On the early morning of December 8, 2024, the freemen of Daraa and Soweda entered the capital Damascus, followed them by fighting factions from the north and several provinces to put an end to half a century of tyranny and bloody oppression.
This great national celebration has formed the end of injustice, tyranny and monopoly. Unfortunately, however, we have witnessed practices and initiatives that were inconsistent with the basic principles of the March 18, 2011 revolution: One, one, one, the Syrian people are one, Kurds and Arabs hand in hand, Christians and Muslims hand in hand, Sunnis and Alawites hand in hand, a State of Citizenship for all Syrians, we are citizens, not subjects, etc. These are the revolutionary principles for which our people paid half a million martyrs.
We say to our people: the salvation from the tyrant should not legalize the presence of any non-Syrian fighter on the soil of our beloved homeland. We will not accept that any military force monopolizes the national decision, regardless of its number and strength. We will never accept any totalitarian ideology that replaces fifty years of Baathist ideological misery. We will never accept any authority imposed by force of arms.
We announce, after communicating and coordinating with nationalists and democrats throughout Syria, the establishment of the Syrian Gathering to Protect Citizens and Build a State of Law. This gathering is open to all honorable Syrian men and women who have opposed the Assad tyranny, to develop a roadmap for building a state of citizenship, a sovereign state with one people.
We have witnessed, during the years of pain, the interventions of many countries from the region and the world, and we paid a high price for the conflicts of these countries on Syrian soil. As for those countries who withdrew, the future of our relations with these countries depends on their respect for Syria’s independence and sovereignty. As for those who continue to interfere in Syrian affairs, we say to them: The validity period of your intervention has expired. Thank you, but the solution is merely Syrian.
One of the basic tasks to end the effects of the era of tyranny is not to fall into the trap of an ideological army of another color. It is the responsibility of the honorable defecting officers and the national factions in the various regions and those whose hands are not stained with the blood of our people to build a national army of all Syrians and for all Syrians.
It has become necessary and urgent to hold a national conference inside Syria, with the aim of engaging in a broad national dialogue to secure a transitional phase that guarantees the participation of the Syrian people in adopting a new constitution and free and fair elections.
IN ADDITION, We have also begun coordinating with a group of free lawyers and judges to form the Supreme National Authority for Transitional Justice to hold accountable all those whose hands are stained with the blood of our people and to reveal the facts, and provide redress and compensation to the families of the victims.
We call on all Syrian men and women to overcome small differences at this fateful period of our history, to stand together and form a cooperative and joint civil and political framework, in order to build a new Syria.
December 12- 2024
The Syrian Gathering to Protect Citizens and Build a State of Law