The State Department accused the Syrian government on Wednesday of retaliating against the Syrian opposition’s representatives to the Geneva peace talks by arresting their family members. On Wednesday, the State Department asserted that the Syrian government had also been detaining some of the delegates’ relatives. “We call on the regime to immediately and unconditionally release all those unfairly arrested, including Mahmoud Sabra, brother of Geneva delegation member Mohammed Sabra,” she added. According to a statement issued last week by the Syrian opposition, Mohammed Sabra said his brother had been detained at a checkpoint in the town of Jaramana. According to a U.S. State Department, the Assad regime announced earlier that the members of the Syrian Coalition and those who participated in the Geneva talks are “terrorists” and confiscated their property.” The statement added that arresting family members of the Syrian Coalition’s representatives to Geneva II represents a defiance to the international community and that the Assad regime seeks to break down all the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people.” In a similar vein, security forces of the Assad regime murdered Wissam Fayez Sarah during the Geneva negotiations, after being detained for 63 days by the military security. The family of Wissam said that they “received a telegram from the military police dated January 14, 2014 telling them to receive the body of Wissam and to sign on the telegram that says that “armed gangs” killed Wissam. In response to this crime, Fayez Sara, Wissam’s father and member of the Syrian Coalition, said that that his son “was in the forefronts of the Syrian revolution. He took part in the protests and participated in the relief work. Wissam rose against dictatorship like all Syrians who aspire for a better life with freedom, justice and equality for all Syrians. He was truly a peaceful dissident for a better future for Syria and the Syrian people.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)
