Syria Opposition Calls on Assad to Hand over Power, Urges Query into Torture Charges
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
The Syrian opposition leader Wednesday called on President Bashar Assad to hand over power to a transitional government, as U.N.-led peace talks opened in Switzerland.
"I call on (the regime delegation) to immediately sign the Geneva I communique (setting out) the total transfer of powers from Assad, including for the army and security, to a transition government," Ahmad Jarba, president of the Syrian National Coalition, told the delegations gathered in the city of Montreux.
"We completely agree with the decisions of Geneva I which you have all agreed upon," he said, referring to a pact sealed in June 2012, which assented to the establishment of a mutually agreed transitional government.
The Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad has contested that the peace talks, which will continue later in the week in Geneva, would not set the scene for a handover of power.
But Jarba insisted the Geneva I deal was "the preamble to Bashar Assad's resignation and his trial alongside all the criminals of his regime".
He revealed the Syrian opposition was going to present a detailed timetable, complete with deadlines, to the next phase of the negotiations due to open in Geneva later in the week.
"If Assad remains in power in any way, that would mean that the Geneva II process is diverting from its path," Jarba argued.
"We seek reassurances that we have a Syrian partner in this room, and that this partner can transform itself from a delegation in Assad's name to a delegation in the name of Syria."
Later in the day, Jarba called for an international inquiry into allegations of mass torture and killings of people detained by the regime.
"We have to stop this spiral of violence. We do call for an international inspection to visit places of detention and see the facts of torture that our citizens face every day," he told the end of the first day of a peace conference in Switzerland.
"We must work together for a Syria, which will be a pluralist country excluding no-one, not excluding any ethnicity Alawites, Druze, Christians and others," Jarba told world leaders gathered in Montreux.
"We have suffered enough from the murders, the bombardments and this bloodshed has continued for far too long."
He was speaking after the publication of a report alleging the "industrial-scale" torture and murder of 11,000 detainees by the regime of Assad.
The report put together by a British law firm and commissioned by Qatar -- which backs the Syrian rebels -- says there is "clear evidence" of the starvation, strangulation and beating of detainees in Syrian prison.
It is based on forensic analysis of a portion of 55,000 digital images smuggled out of Syria by a defector who said he served as a police photographer, documenting as many as 50 bodies a day.
The photos in the report are gruesome, showing emaciated and seriously injured detainees.
Syria denies torturing detainees.
But British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Tuesday that the report "offers further evidence of the systematic violence and brutality being visited upon the people of Syria by the Assad regime".
Jarba urged the leaders: "We have to open the way to negotiations to put an end to the drama being faced by Syrian people and we have to ensure that very soon we'll have a state of law based on equality between all citizens in Syria, without any discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity."
The talks will now move to Geneva on Friday, when the Syrian regime and the opposition are due to begin closed-door talks with the United States, the United Nations and Russia acting as mediators.
22 January 2014, 12:17
710
A rational position by the opposition to be contrasted with the lunatic positions of the regime.
22 January 2014, 13:11
811
Suspended - what the heck is an "m14-saudi" culture. The more you repeat this idiotic expression, the more you belittle your own argument. M14 did not generate these people. You could argue that extreme salafi tendencies that are strong in saudi arabia may have been instrumental in enabling these people - even though the most important theorician about Jihad are not Saudi and consider the ruling regime in KSA and definitely almost all M14 as heretics. Should we be talking about m8-iranian culture that have committed bombings in Argentina, Bulgaria, Lebanon, ....
22 January 2014, 14:27
156
it's the culture of sending captagon junkie lunatics blow themselves up in the middle of civilians, thinking it makes a point.
22 January 2014, 14:33
710
rafehh, why should Assad stand down when he is on the brink of victory, just a few days from sweeping all of syria and pushing all the rebels into the sea? my friends from M8 on this website have assured me this is the case, the SAA will soon be taking back Raqa, Deir Zowr, all of Alleppo, Dar3a, etc etc... in the space of one week.
22 January 2014, 14:34
910
rafehh don't bother replying to the heroin junkie sagh, he is a poor alawite who is trying to make a few bucks by typing nonsense on the internet.
22 January 2014, 15:09
611
while the Syrian regime is trying to preserve his mass murderer bachar in his post, something interesting came out from Jarba:
for those who noticed, he said that the terrorist hizbushaitan is being tried at La Hague for its terrorist killings.
at that time, the camera was showing around the reaction of the delegates and most of them including Lavrov were nodding their heads in agreement of that statement :)
I expect the end of hizbushaitan as we know it some time soon, after it is disbanded by iran, as it looks like it is a must for iran to move ahead.
