UN envoy says Syria's new leaders must fulfill their promises on rights

It is crucial that the new Syrian leadership fulfill its promises to respect the rights of all the country's diverse religious and ethnic groups, according to UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen.

Speaking to the BBC in Damascus, Pedersen said that Syrians feel “a lot of hope and a lot of fear…at the same time.”

He called on all parties, inside and outside Syria, to do everything in their power to achieve stability in the country.

Bashar al-Assad's regime He was ousted less than two weeks ago By a rebel coalition led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, known as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, a Sunni Islamist group that claims to have abandoned its extremist jihadi past since separating from al-Qaeda in 2016.

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and others.

Symbolically, its leader dropped his wartime alias, Abu Muhammad al-Julani He returned to his real name, Ahmed Al-Sharaa.

Sunni Muslims constitute a majority in Syria, which has a strong secular tradition. Al-Sharaa insists that HTS is a religious nationalist movement willing to tolerate other groups.

Pedersen said Sharaa said “a lot of positive things.” But he said some Syrians did not believe the leader of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, who until 2016 had a long history as a jihadist extremist.

“I have to be honest. I hear from many Syrians that they are asking questions about whether this will actually be implemented. They have their doubts.”

He said that this was not surprising, given the speed of change in Syria.

“If the transition is to succeed, it must be a collaborative process.”

“(Al-Shara) needs to work with the various armed factions that partnered with him. He needs to work with a broader group than the previous opposition. He needs to make sure that he works with a wide range of women in civil society. As is the case with us, we all agree with the broadest possible spectrum of Syrian society.”

Pedersen, who has served as UN special envoy since 2018, said the international community is ready to help and support the new Syrian leadership.

He stressed that hopes for lifting sanctions on Syria and removing Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham from the terrorist list depend on its behavior.

He hoped to give it the benefit of the doubt for three months, which is when HTS said its interim government would rule before a longer-term arrangement.

“I think there's an understanding that for Syria to be really successful, we need to see it be taken off the list, we need to see sanctions lifted. But I also think it's very important that it's understood that this isn't going to happen just because everyone wants positive things.”

He added: “Member states are following very carefully what will happen on the ground, but I think that if what has been said publicly is actually implemented in practice, then yes, I think we could see delisting and the end of the sanctions.” “

As for Syria's neighbors, Pedersen said that Israel's actions since the fall of Assad have been “largely irresponsible.”

Since the 1967 Middle East War, Israel has occupied and later annexed the region of southern Syria known as the Golan Heights. Most other countries, except the United States, consider the Golan to be occupied territory.

Pedersen said that the current Israeli bombing campaign against Syrian military installations and its occupation of more Syrian territory in the demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights and neighboring areas constitute a “danger to the future of Syria, and these activities must stop immediately.”

“There is no reason for Israel to occupy new Syrian territory. The Golan is already occupied. They do not need new territory to occupy. So what we need to see is that Israel also acts in a way that does not destabilize this situation.” He added, “The transitional process is very fragile.”

Mr. Pedersen is also concerned about the complex network of power in northern Syria.

Türkiye has a well-established relationship with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham. It has forces in the northwest, as well as a militia known as the Syrian National Army, made up of rebel factions it supports.

Since Assad's ouster, the Syrian National Army has attacked the other force in northern Syria, a Kurdish-led militia coalition called the Syrian Democratic Forces that is backed by the United States.

Pedersen said that it is in Türkiye's interest to follow certain basic principles, along with other foreign powers.

“What do we all need to see in Syria now? We need to see stability. We need to make sure that there are no new populations displaced. We need to see that people are not fleeing Syria as refugees. We need to make sure that refugees return, and the possibility of internally displaced persons returning to their homes.”

After 54 years of rule by two authoritarian Assad presidents, Syria is fragmented, with towns and villages badly damaged by nearly 14 years of war, and residents traumatized by the war and the regime's deadly cruelty.

Mr. Pedersen said it was necessary for Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham to begin a process that would bring justice to all the families of more than 100,000 Syrians who have disappeared after the regime's arrest since 2011. Most of them are presumed dead.

He added: “If this process is not moving in the right direction, there is a great risk that this anger will erupt in a way that is not in anyone's interest.”

Pedersen said Syrians want to own the process of rebuilding their country. This may be difficult given the turmoil in the Middle East and the tendency of Syria's neighbors and other major powers to intervene.

Time is short. He added that if Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham fulfills its promises, “there is hope that Syria will have a bright future in the next few weeks and months.”

If that doesn't happen, he warned, “there is also a risk of new conflict and even civil war.”

“But we have to bet that Syria's future can now be determined. And that we can begin the recovery process.”