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I Googled “Syrian opposition statement” this morning
after hearing last night’s news about the two-day meeting of 250 delegates of
Syria’s opposition groups in Cairo.
More than 90 percent of the 41,000-plus results I got
led off with news of “chaos,” “fights,” “quarreling,” “rifts” and “divisions”
at the meeting.
How wrong and unprofessional!
I read maybe 50 of the news items to find exactly
what the Syrian opposition groups' closing statement said. All I could find was
disparate and vague references to the final communiqué.
I repeated my Google search in Arabic and finally
found the full text of the statement in Arabic.
I decided to abridge it in English for the benefit of
the non-Arab “Friends of Syria” and “Action Group for Syria” and above all the
readers of ArabSaga.
Here goes:
****
The road to a new democratic, pluralistic and
civilian Syria is two-phased.
The first phase is that of struggle to overthrow
Bashar al-Assad and his clique. The second transition phase spans the period
between their overthrow and the election of a president and parliament – as per
a new constitution for the Syrian State – and the emergence of a new government
representing the elected parliament.
Both phases require mutually agreed political, legal,
security, economic and social measures by opposition forces.
1. The
regime overthrow phase
The Syrian people’s sacrifices and sufferings in
their quest for freedom and dignity can’t be offset except by the regime’s
removal.
A solution in Syria must thus begin with the removal
of Assad and his proxies and the holding to account of all those responsible
for the killing of Syrians.
Opposition forces need to close ranks at all levels
to bring down the regime as soon as possible. They agree to support the Free
Syrian Army and endeavor to unify FSA forces and leaderships. They are also
urged to protect civil and national peace.
2. The
transition phase
This phase shall commence the moment Bashar and his
inner circles are removed. It shall end with the election of a free legislative
assembly as per a new and permanent constitution.
Immediately after Assad and the symbols of his rule
are removed, the current government and People’s Assembly shall be disbanded.
At the same time, a Caretaker Government shall be
named by the consensual agreement of the political and revolutionary
opposition, the de facto authority on the ground and those whose hands are not
stained with Syrian blood and the looting of public funds.
The Caretaker Government shall remain in office until
a Transitional Government is set up.
On assuming office, the Caretaker Government shall
order the dissolution of the Baath Party and its offshoots and the impounding
of the party’s assets. Its members can engage in political activity in
accordance with the new laws.
A broad national conference, bringing together all
political forces and components of society without exception, shall be convened
in Damascus in order to put in place a Provisional Legislative Assembly – or
“Public Assembly for Defending the Revolution’s Objectives and the Democratic
Transition” – as well as a Transitional Government consisting of competent
figures known for their integrity.
The Provisional Legislative Assembly shall issue a
constitutional declaration concerning the status of the Presidency in the
transitional phase, the Supreme Judicial Council, the National Security
Council, the Higher Audit and Reconciliation Council and the General Authority
for Social Compensation and Reconstruction.
The said (legislative) assembly shall oversee the
Executive branch and issue temporary laws regulating public life during the
transition as concerns freedom of information, the rights to demonstrate and
form political parties, labor unions and associations.
It would abrogate all discriminatory decrees and
legislation against Kurdish, Turkmen and Assyrian citizens and all other hues
of Syrian society.
It would also pass a new electoral law for the
Constituent Assembly and the blueprint of a Permanent Constitution.
Within a year of its formation, the Provisional
Legislative Assembly shall, in tandem with the Caretaker Government, organize
the election of a Constituent Parliament to approve the draft constitution and
put it to a referendum within a maximum of six months.
Once the Constituent Parliament is elected, the
Provisional Legislative Assembly shall be disbanded and a new government formed
on the basis of the ballot box majority.
Regarding
military and security matters
Once Assad and the symbols of his rule are removed,
honest members of the regular army whose hands are not stained with Syrian
blood, the FSA and the Armed Resistance shall sign a memorandum of
understanding covering the ceasefire, the army’s return to barracks and
management of national and civil peace. The National Security Council could
oversee this if necessary.
The Transitional Government shall set up a National
Security Council commanded by the Chief Executive with the assistance of honest
members of the regular army whose hands are not stained with Syrian blood, the
FSA and the Armed Resistance as well as relevant civilian figures.
The National Security Council shall undertake to
restructure the armed forces and security services that would fall under its
jurisdiction in order to purge lawbreakers from the said forces and services
and break up the armed militias known as “shabiha.”
It would supervise the disarming of civilians and the
enrollment of willing revolutionaries in the armed forces.
Concerning
justice during the transition
A General Assembly for Accountability and
Reconciliation shall be established under the jurisdiction of the
provisional-cum-permanent Legislative Assembly. It would:
§
Seek justice and
reparations for citizens whose human rights were systematically violated.
§
Document and
publicize facts relating to perpetrators of crimes against humanity.
§
Strive to
prevent new human rights abuses, restore citizens’ trust in state institutions
and cement national reconciliation at the national and local levels.
§ Address the
individual and collective aftereffects of violence, repression and oppression
and provide psychological care for women, children and other violence victims.
§
Repeal
discriminatory laws and prejudicial regulations affecting those displaced from
the Golan and victims of the Kurdish uprising.
§
Do away with the
aftereffects of unfair and bigoted laws and policies aimed at Syria’s Kurdish
people.
§
Establish an
independent tribunal to try crimes committed by regime leaders.
Concerning
economic and social affairs
The planned General Authority for Social Compensation
and Reconstruction would be under the control of the provisional-cum-permanent
Legislative Assembly.
It shall endeavor to compensate victims of the
current events, rebuild destroyed private properties and indemnify martyrs’
families, detainees, the wounded and disabled and return the displaced persons
and refugees to their homes.
All foreign and international aid would go to the
aforementioned General Authority in coordination with donors.
Immediately after Assad’s removal, a request would be
made for the lifting of all sanctions clamped on Syria and on Syrian
institutions and an application would be made for the recovery of Assad regime
funds seized overseas…