22 January 2014, 15:14
612
momo... you just discovered captagon it seems... you use it in half your posts... you use it... a lot!
22 January 2014, 12:54
612
i await the day when i will read ONE meaningful post, ONE counter argument, ONE credible or mature info from you, -_Flamethrower_- , but alas!
22 January 2014, 13:22
711
My dear brother Jaafar (Flamethrower): I was so happy to learn from you that your real life name is Jaafar. It just so happens that my best friend in real life is also Jaafar. If anything, this should make our online friendship even stronger. Don't worry, I will always be by your side.
BTW, why did you report Cedars2 comment and had it deleted? See, dear Jaafar I never report comments specially yours. Go check your offensive comments are still there!!!
22 January 2014, 13:11
62
to see it this way u must be a pot head yourself ... or ure already on Iv's ?
22 January 2014, 13:27
44
Here you go people. Draw your own conclusions.
Photos charging mass torture in Syria complicate peace talks
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/21/world/meast/syria-torture-photos/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
22 January 2014, 16:59
77
@Naharnet: For the sake of professionalism can you come out and clarify why in the world you are deleting posts of people posting links to reputable news sites such as CNN, the Guardian, and the Telegraph on a subject that you yourself have reported on here on Naharnet in several articles. Naharnet: You reported on Assad's regime torture in Syrian jails. SO why these double standards.
I hope a reasonable moderator would come out right here and justify your position! Thank you!
22 January 2014, 19:49
15
Yi alilé? Now my "reported" post miraculously reappeared after several hours in the purgatory, and Ice-man's post with the multiple links vanished. Ya Naharnet! Ya Jamé3aaa! Consistency please. Blease!
23 January 2014, 04:29
13
I bet flamethrower. You sit here like an old spinster and report comments for no reason just to satisfy your hatred and venom. I feel sorry for your miserable life.
22 January 2014, 13:33
710
Keep reporting me and I'll keep posting until banned.
Here you go. Draw your own conclusions.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/21/world/meast/syria-torture-photos/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
22 January 2014, 13:50
711
Those reporting you are the ones afraid of the truth. However, it is Naharnet that should make the decision to delete a post. If they seek the truth, they should let this information surface. Nevertheless, this holocaust and the documented 55,000 digital images are on every respectable news site. The report was done by De Silva, former chief prosecutor of the special court for Sierra Leone.
22 January 2014, 14:30
146
lol a british law firm, paid by qatar.
you know that law firms and lawyers lie on demand, dont you?
22 January 2014, 14:39
79
if u ever needed proof that these people are nazis/shabiha, this comment from mowaten is it. he refuses to believe that anyone in a syrian jail has been tortured, based on nothing but his own partisan bias, despite the fact that literally endless amounts of evidence exist proving this fact.
22 January 2014, 14:40
78
moreover this evidence shows that not only should assad be hanged from his genitals, but that anyone and everyone supporting him is a shabiha terrorist covering for crimes against humanity.
22 January 2014, 14:40
79
Of course lawyers do lie! But, do 55,000 images lie? I understand you have a job to do as most propagandists do. Lawyers have to be paid to earn a living. Is Smaha' lawyer doing it for free? Was Azouri paid to defend your Jamil sayyid paid by HA?
22 January 2014, 14:53
610
@mowaten, the paid mouthpiece: what do you think of Syrian Jails standards? do you also agree "they are in accordance with internationally recognized best standards of justice".
22 January 2014, 15:13
611
@Jaafar: No, I have not. But the poor Lebanese detainees that you and your hizb so dearly love and are doing everything in your capacity with your ally Aoun to release the rest of them have spoken volumes about the luxury and humane nature of these jails. Thank you!
22 January 2014, 15:13
610
Ice-man
what mowaten, ft, southern, mystic and a few others say does not matter, the truth is there for those who have ears and eyes. for those who understand the meaning of this dossier that has been prepared for a special tribunal for Syria that will be kicked off soon after they finish with the destruction of the chemical weapons of bachar.
nothing matters coming from m8 bunch who are showing us daily how illiterate they are and make us laugh on a daily basis with the stupidity of their comments.
