Interview | Politburo official of defect officers to SOHR: anti-civilians violations made by Turkey and Kurd-backed proxies eastern Euphrates are absolutely rejected

No constitution in the world can justify the murder committed by the regime and its proxies against the Syrian people

Syrian presidential election illegitimate ….. Forming a military council could be a solution for settlement in Syria

As Bashar al-Assad regime has been preparing to run for the presidential election scheduled on May 26, rejecting voices for the elections rise amid the country’s deteriorating conditions and the absence of displaced and migrating Syrians, while other parties have called for forming a Syrian-Syrian political body that can contribute in lifting the country from its ordeal.
Major Ahmed al-Hassan, an official with the political bureau of officers’ dissident offshoots told the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in an exclusive interview, “settling the Syria ordeal could happen through forming a military council and by mobilizing the people around a Syrian-Syrian political project to end the ongoing crisis.”

Question; How do you assess the situation in Syrian after a decade of war, that was caused by a peaceful popular revolution, passed? Is there an exist at the end of the dark tunnel for the revolution that has been militarized and transferred to the largest war in the 21st century?

Answer: We all know that the great Syrian people revolution, that took place in March 2011, in parallel with the Arab spring uprisings, was a normal response from people who were ruled by an iron security fist over 50 years by a fascist, family and dictator regime that practiced all shapes of murder and oppression against the Syrians and deprived them of the simplest elements of life. The Syrian people have lived in big prisons where all shapes of oppression and victimization have been practiced.

Accordingly, it was normal for the Syrian people, when the chance was appropriate, to revolt against their oppressors demanding their dignity and freedom. The Syrian protests were met by al-Assad regime by all types of murder, arrest and destruction, by using the military and security machines against the peaceful protestors. The savage practices against the protesters have pushed lots of the honest people in all the country’s institutions including the military one to take the side of the people’s legitimate demands. As the regime kept publicly killing the peaceful protestors to prevent their demonstrations, without any regional and international intervention to stop its barbaric arm attacks against the people, it was imperative for the dissident officers to defend their people, not just for moral and military honor reasons, but out of our loyalty to the oath by which we pledged God and the nation for defending the people and safeguarding the country’s constitution.

The defect moves have generated fears of the supporters of the criminal regime. With the reluctance of the international society to take action, tensions inflamed with support of al-Assad regime, via Russia and its military forces, and Iran with its proxies and mercenaries in the region.

Despite the poor support for the people from those alleged supporting the legitimate demands, the Syrians are still steadfast and continuing their revolution despite the destruction that hit the Syrian cities substructure and the murder, displacement of the people, until Syria has turned today into an international playground where the international forces seek to carry out its agendas and settle its conflicts, preserve the economic and political interest without considering the suffering of the grieving people.

So far, there is no solutions in the wind despite statement here and there about boosting the political transfer of power in Syria to implement the international resolutions in this regard.

Question: In your first answer, you have referred to the identification between the international community and the regime, and a decade of savage works that Syria has lived. Also, some international organizations mentioned the destruction, murder, sabotage, displacement and use of chemical weapons to terrorize the Syrians and there have been some voices that demanded to hold the perpetrators accountable after filing cases in the International Criminal Court (ICC). In your opinion, why the ICC’s steps for investigating the crimes in Syria and prosecuting the perpetrators, very slow? Do you think the ICC’s stand implied political reasons?

Answer: The regime has committed crimes against his people that hadn’t happened in other countries. We live in the 21st century, where the “civilized society” still repeats support for freedom and justice around the world, and defend the oppressed people’s rights and maintaining people peace around the globe. These rights were all stressed by the UN and the UNSC institutional documents that follow the implementation of the resolutions.

Moreover, several concerned organizations have been founded including the Human Rights Organizations, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and Organization of None-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. But, we started to doubt those organizations that became subject to the policies of the UNSC permanent countries that has been manifested in the Russian use of the veto in the UNSC several times to prevent the issuance of a decision to condemn al-Assad excessive force against the Syrian people, despite many reports have been issued by important international organizations like Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons that referred clearly to the use of prohibited weapons by the regime against the Syrians.

We also didn’t forget many reports that have been presented by rights organizations to the ICC, last of which were Caesar’s report’s thousands of photos revealed brutality of the regime in dealing with the prisoners of opinion in Syria by the most heinous methods of torture to kill them.

