Editor’s Note: This petition was published by a broad group of Syrians who supported the revolution and now set forth a set of principles they believe must shape the future of the country. We reproduce it here with the aim of facilitating discussion of revolutionary perspectives for Syria. The original can be found here.

Target: Syrian Transitional Government   Region: Syria  Website: aljumhuriya.net

Syrians celebrate the downfall of President Bashar in Aleppo last December. Photo: FMT, CC BY 4.0

After more than five decades of tyranny, repression, and corruption, the Assad regime has fallen. It left behind a heavy legacy of physical and moral destruction, extreme poverty and marginalization of large segments of the Syrian people, an alarming decline in public services, the exacerbation of ethnic and sectarian tensions that the former regime fostered, and a political vacuum after generations were denied the right to freely engage in public affairs. All of this confronts our country in its new epoch with major challenges—to rebuild politically, economically, socially, culturally, and psychologically, and to safeguard its future from tyranny and any tendency by any party to monopolize power at its own whim.

Believing that our people are called upon today to shape their present and future, we, the undersigned, affirm in this statement a set of foundational principles to fortify the new Syria, provide a framework for the transitional period, and help establish the political order for which the Syrian people rose up under the banner of freedom and dignity—an order for which hundreds of thousands of our sons and daughters gave their lives.

1. We affirm that all citizens, both men and women, regardless of their national or sectarian origins, are equal before the law in rights, duties, dignity, and social status.
2. We call for the restoration of fundamental public freedoms, foremost among them the freedoms of assembly, protest, expression, and belief. This includes political freedoms—the right to establish political parties, newspapers, platforms, and forums—as well as social freedoms, including the right to form unions and associations independent of state control. In this context, the state must neither impose nor interfere in people’s customs regarding food, drink, clothing, or other aspects of daily life.
3. We stress the imperative of complying without reservation with international treaties and covenants that guarantee civil, political, social, and economic human rights, as well as ensuring compliance with international humanitarian law and the prosecution of those who violate it.
4. We call for the enactment of laws regulating transitional justice by elected constitutional bodies to hold accountable those accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity through fair and non-vindictive procedures. These measures should apply to all perpetrators, regardless of their affiliation, and ensure justice for victims, the rights of the defense, and the presumption of innocence. Additionally, they should include efforts to uncover the fate of the disappeared, preserve records, prevent tampering with mass graves, and enable Syrians to know the truth, as it is the only path to forgiveness and national reconciliation
5. We affirm Syria’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, as well as its independence and sovereignty over all its resources.
6. In the new Syria we aspire to, a just resolution to the Kurdish question must uphold the legitimate cultural, linguistic, and political rights of our Kurdish citizens within a mutually agreed framework of administrative decentralization.
7. Finally, we call for rebuilding the army and security services on an inclusive civic basis that represents all constituents of the Syrian people without discrimination. The possession of weapons must be strictly limited to state institutions responsible for protecting the country’s borders and ensuring citizens’ security. Furthermore, security services must be strictly prohibited from abusing their authority, particularly engaging in unlawful detention or subjecting detainees to physical or psychological torture.

The era of tyranny is over, and Syrians will not accept a return to the suffering they endured for so long. Their living forces, both at home and in the diaspora, must unite and express their will openly and responsibly so that Syria can navigate the transitional period in peace, security, fraternity, and trust, until the election of a constituent assembly under a fair electoral law and the adoption of a new constitution that guarantees freedom and dignity for all citizens, men and women alike.

First Signatories

Abdulhay Sayed – Jurist and University Professor
Ahmed Hassou – Journalist
Aslan Abdul Karim – Politician
Azza Abo Rebieh – Visual Artist
Baker Sidqi – Writer and Translator
Dima Wannous – Novelist
Faraj Bayrakdar – Poet
Fawaz Haddad – Novelist
Fares Helou – Actor
Fadi Yazigi – Visual Artist
Farouk Mardam Bey – Writer and Publisher
Fouad Mohamed Fouad – Physician, University Professor and Poet
Ghassan Al-Maleh – Theatre Professor and Founder of the Higher Institute of Theatrical Arts
Ghiath Ouyoun Al-Soud – Politician
Hani Sayed – Jurist and University Professor
Hala Al-Abdallah – Filmmaker
Hala Kodmani – Journalist
Houssam Jazmati – Journalist and Researcher
Jamal Chehayed – Researcher and University Professor
Joumana Seif – Human Rights Advocate
Jihad Yazigi – Economist
Karam Nashar – Writer and Editor-in-Chief of Al-Jumhuriya Net
Kinan Azmeh – Composer
Lina Sinjab – Journalist and Documentary Filmmaker
Mohamed Al-Amin Sheikh Abdi – Politician
Mohammad Ali Atassi – Writer and Documentary Filmmaker
Mohammad Al-Attar – Writer and Playwright
Nibras Chehayed – Researcher in Philosophy and University Professor
Nael Georges – Human Rights Advocate and University Professor
Marcel Shehwaro – Writer
Majed Kayali – Palestinian-Syrian Writer
Moustafa Khalifa – Novelist
Nabil Suleiman – Novelist
Nisrine Al Zahre – Writer and University Professor
Nouri Al-Jarrah – Poet
Najwan Issa (Sadiq Abdel Rahman) – Writer
Nabih Nabhan – Civil Activist
Nasser Rabbat – Professor of Islamic Architecture
Noma Omran – Opera Singer and Composer
Omar Kaddour – Writer
Odai Al-Zoubi – Short Story Writer
Osama Mohammed – Filmmaker
Rasha Omran – Poet
Rasha Abbas – Writer
Rabiha Al-Barazi – Activist and Member of the Families for Freedom Movement
Rosa Yassin Hassan – Novelist
Rola Al Rukabi – Political Activist
Rateb Shabo – Writer
Reem Al-Ghazzi – Filmmaker
Samar Yazbek – Novelist
Sari Hanafi – Palestinian-Syrian University Professor
Sarab Jamal Atassi – Researcher
Salim Barakat – Novelist and Poet
Samer Jabbour – Physician and University Professor
Samih Choukeir – Musician and Poet
Subhi Hadidi – Writer and Literary Critic
Suleiman Al-Shammar – Politician and Researcher
Tawfic Chamaa – Physician and Co-Founder of the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organizations (UOSSM)
Wajdan Nassif – Writer
Waad Al-Kateab – Filmmaker
Yassin Swehat – Writer and Journalist
Yassin Al-Haj Saleh – Writer
Yasser Munif – University Professor
Youssef Abdelke – Visual Artist
Zeina Azmeh – Researcher and Teaching Assistant