22 January 2014, 16:15
68
M8 amnesia sufferers are sad to watch.
what's wrong FT? do you deny your boss' claim that syrian jails are pinnacles of human rights respecting institutions on par with jails in norway and sweden?
22 January 2014, 16:21
78
My dear friend @Jaafar: The answer that you seek is written right inside your logical comment. But, let me help you find it. M14 and Assad are enemies, yes. M14 have not done much to release those detainees. Back to my point now, and please try to focus from this cue point and forward ok>? Since your hizb is fighting to save Assad's regime and offering the blood of young Lebanese men at the altar of his presidential palace, and since Aoun your ally considers Syria no longer an enemy, the QUESTION is: Why don't these 2 parties leverage their relationship with Assad and get the detainees released and to hell with M14?
BTW, POW is not a term you should use. Lebanon and Syria are bound by a brotherly treaty of co-operation:)
22 January 2014, 16:30
57
Mowaten, the report was written by Desmond de Silva, the former chief prosecutor of the special court for Sierra Leone; Geoffrey Nice, the former lead prosecutor in the trial of former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic; and David Crane, who indicted the Liberian president, Charles Taylor.
De Silva, by the way, was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate Israel's interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters that led to 9 deaths.
I understand your dislike of the rebels due to the strong (and justified) Islamist threat. I suspect that, due to your dislike of the rebels, you are trying to automatically discredit this overwhelming body of evidence, presented by people who are internationally recognized for their objectivity and neutrality. This I find hard to understand.
22 January 2014, 16:33
105
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5395830/Abu-Ghraib-abuse-photos-show-rape.html
" At least one picture shows an American soldier apparently raping a female prisoner while another is said to show a male translator raping a male detainee.
Further photographs are said to depict sexual assaults on prisoners with objects including a truncheon, wire and a phosphorescent tube.
Another apparently shows a female prisoner having her clothing forcibly removed to expose her breasts. "
22 January 2014, 16:33
105
The prisoner Manadel al-Jamadi died in Abu Ghraib prison after being interrogated and tortured by a CIA officer and a private contractor. The torture included physical violence and strappado hanging, whereby the victim is hung from the wrists with the hands tied behind the back. His death has been labeled a homicide by the US military,[8] but neither of the two men who caused his death have been charged. The private contractor was granted qualified immunity.[9]
22 January 2014, 16:33
115
now tell me how you would like bush and other US official, and all those who support them "hanged from their genitals"
22 January 2014, 16:36
114
jabal: i dont care about his pedigree, he's a lawyer from a law firm that took qatari money. lawyers lie every day for their clients, it's their job. they make perfect-looking cases to defend criminals when they know thuth, why wouldnt they fabricate this one? because they have a famous lawyer? that's what makes them credible for you? LOL come on guys, it's no secret that syrian jails are no joke, and certainly many a terrorist got a good beating and even execution, but nothing in this report can be taken seriously.
22 January 2014, 16:37
47
Mowaten, by mentioning to the Abu Ghraib crimes, you are trying to deflect attention from the subject at hand, which is evidence of crimes against humanity by the Assad regime. And please don't mention the atrocities by the Islamists (they actually did happen). That would be deflection as well.
22 January 2014, 16:41
67
Of course he is deflecting the discussion by talking about Abu Ghraeib. Who cares mowaten and yes nobody denies what the Americans did in Iraq and Afghanistan. But, how does that relate to the topic at hand: SYRIA.
22 January 2014, 16:42
95
no i'm not, i'm just putting things in perspective, and showing the hypocrisy of the pompom girls here, who pretend to be shocked by what may have happened in syrian jails, but never cared about atrocities committed in US jails, and have been going on for over a decade.
as for the evidence, i went through the articles, none gives any proof that the pictures are really from syrian jails. it's allegations by lawyers on qatari payroll
22 January 2014, 16:48
78
Well then, if you have gone through the evidence and decided there was no proof, then matter is closed. Let's move on and leave it to more professional agencies to decide.
22 January 2014, 18:25
68
poor mooowaten and his fellow ft... trying by all means to defend the syrians by accusing the americans.. in their logic if US torture prisoners so it gives the right to syrians to do so...
oh! for their knowledge the USA used the syrians jails to interrogate prisoners from guantanamo using the syrian torture techniques...
that is the regime you are so proud of hypocrit syrian lovers....
22 January 2014, 17:02
75
Mowaten, are you a defence attorney? Because if you were, I would definitely hire you should the need arise - and I am not saying it sarcastically. I really appreciate locking horns with you.