The Caesar report has caused big noise, but unfortunately, there are some players who prevented the ICC from taking any action to criminalize the regime’s head or send the regime’s perpetrators to justice for shedding the Syrians’ blood. These players also hindered the UNSC to use its powers in dealing with the conflicts around the world by military intervention to stop the conflict in any country under article 7 of the UN charter.

Frankly speaking, the international community and institutions dealing with the Syrian issue are not surprising, because such bodies have similar experiences of identification and negligence with other issues as long as the capital interests of the world powers’ system are controlling the rights institutions that associate its interests in the Middle East with the continuation of the bureaucratic oppressive regimes and the absence of democracy.

Question: Some analysts claim that there are foreign parties are conspiring with domestic factors to hinder efforts of finding a permeant peace deal to end the Syrian conflict. Do you agree with this vision?

Answer: Yes, there are foreign actors that back the Syrian regime, some of which are known like Russia, China and Iran, and others are absent from the scene and it’s even hard to explain their stance. We can clearly see this explanation in the shy and unsatisfactory situation of the US and its western allies in dealing with the Syrian crisis to end the suffering of the people.
Israel’s support for al-Assad regime might be the obstacle that hindered any steps by these countries to find the solution or even an alternative. However, things don’t always go as planned. The conditions in Syria might reach open chaos that will cast its negative shadow on the whole region.

Accordingly, it became imperative to find an alternative instead of prolonging the regime’s life by working with consensus people who are welcomed by the conflict of different parties in Syria. Only this could lead to starting an acceptable solution by all the Syrian people as a first step.

Question: Being defected officer, do you see the idea of forming a military council as a useful step? Do you think it could be an exit to the crisis after the destruction caused by the regime and the opposition’s militarization?

Answer: Certainly, it is necessary to discuss with the Syrian people a solution that will achieve his ambitions especially after the stalemate of the solution and the negotiations that were supervised by the UN between the opposition and the regime that wouldn’t bring satisfactory results with the regime continuing in creating obstacles with regards to even drafting the new constitution which violates the international resolutions and exceeds that arrangement of its application, which by the end will not pour in the Syrian people interests. Many even read it as a delay that serves the regime in a way or another.

According to the point of views of many Syrians, they hope to convince the international society to take measures for reaching a solution by forming a joint military council that excludes al-Assad regime, military and security components, that will open a new window for implementing a political transfer of power while the council paves the way for secured and stable conditions to start a democratic process in Syria. We supported as free officers who defected from the tyrant regime supported that integrated vision in Syrian in the statement that we posted on January 1, 2021.

Question: you discuss the formation of a military council for building a multipartyism national country, while the regime prepares the election campaign on May 5 to run for the presidency, to what extent the election is legal or constitutional?

Answer: al-Assad regime isn’t legitimate to give any legality to the presidential elections. Since he started using violence and murder against his people, who demanded freedom and dignity, even with internationally prohibited weapons like toxic gas, al-Assad has lost legal, constitutional, political and moral legitimacy. Such practices have pushed the international community to reject the elections, after they saw the steadfast stand of the people, in official statements that publicly appeared in the last report of the Organization of the Chemical Weapon Prohibition that accused the regime of using such kinds of arms for several times.

That report has also promoted the US and the European stand that rejected that elections and also the statement of the UN envoy Geir Pedersen, that considered the elections have no relations with the international stand for the regime and they are continuing in the negotiations for boosting a peaceful political transfer of power in Syria.

We can say the presidential elections are farce play through which the Russian and the Iranian wanted to gain more time and mix the papers until they market more for al-Assad regime in any deal that the two countries could find it comfortable for abandoning or replacing al-Assad.

I think we shouldn’t give any attention to these ridiculous and pre-determined elections. We rather better work on continuing to stripping the regime and seeking with our international, regional and Arab friends to send al-Assad to Justice.

Question: though the regime’s rejection of the UN resolutions especially number 2254 that the opposition sticks to, the latter hasn’t presented any other step for a political settlement. Why has the role of the opposition in settling the crisis remained weak?

Answer; circulating the Syrian case has prevented access of the opposition Syrian national elites to practice the political work. Moreover, the exclusion of the owners of the integral, sincere and national visions due to their adherence to the revolution principle, has prevented them from taking part of continuing in the official opposition structures, which allowed many of those having the minimum average of experience or integrity in the national and revolution work, to reach the influential circles inside the opposition institutions.

