Militia on Campus:
Crimes of the National
Union of Syrian Students
at Damascus University

​The National Union of Syrian Students (NUSS) long held a surveillance role within Syrian universities. Post-2011, it assumed additional roles to stifle anti-regime sentiment on campuses, including patrolling university grounds for anti-regime activity, violently clamping down against student activism, arresting and torturing students, and handing students over to security services.

 

Through 20 in-depth interviews with former students, professors, and NUSS members, SBC’s investigation reveals the range of crimes committed by the NUSS at the University of Damascus as well as the group’s extensive cooperation and coordination with Syrian State security services.

​

SBC published its investigation findings on 19 June 2024 in a report, “Militia on Campus: Crimes of the National Union of Syrian Students at Damascus University”. The report and the underlying interviews and materials were submitted to the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism on Syria (IIIM).

SBC’s investigation findings were further used to prepare and submit a criminal complaint to the French authorities against Omar Aroub, a former senior NUSS member who was responsible for, among other things, ordering violent clampdowns against student protesters at the University of Aleppo. Aroub was scheduled to attend the Paris 2024 Olympics as the head of the Syria Paralympics Team and as the Vice President of the Syria General Sports Federation. Following pressure from SBC and partners The Syria Campaign and Action for Sama, Aroub did not attend the Olympics.