22 January 2014, 13:39
25
How is this conference ever going to get somewhere? These rebels are nice and well-intentionned but they don't control the ground and can't offer anything in a negotiation. I would have thought they would know Assad's true nature a bit better by now. What do they expect? "Please guys get on the first plane to Damascus and come and take my place. All my army is at your disposal and they promise to obey. PS: I left some food for you in the fridge. xxx. BA."
22 January 2014, 14:46
54
arabs stay arabs
the regime must go for sure , but what is the alternative ?
so mou3arada in Syria for 3 years now and nobody has even a draft of a kind of new constitution and what follows
but as I said 3aarab
22 January 2014, 15:16
59
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10585391/Syrias-Assad-accused-of-boosting-al-Qaeda-with-secret-oil-deals.html
22 January 2014, 16:37
114
according to ... "allegations by Western intelligence sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity"
bahahahahahahahaa
22 January 2014, 16:39
114
if they had credible info, they wouldnt be afraid of speaking on the record, they're world-class intelligence agencies, dont they have spokespeople who care speak openly?
only one reason to speak anonymously: these allegations are pathetic fabrications and no one wants to risk his credibility and reputation by being associated to them
22 January 2014, 16:46
57
Interesting @mowaten, you discredit the source (telegraph.co.uk), yet you use the same source in your comment a few posts above to document American human rights violations in Iraqi jails??? LOL
22 January 2014, 18:44
64
nice try ice-man, but telegraph is not the SOURCE, it's the medium.
the sources in the one i linked are named, such as Maj Gen Taguba, a retired US army officer, and facts, like the pictures of rapes are verifiable and both victims and perpetrators are identified.
in the other article, there is no source.
see the difference?
22 January 2014, 18:45
64
in the other article, there is no source AND NO VERIFIABLE EVIDENCE.
22 January 2014, 16:39
34
The best that this conference can do is the pave the way for regular orderly scheduled presidential elections which are to take place this year or next. To guarantee that anyone who can run will run. That the election will be free and fair, internationally monitored and certified by international agencies, and whomever the Syrian people choose as their President will be the legitimate President. Assad can run on his record of having murdered 130,000 of his fellow citizens and making over 9,000,000 homeless, the Nusra Party can run on their fundamentalism, Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS) and the party of the FSA.
22 January 2014, 16:39
35
All refugees return so that they can vote. Assad is not required to relinquish power as the result of a revolt, but may as the result of a free elections. This meets all demands of the principals and their backers.
22 January 2014, 18:16
54
are u serious beiruti or is it me that dont get ur irony ?
All defected ministers, MPs, officers that served the Assads for decades said that it is useless to discuss with assad, that he understands only force...
22 January 2014, 20:54
55
Not exactly @peacelover. What mowaten saying is the following: Syria is about 88% Sunni. This Sunni population if given the chance to express its opinion democratically through transparent elections, it will elect an Alawite President and probably from the Assad family.
22 January 2014, 21:10
53
i didnt say they wre democratically elected, i said the opposition dudes in istanbul have no support or credibility in syria.
the people, until today, are sticking with bashar because they know he is the only barrier against the fanatic barbarians. syrians are not as sectarian as you ice-boy, they dont care what sect he is as long as he respects and protects all sects.
23 January 2014, 01:00
23
Assad is protecting people by dropping barrel bombs on their heads. I guess this is why Hezb didn't lose popularity after 2006 war, in the minds of moooomana3a people, getting bombs on your head is a good thing.
23 January 2014, 04:40
13
LOL mowaten; what about before the "barbarians" arrived on the scene in Syria. Were the Syrians also in favor of your Assad and his father. Stop spreading your propaganda and claiming you know what the Syrian people want or don't want.
22 January 2014, 20:34
23
Cede, the irony of my post is that it is the only reasonable course, and therefore, the least likely to happen. If the Assad partisans are successful at Geneva! then expect more Jihadists to flock to Syria. If Assad is removed at Gene a, then expect more guerrilla warfare.
What Syrian Presidential leadership needs more than anything is legitimacy. Assad has lost his by killing his fellow countrymen. Opposition leadership can not be legitimate if they come to power by the hand of international powers.
Non Lu the Syrian people can confer legitimacy on its presidency and government. If aster all this, Syrians, given a free choice choose Assad! then so be it. If not, then so be that. The people are the ONLY source to legitimate a government in free and fair elections