We can say that the official opposition structures and after recycling it several times have become fragile institutions that have implemented agendas, I don’t see it matching the revolution interests. It rather becomes part of implementing other agendas that don’t promote the revolting Syrian people ambitions as the case for al-Assad regime that doesn’t have the minimum impact on his foreign and internal policies.

Accordingly, we see the opposition and its current leaders’ practice of a bureaucratic role today has stood against changing its behavior in using other shapes that could be pressing and persuasive for the international community to push it for implementing Geneva 1 and the UNSC resolutions number 2118 and 2254 including the cease-fire and the starting of the political transfer of power in Syria.

Question: Is there any constitution text or any international agreement that prevents al-Assad’s nomination? Does UN resolution 2245 opposes running the elections until enforcing the political settlement?

Answer: No constitution in the world could justify the murder machines, used by al-Assad against his people, which are completely conflicting with all the normal laws. The world has witnessed the destruction of the Syrian cities on the heads of its inhabitants as one of the most heinous crimes against humanity and that could also be part of the genocide definition on a base of religion, sect or race.

With the presence of some constitutional texts or UNSC articles -last of which is article number 2254- that prevented al-Assad regime from nomination to the elections with the necessity of finding a Syrian-Syrian solution, there wouldn’t be any impact in light of the support of Russia for the regime from one side and the unseriousness and the US and EU desire to deal politically and military with the Syrian file and al-Assad regime specifically article number 42 in context of article seven of the UN charter that stipulated the time that the UN has to military interfere in any place of the world unless one party of the conflict has leaned despite the peaceful attempts of the siege and the relations cut and other stipulated texts in article 41 of the same chapter.

So, we can conclude that when the international desire for change in Syria is in presence, the solutions will be ready.

Question: What the Syrian political dialogue lacks to be achieved on the real ground?

Answer: The Syrian-Syrian dialogue only lacks an international understanding that starts with Russia’s relinquishment of the regime. This would only happen via two roads: first when the west presents some concessions in some international issues lingering with Russia in Ukraine and other countries with persuading them to present the fund necessary for the reconstruction works along with giving the Russian the big role of investments in Syria. Secondly, the Russian understanding that the regime is incapable to protect its interests in Syria and its presence could threaten the regional and Russian presence, the thing both Russia and Israel fear today.

The regime has become a burden on its incumbent and incapable to administer the country or control the armed chaos. I consider the regime continuity will weaken the legitimacy of Russia in Syria at the local level and terrorizing at the regional level.

Question: When the Turkish forces and proxies are able to make a demographic change in Afrin city and countryside and Iran could do the same in other districts, how today and after years of displacement we could confront the demographic change and its dangerous on Syria?

Answer: Everything that happened or will happen in Syria is caused by the Syrian regime and its proxies who killed thousands of Syrians and have displaced more than half of the Syrians, The regime’s crime in the face of humanity wouldn’t be ever erased by history and couldn’t be compared by the violation committed by the Turkey-backed proxies in the north.

Maybe such practices would be personal reactions to what is happening in eastern Euphrates which are also unacceptable with regards to the Arab rights and properties from factions affiliated to the Kurds there. We know that the youth of that region from the Arab is working in the national army factions.

We always reject the criminal practices from both sides and we always demand these factions to stop their unacceptable violations against our Arab and Kurdish people and properties and send the perpetrators to justice.

The regime and its proxies are blamed for the situation in Syrian and the rejection of making a change or bringing a solution that could lead to a real political transfer of power and a transitional rule that could end the chaos. We urge the participation of members of all sects, nationals, and conflicting parties to contribute to the process of democratic change that will transfer the country from a state of war and chaos to a state of stability and peace.

It’s imperative that the Syrian people with its force, components and different political stance to agree on the idea of forming a military joint council that should include all the influential local and conflict parties either civilians, defected officers and other officers allied who haven’t committed any crimes against the people but still serving in the army. That council couldn’t be formed in presence of al-Assad and his military and security pillars and couldn’t be formed without international, regional and Arab consensus as the only choice for paving the secure and stable environment to start the political transitional process in Syria based on the international resolutions.