Longest continuous state of martial law

On 21 April 2011, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria ended what had become the world’s longest state of emergency/martial law, when civilian rule is suspended and the armed forces impose military rule, usually temporarily, to maintain essential services and law and order. It is, by its very nature, not democratic but tends to be a tool of repressive regimes around the world. Brought in to effect in 1963, when the Baath Party came to power in a coup, the continuation of the emergency law had been justified by the state of war that exists with Israel and the threats posed by militant groups.