As part of the diplomatic efforts that the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) is making to confront the Interpol’s decision to reopen its office in Damascus, SOC’s President Salem Al-Meslet sent letters to the foreign ministers of sisterly and friendly states regarding granting the regime a permission to access the databases of the Interpol network.
The letter was sent to the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, Turkey and the United States.
The letter warned against granting the regime a permission to access the databases of the Interpol network. It stressed that this sudden move, which came after nine years of restricting cooperation with the Assad regime, is a dangerous development that would endanger the regime’s opponents who live abroad. Dissidents will be at a serious risk of monitoring and arrest, as well as the possibility of repatriation to the regime if they are included in the Interpol’s red notice or other blue, green, or other warning notices.
Al-Meslet pointed out that the Assad regime has a track record of crimes and grave violations against its opponents, especially following the start of the Syrian revolution in 2011. He stressed that many of these atrocities were documented by independent and impartial international investigators, which confirm the regime’s violation of the Interpol’s principle of transparency. By virtue of its control over the Syrian judicial institution, the regime will exploit the Interpol’s decision to issue arrest warrants against opponents under false criminal charges.
Al-Meslet stressed that he would never be surprised if the Assad regime fabricates criminal charges against its opponents under the guise of “fighting terrorists.”
He added that millions of Syrians were arrested and killed under torture by the regime, and were expelled from their homes, villages and cities after their destruction in cooperation with its Iranian and Russian allies. These facts are a proof of the regime’s willingness to use the Interpol decision as a “legitimate cover” aimed at threatening the lives of millions wanted by its security services. He said that this also constitutes a blatant violation of the principle of depoliticization enshrined in the Interpol’s statute.
Moreover, Al-Meslet called on all states to urgently seek a reversal of the Interpol’s decision, cancel all the powers it grants to the Assad regime, and stop all the effects and steps associated with it, including official visits and joint training with the Interpol office.
Al-Meslet had earlier issued a decision to form a committee tasked with following up on the Interpol’s decision. The committee will communicate with Interpol and find out the reasons for this dangerous step and its consequences, and submit periodic weekly reports to the SOC’s president on the developments in this issue.
The committee comprised members of the political committee Nazir Hakim and Abdelbaset Abdullatif, Minister of Interior in the Syrian Interim Government Muhyiddin Al-Harmoush, and dissident Colonel Muhammad Anadani who was head of the Interpol office in Syria when he defected from the Assad regime.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
