures: asset freeze, a travel ban and an arms embargo. This means that, internationally, all Member States are expected to comply with these measures.

UN News: On top of the international sanctions, do countries also issue sanctions unilaterally?

UN Photo/Manuel Elías

Security Council members meet in early December to discuss the situation in Syria.

Kiho Cha: Yes, but these have nothing to do with the UN. For example, HTS is listed under the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control.

UN News: What could the terrorist listing of HTS mean for talks and negotiations concerning the future of the country?

Kiho Cha: Until recently there were some questions as to whether humanitarian actors would even be able to operate in Syria. However, there is now a carve out to the assets freeze measures against HTS, specifically for humanitarian organizations.

© UNICEF/Rami Nader

Syrian and Lebanese families, who fled the escalating violence in Lebanon arrive in Syria.

That provision was adopted last week, just days before the fall of the Assad regime. This has turned out to be a godsend, because no one expected this to happen in Syria, and humanitarian organizations can operate there without fear of being cited for inadvertent sanctions violations.

UN News: Are there many other examples of this humanitarian carve out? For example, in Afghanistan, where the de facto rulers, the Taliban, are not widely accepted at an international level?

Kiho Cha: Yes, a Security Council resolution provides for such a humanitarian carve out in Afghanistan. And this has happened in other countries. Of course, enforcement and compliance of sanctions measures is important, but we also want to make sure that aid gets delivered in a timely manner and without fear of humanitarian organizations being cited for sanctions violations.

UN News: Are there similar carve outs to allow international negotiations to take place?

Kiho Cha: Yes, there are generally procedures by which a petitioner, usually an individual, would seek an exemption for a variety of reasons. For example, members of the Taliban who say that they need to travel outside of Afghanistan for political facilitation. But it could be for other reasons, such as medical needs. Petitioners can also apply for exemptions to the asset freeze.

UN News: What would it take for HTS to be delisted, and no longer proscribed as a terrorist organization?

Kiho Cha: A Member State would need to propose the delisting, and that proposal would then go to the relevant Security Council Committee.

The Committee – made up of representatives of all the 15 countries that make up the Security Council – would then need to make a unanimous decision to approve the proposal.

UN News: Has any such proposal been made so far?

Kiho Cha: There may be Member States discussing the possibility of proposing such delisting, but that request has not been made official.