Local activists warned Syrians not to “fall again in the trap of Assad and Russia’s false promises” of granting amnesty to those who agree to enter into settlements or so-called reconciliation agreements. The Syrian Coalition repeatedly expressed its outright rejection of these agreements which were reached under Russian guarantees for the safety of those who agree to them as all were imposed on Syrians under the force of arms.
Activists said that the Assad regime violated these agreements in various areas as it detained hundreds of residents of the areas where these agreements took place. The detainees included former civil defense workers, Free Syrian Army fighters, members of local councils, relief workers, and medical personnel.
Activists pointed out that most of the arrests took place in the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta which has recently seen unprecedentedly high deployment of intelligence and security services, as well as in Dara’a province and northern rural Homs.
Local sources said that the Russian forces did not try to prevent the Assad regime forces from carrying out the arrests. Relief organizations said that Russia bears full responsibility for these arrests as all the so-called settlements and reconciliation agreements were reached under guarantees from Russia.
The Assad regime have made various charges against the detainees, including communicating with their relatives who were displaced to northern Syria or concealing weapons.
The Syrian Coalition earlier said that these arrests exposed the falsity of the Russian claims of giving guarantees to former regime opponents as these guarantees proved to be empty and worthless.
The Coalition said that these arrests proved that Russia did not have the ability to rein in the actions of the Assad regime and its allied foreign militias as well as exposed the dark side of the Russia role in Syria. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)