Hadi Al-Bahra, Co-chair of the Constitutional Committee, members of the expanded and drafting committees participated in a workshop held in the Turkish city of Gaziantep on the voice of civil society in the constitution. The workshop was organized by the Stability Support Committee and in coordination with representatives of the Syrian Negotiations Commission.
The workshop also brought together representatives of local communities, members of local councils and activists in the liberated areas, representatives of civil society organizations, representatives of the United States, France, Turkey, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the European Union, and the political representative of the UN Office.
The workshop began with a discussion of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Idlib and the mass exodus of civilians as a result of the intense, deliberate bombardment being carried out by the Assad regime and Russia.
The participants discussed the policy being pursued by the Assad regime and Russia to depopulate whole villages and towns using the scorched earth policy and its impact on the work of the Constitutional Committee and the entire political process.
Al-Bahra condemned the lukewarm international response and the failure to exert serious political pressure to establish a ceasefire and protect civilians. He also said there the response is falling short of meeting the humanitarian needs for the internally displaced people.
The participants also reviewed the current challenges, the latest developments in the political process and the role of the Constitutional Committee in the process. Al-Bahra talked about the latest political developments relating to the meetings the Syrian Negotiations held in London several days ago, including the meeting of the Small Group on Syria in addition to the results of the international envoy’s recent visit, Geir Pedersen to Moscow and Damascus.
Al-Bahra stressed the important role of the local community in providing support and assistance to the IDP and in the constitutional process, especially in the discussions of the drafting of the constitution. He also stressed the community’s role in drafting its articles as essential to the success of the Committee’s work. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)
