The Daily Monitoring Report – Tuseday – 03-07-2012

                                                                                   July 3^rd, 2012

- Some 114 people were martyred Monday by the regular forces’ gunfire, mostly in Rif Dimashq, Hama and Homs. The Assad artillery and helicopters continue shelling cities and towns in various governorates, including Hama, Homs, Idlib, Deir Al-Zour, Rif Dimashq and Daraa.⁽²⁾

Political Mobility

- Pilot Colonel General Qassim Saadeddin, spokesman for the Joint Command of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), announced the FSA boycott of the “conspiracy” conference held in Cairo. Saadeddin added that the conference comes “after the serious decisions made by Geneva meeting, which are only meant to save the Syrian regime through engaging in a dialogue with it, as well as forming a joint government with the killers of our children from the (war) government formed by the criminal Bashar Al-Assad.”⁽⁴⁾

- Ahead of opening of the Cairo conference, George Sabra, spokesman for the Syrian National Council (SNC), said he expected the conference to succeed, adding that the conference will issue two important documents; the first entitled “The National Pledge to Syria” and the other entitled “Steps for the Transitional Period.”⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

Activities of Civil Organizations

- Ghassan Saliba, a presenter of the pro-Assad Ekhbariya and Addounia TV channels, quit his job and joins the Syrian revolution. Saliba said that most of Syria’s eastern cities are “almost controlled by the opposition fighters”.

- Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, reiterated its demand on the need to refer those responsible for human rights violations in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC), pointing to the hundreds of civilians trapped in Deir Al-Zour and the Old City in Homs “because of increasing use of heavy weapons, artillery shelling and armed clashes.”^(1)(2)(4)

Political Stances

Syria

- Bashar Al-Assad issued three Laws on combating the violence acts and terrorism previously passed by the parliament last week.^(1)(2)(4)

- Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said that the first law is on dismissing state workers who are indicted by a court verdict with committing terrorist acts, joining terrorist groups, instigating and providing any moral or material assistance for the armed terrorist group.^(1)(2)(4)

- Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said that the second law stipulates that the punishment for whoever kidnaps a person by force or deception with the aim of demanding ransom is 10 to 20 years in prison with hard labor and a fine.^(2)(4)(6)

- Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said that the third law issued by Bashar is related to the identification of the terrorist act, as it defined by that law as every act which aims at creating a state of panic among the people, destabilizing public security and damaging the basic infrastructure of the country by using weapons, ammunition, explosive, flammable materials, toxic products, epidemiological or bacteriological factors or any method fulfilling the same purposes. The terrorist organization is defined a group of three persons or more that aim at committing a terrorist act or more. Funding terrorism means any direct or indirect supplying with money, weapons, ammunition, explosives, telecommunication tools, information or other things with the aim of using them in carrying out a terrorist act by one person or a terrorist organization. The law lists the various sentences for committing terrorist acts, establishing terrorist organizations, conspiring to commit terrorist acts, recruiting or training terrorists, funding terrorism, the possession, smuggling, manufacturing or stealing weapons or explosives with the intent of using them for terrorist acts, threatening the government with terrorist acts, hijacking transport vehicles, and the distribution of publications or information promoting terrorism. The law also includes conditions and extenuating circumstances for acquitting the indicted individuals or mitigating their sentences, which include reporting intended criminal acts listed in the law, and aiding in the arrest of criminals. The full law will be published in official newspapers and is put in effect upon publication.⁽²⁾⁽⁴⁾

Arab

- The Syrian opposition conference in Cairo inaugurated under the auspices of the Arab League (AL), as the Syrian opposition forces are currently considering a united vision for the post-Assad period and also closing up their ranks. On the other hand, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) hastened to announce boycotting the conference, describing it as being a conspiracy.⁽²⁾⁽⁴⁾

- The Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi said Monday that Syria’s territorial unity is a red line that could not be crossed or compromised. In a speech, read on his behalf by Foreign Minister Mohammad Amr before the Syrian opposition groups meeting here, Morsi underlined that priority should be given now to the efforts aiming to stopping bloodshed in Syria. The newly-elected President also expressed Egypt’s full support to Syrian people’s struggle for freedom and democracy as well as strong condemnation of the violent repression of the peaceful anti-regime protests. Morsi called for immediate probe into the horrible crimes committed against desperate Syrian civilians and to bring those involved to justice. He introduced Egypt’s three-point vision for the Syrian crisis solution which included enforcing UN-Arab League Envoy Kofi Annan’s plan, mobilizing world efforts to halt bloodshed and supporting an Arab League-sponsored Syria unified national vision for the future.⁽⁴⁾

International

- Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that the sufferings of the Syrian people would come to an end only after starting a transitional period that would achieve the ambitions of the Syrian people. He also added” We seek to create a unified vision for Syrian people and its fate”, saying that the Assad regime did not fulfill the promises that it previously made.⁽²⁾

- International-Arab envoy to Syria Kofi Annan’s deputy Nasser Al-Kidwa said that the unity of vision and goal is not a choice, but rather a must for the Syrian opposition with a view to increasing the popular and international support for it.⁽⁵⁾

- British Foreign Secretary William Hague asserted that the plan of Geneva conference is considered a step in the right direction because of Russia’s unprecedented approval to the formation of a transitional government.⁽⁷⁾

- Burhan Ghalioun, ex-leader and current political bureau chief of the Syrian National Council (SNC), said the concept of Syrians negotiating with their executioner is “mockery.” He also has said that the plan issued by Geneva conference “is the worse one to emerge from talks on Syria.”⁽⁷⁾

- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Al-Assad will certainly leave because there is no chance he can meet the “mutual consent” standard. “What we have done here is to strip away the fiction that he and those with blood on their hands can stay in power,” she said.⁽¹⁾⁽⁷⁾

- Cyprus said Monday after taking up the rotating EU presidency that it was concerned over Turkey’s attitude to events in Syria but would continue to work with Ankara over the conflict. “As a country we have worries on the way Turkey deals with the Syrian crisis,” deputy European Affairs Minister Andreas Mavroyiannis told a news conference. “We fear how Turkey deals with this issue because there is on the part of Turkey a kind of instrumentalisation,” he said during a presentation of his country’s aims during its six months at the EU helm. But he insisted that “as the (EU) presidency we will work with all parties in order to promote peaceful transition to democracy in Syria.” Mavroyiannis said there were many communities in Syria to take into account, “including Christian minorities”, and that “we need to be very cautious” to respond to “what people want there and not to sacrifice minorities”.⁽⁴⁾

Sources

1	Asharq Al-Awsat
2	Aljazeera net
3	Reuters
4	AFP
5	AP
6	Guardian
7	Telegraph