Dialogue forum ends its work with a final statement that includes 13 recommendations

The forum was held under the title “Freedoms and human rights are a guarantee for the protection of moral and political society.” The first session began with reading the first topic of the forum, which talked about the importance of International Human Rights Day. It was read by the Projects Director and Director at the Geneva Organization, Cal Noura Al-Assaf, and she said at its beginning:

“The extent of application of international human rights law, which is considered the law concerned with the promotion and exercise of the basic rights that were declared in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was the basis for international treaties enshrining these rights, and which were included in the national law constitutions of the states that signed the United Nations Charter, and are mostly applied in most of these countries are in states of peace.

Noura Al-Assaf continued: “However, most violations occur in cases of wars and armed conflicts, in which the principles of international humanitarian law, the law of armed conflicts, in addition to international human rights law apply. Among the most important of these violations in Syria and the most important violations of the rights stated against Syria are the right to live, the right to access health services, the right to feel safe.”

Then the discussion was opened, as the director of the Syrian Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, joined in via an audio recording, which began with:

“International human rights law stipulates justice and freedom, and everyone gets equal opportunities, but this law is far from the hope of the Syrian people, who were deprived of their most basic rights, as well as the children and people of Gaza, and what they suffer from the Israeli occupation. This indicates the world’s failure to preserve human rights.”

The Secretary-General of the Future Syria Party, Abdul Hamid Al-Mahbash, said: “The human being is considered the basic foundation in this universe. Therefore, when the Universal Human Rights Law was formulated, but due to the importance of this day, we see today the ugliest forms of violation of human rights contained in the thirty articles of human rights, and all rights are violated in them, starting from The right to life and the right of women in Syria, and the most heinous violation in Syria is the chemical weapons crime carried out by the Syrian regime, the Turkish occupation, and the crimes of the Israeli occupation against the children and people of Gaza.”

he co-chair of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria, Brevan Khaled, said: “We need forums of this kind to shed light on the crimes taking place in Syria, the most important of which are the crimes of the Turkish occupation and the displacement of 300,000 people from Afrin and Ras al-Ain. We must discuss the fate of these 300,000 people and why no action was taken.” "The world and human rights organizations did not lift a finger against those crimes."

The interventions were answered by the Director of Projects and Directorate at the Geneva Organization, Cal Noura Al-Assaf.

Then, the second section, which explains the most important violations in Syria, was read by Ibrahim Al-Qaftan, a member of the General Council of the Future Syria Party. He said at the beginning: “The Syrian crisis is one of the most complex crises in the world due to the multiplicity of its parties, including local, regional, and international parties, and the multiplicity and contrast of interests.” Each party is to the point of entanglement and sometimes conflict, and despite the crisis approaching its fourteenth year, there are no indicators warning of its imminent end, as the conflict has continued since its outbreak in 2011 until now.”

Al-Qaftan added: “The most prominent violations against the Syrian people and Syria were by the Turkish occupation, its illegal bombing, and the use of water warfare, which primarily affects the population, building settlements, seeking demographic change, stealing antiquities, and destroying religious symbols.”

Then the door for interventions and discussion was opened. Kamal Sido, a member of the Association for the Defense of Oppressed Peoples from Germany, spoke via Skype and said: “Greetings to you on the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Human Rights Law from the headquarters of the Association for Oppressed Peoples. I want to talk about these violations in Syria, especially from Before Turkey, it opened its borders to the flow of weapons and terrorists from all over the world into Syria and spread discord among all components.”

Sido explained, "Turkey's goal is to incite fighting between members of one people, and it had a pretext to enter and occupy some areas of Syria and commit  crimes in these areas. We have been documenting these crimes since Turkey occupied these areas. We filed a lawsuit against the Turkish president when he visited Germany and tried to arrest him, and we were able to shed Shedding light on this matter and exposing his crimes committed inside Syria through German media channels.”

Deputy co-chair of the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria, Hamdan Al-Abd, said: “We must form a specialized legal human rights committee to document all violations and crimes against the Syrian people by the Syrian regime and the Turkish occupation and present them to the Security Council.”

The second session of the forum began, where the first topic of the second session was read, which talked about women’s rights. It was read by the lawyer and member of the Center for Research and Protection of Women’s Rights, Aynur Pasha. She said at its beginning: “We meet today in the city of Raqqa to talk about the violation of women’s rights in the city of Raqqa and their deprivation.” Their rights to education and work, and women were enslaved in the Raqqa areas by ISIS mercenaries.”

