Ford reveals inability of the constitutional committee to resolve the Syrian crisis

Robert Ford, a former US ambassador to Syria and Algeria and a researcher at the Middle East Institute in Washington, spoke in an article for Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper about the recently announced Constitutional Committee and its inability to find a solution to the Syrian crisis and exclude the components of northern and eastern Syria from it.

At the beginning of his article, Ford said, “I like the Arab proverb,“ The mountain had labored, and gave birth to a rat.” “On September 23, UN special envoy Geir Pedersen announced an agreement to form a committee to draft a new Syrian constitution. Damascus is not in Geneva. I am not here to criticize Mr. Pedersen, he has accepted a job that no one is looking for, and he is also the fourth UN special envoy for the Syrian crisis."

Ford noted that thanks to Pedersen, Americans and the international community can claim a political process in Syria. "But let us remember the difference between fiction and reality. The September 23 announcement does not change three basic facts in Syria:

The first and most important fact, according to Ford, is that there is no rule of law in Syria. "The security forces, especially the four intelligence services - Air Force Intelligence, Military, General and Political Security - control the country only in favor of President Assad, and everyone there ignores the constitution," he says. By protecting the health of citizens and providing treatment, the Syrian government has destroyed many hospitals, which the UN itself knows.

According to Ford, Article 29 of the constitution recognizes that education is a citizen's right, "but the Syrian Air Force bombed many schools. Article 42 states that citizens have the right to express their views freely, but tens of thousands of anti-government and even relatives have been arrested. Government opponents were arrested and executed without judicial proceedings.

Article 43, the freedom of the press shall be recognized. How can we explain the government's announcement in April this year that journalist Ali Osman, who was arrested by security forces in 2012, died in custody in 2013? The answer is that security forces killed him and killed tens of thousands of other prisoners despite promises in the current constitution. We must not forget the pictures of thousands of victims shown by a clandestine police defector in 2013. With or without a new constitution, there is no rule of law in Syria and no accountability for the intelligence and military.

The second fact, according to Ford, is that "the security state will not change and will not reform itself. The Assad government controls Damascus and all other major cities in Syria. War and economic sanctions are destroying the Syrian middle class, but the Syrian government remains. Does anyone really believe that Bashar and his family, or Family intelligence chief, suffer?

"If you have any hope of reforming the Syrian state, remember that its intelligence services are arresting people who have signed reconciliation agreements in Daraa and Rural Damascus. “Assad has already won three elections and will run again in 2021, how can the UN or the international community," Ford wondered, “think that this security state would hold free and fair elections? Will the Air Force Intelligence receive orders from the UN election adviser who may not speak Arabic? Let's be serious.”

The third fact that prevents the constitutional committee from achieving a political solution to the Syrian crisis, according to Robert Ford, is the "lack of representatives from the eastern part of Syria," referring to Turkey's intention to resettle 3 million refugees in northern and eastern Syria. Refugees are changing the demographics of eastern Syria. Is "correct understanding."

In his article, Ford pointed out that the United States could not influence the formation of the constitutional committee, which Pedersen is negotiating with Damascus, Ankara, Moscow and Tehran.

Ford stresses that the constitutional committee "will not resolve the issue of identity and will not be able to impose decentralization on the Assad government, which has a military superiority on the ground and believes in centralization."

"All we can do is thank the UN for its courageous efforts, but we have to pity the Syrians whom the UN and the international community have been unable to help." he says.

J.O