Coordinator of the National Commission for the Defense of the Detainees and Missing Persons, Yasser Al-Farhan, said that the latest decree the Assad regime issued regarding the detainees “is similar to the previous ones.” He emphasized that the regime continues “with the selectivity of the crimes covered by these decrees, the restrictions with exceptions that narrow its enforcement and subject it to politicization, and to the judiciary’s assessment which is mostly subject to the dictates of the security apparatuses.”
Al-Farhan pointed out that the Assad regime is resorting to conceit as it is trying to respond to the demands of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) to release the detainees in order to avert the danger of an outbreak of the coronavirus among detainees.
The reasons behind issuing these decrees are the selection of specific convicts for amnesty and the selection of specific criminal offenses to release the perpetrators, Al-Farhan added.
He went on to say that the Assad regime is trying to mobilize the armed forces by returning army deserters and subjecting the convicts to recruitment and reserve military service by selecting deserters to include loyalist deserters for reasons related to the length of service, its difficulties and risks, without including defectors for political, ethical, functional and national reasons.
Al-Farhan pointed out that the decree will allow the regime to generate revenues through judicial fees and amounts due, in addition to allowing the loyalists to earn money through brokering and bribery.
Moreover, he pointed out that the regime is trying to send messages to the international community that it pays attention on the refugee crisis and to suggest that it can play a vital role in their return, as well as pressuring the refugees and intimidating them into not returning.
Al-Farhan said that the Assad regime wants to use the amnesty decree to claim that it is working to create the safe environment needed for elections and reconstruction. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