Aynur Pasha explained, "The most important laws stipulate preserving women's rights and granting them all their rights to choose a husband and nationality. All of these agreements stipulate sufficient guarantees for this, eliminating all forms of discrimination for women, and equality between them and men in work, inheritance, and all rights."

Then the discussion was opened, as Nour al-Huda Zaki, from the Egyptian Women with Change movement, entered via Skype from Egypt and expressed her opinion about rights, freedoms, gender equality, and international conventions regarding that.

Then the second topic of the second session began, which was read by the psychological treatment consultant and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Zat International Center for Training and Psychological Counseling, Abdel Fattah Al-Hamidi, and it stated: “Introducing the importance of children’s rights according to international charters and agreements and the violations that children are exposed to in conflicts and wars in all countries.” Countries of the world, there are several types of violations against children, including psychological, physical, and mental violation.

Al-Hamidi pointed out, “There is a glimpse into the statistics of violations against children in countries of the world in general and Syria in particular. There are 90% of children in Syria who are exposed to severe violence, and the passage of a decade of conflict has had a horrific impact on Syrian children and families, and with the increase in regular food commodities last year, 230% suffer.” "More than half a million children are deprived of their most basic rights."

Al-Hamidi explained, "There are several things that every child must have, including food, water, and a place. Children must be provided with safety, and their psychological and mental health must be taken care of."

 the human rights forum ended with a final statement read by the head of the Women’s Committee in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, Adalat Omar, and the text of the statement read:

“Under the sponsorship of both the General Women’s Council of the Future Syria Party and the Women’s Authority in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, and with the slogan: “Freedoms and human rights...a guarantee for the protection of the moral and political community,” an expanded human rights forum was held in the city of Raqqa on 12/12/2023 on the occasion of International Human Rights Day. Human Rights and included approximately (150) figures from all civil organizations and institutions, women’s movements and organizations in Syria, and figures concerned with human affairs and rights inside and outside Syria.”

The statement continued, "The forum began with a welcome speech, and the forum addressed four main topics:

The first axis is about the importance of International Human Rights Day and the basic articles of human rights, and the effectiveness of their implementation in countries of the world in general, and Syria in particular.

The second axis is about violations in Syria, and war crimes against humanity throughout Syria, especially by the Turkish occupation state. The third axis is about women’s rights under international treaties and agreements by the United Nations.

The fourth axis is about children’s rights according to international conventions and agreements and the violations that children are exposed to in conflicts and wars in all countries of the world, especially the effects and repercussions of the war in Syria on children.”

The statement explained, “Accordingly, we are in the General Women’s Council of the Future Syria Party and the Women’s Authority in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, while we express our deepest thanks and appreciation for all the valuable opinions and discussions that were presented in this forum, through which we affirm the unification and concerted efforts of our efforts in “Work diligently, in order to achieve all human rights principles and goals, and resolve issues related to women in accordance with international standards and agreements, to build a free democratic society.”

The statement indicated, “On this basis, we present to local and international public opinion these recommendations, which are among the most important points that were agreed upon during the forum sessions:

1- Supporting and assisting the steadfastness and resistance of the peoples of NE, Syria in their legitimate rights.

2-The necessity of removing the Turkish occupier and its affiliated factions from all Syrian lands.

3- All those concerned with human rights carry out their responsibilities regarding the violations committed against the Syrian people, especially in the regions of NE, Syria.

4- Reducing violations, war crimes, and crimes against humanity against the Syrian people, and referring the perpetrators to international courts.

5-Working to activate the basic articles of human rights in Syria.

6- Fighting all forms of violence, discrimination and exploitation against Syrian women.

7- Raising awareness and empowering women in all areas of life, including the legal and political fields.

8- Achieving fair representation in all aspects of the Syrian Democratic Republic.

9-Working to reduce all negative social phenomena that are unfair to women and children, such as (labor - early marriage - drugs) and others.

10-The necessity of activating the family law and the child protection law in the regions of NE, Syria.

11- Consolidating ethical democratic values and principles in educational, health and economic curricula.

12- Raising awareness and raising children on sound moral principles and foundations in public life.

13-Working to build the democratic family to reduce family disintegration.”

T/ Satt.

ANHA