The New Architecture of Repression: How the Thermidorian Authority is Reproducing the Assad Regime’s Apparatuses

The Front Line – Editorial Board

In a desperate attempt to consolidate its authoritarian rule, the leader of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militias—one of the most prominent forces of the counter-revolution—Ahmed al-Sharaa (al-Julani), who has installed himself as the so-called “transitional president”, has issued decrees appointing several warlords to oppressive security positions to tighten his grip on power. This repressive structure is primarily composed of three tiers: National Security, Homeland Security, and General Intelligence, in a clear replication of the collapsed Assad junta’s apparatuses.

Through the gateway of this repressive triad, al-Julani’s pursuit to create a balance among the warlord factions surrounding him becomes evident, alongside the continuation of an absolute reliance on HTS figures who are inherently hostile to the Syrian popular masses’ aspirations for freedom and social justice.

At the top of this authoritarian pyramid sits the so-called “National Security Bureau,” headed by al-Sharaa himself, with the membership of his puppet government ministers (Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Interior) alongside the Director of General Intelligence. This bureau is tasked with shaping the internal policies of repression and terror, effectively making it the absolute authority, followed by the newly established “Homeland Security Bureau.”

In the latter, Anas Khattab (Abu Ahmed Hudud) was appointed as director, alongside continuing his duties as Minister of Interior. This move reflects the Thermidorian authority’s desire to ensure that security apparatuses remain under the cloak of absolute individual leadership, serving as a pliant tool to suppress any popular movement and to coordinate intelligence work to execute its reactionary directives.

As for “General Intelligence,” Abdul Qader Tahhan (Abu Bilal Quds) was tasked with its presidency, becoming the executive arm of brutality within the security apparatus. What is striking in these appointments is the attempt to restructure repression by separating the Ministry of Interior from the “Intelligence Apparatus,” while assigning Khattab supreme duties that guarantee his total loyalty and direct supervision over these organs.

Furthermore, the appointments included transferring Hussein al-Salama (Abu Musab al-Shuhail) from his position as head of the “Intelligence Apparatus” to the role of deputy director of the “Homeland Security Bureau.” This comes after his participation in the fourth conference of “counter-terrorism agencies” at the United Nations, representing a desperate attempt by this authority to market itself internationally and prostrate before imperialist powers.

While these appointments reveal a repressive architecture seeking to fill the void left by the former regime, they reaffirm this authority’s drive to monopolize power and establish a new dictatorship relying on personal loyalties and warlords. This aligns perfectly with previous steps taken by this new junta to entrench its hegemony, exploit the impoverished masses, and implement savage neoliberal policies. Consequently, it is imperative for revolutionary forces and the toiling masses to escalate the struggle to overthrow this Thermidorian authority and build a genuine, decentralized democratic republic founded on social justice.