Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DAMASCUS2318
2006-05-17 14:01:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Damascus
Cable title:  

DAMASCUS-BEIRUT DECLARATION CALLS FOR

Tags:  PGOV PHUM SY LE 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8024
OO RUEHAG
DE RUEHDM #2318/01 1371401
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 171401Z MAY 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9053
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0057
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 002318 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SY LE
SUBJECT: DAMASCUS-BEIRUT DECLARATION CALLS FOR
RECONCILIATION; SARG STRIKES BACK WITH SERIES OF ARRESTS

REF: DAMASCUS 02263

DAMASCUS 00002318 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche for reasons 1.4(b)/(d
)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 002318

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SY LE
SUBJECT: DAMASCUS-BEIRUT DECLARATION CALLS FOR
RECONCILIATION; SARG STRIKES BACK WITH SERIES OF ARRESTS

REF: DAMASCUS 02263

DAMASCUS 00002318 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche for reasons 1.4(b)/(d
)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Several hundred prominent Syrian and
Lebanese citizens have signed the Damascus-Beirut
Declaration, which includes a ten-point "joint future
national vision" for reconciliation between the two
countries. The document covers the spectrum of
Syrian-Lebanese diplomatic, historic, and economic issues,
with a pointed call for bilateral unity against US "attempts
for hegemony" and Israeli "aggressions." The Declaration's
Syrian signatories include many prominent dissidents,
intellectuals, activists, and artists from both within and
outside Syria, including opposition politicians Riad al-Turk
and Riad Seif, activists Michel Kilo and Suheir Atassi, as
well as exiled Muslim Brotherhood chief Ali Sadreddin
Bayanouni. The document's public release on May 11 has
already provoked SARG wrath, as State Security agents
arrested Kilo, one of the document's chief architects, on May
14; another eight signatories were arrested between May 16
and May 17. The Austrian DCM, in her capacity as EU
Presidency coordinator, has asked that the USG hold off on
any public statement until EU members have met on May 18 to
discuss the possibility of their own public statement, in
order to coordinate the timing of each. The arrests
demonstrate the SARG's anger at the opposition's stumble
across an apparent redline of civil society involvement in
Syrian-Lebanese relations at a critical moment, the eve of
UNSC discussion of a resolution urging full implementation of
Resolution 1559. The full Declaration text is being sent
septel. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) DAMASCUS-BEIRUT DECLARATION PROPOSES INCREASED
COOPERATION, RECONCILIATION: The Damascus-Beirut
Declaration, a petition signed by 274 Syrian and Lebanese
intellectuals, artists, and dissidents, was released to the
public on May 11, according to press reports. The document's
proposals cover a range of issues, including the need for
resumption of diplomatic relations to "enhance their joint

confrontation to the Israeli aggression and the American
attempts of hegemony," the restoration of the Golan Heights
to Syria and of Shebaa Farms and Kafar Shouba to Lebanon, the
need to review historic tensions and work for reconciliation,
the establishment of democracy in both countries, the
increase in economic transparency and cooperation, and the
denouncement of political assassinations and sanctions
against the Syrian people. The document also describes the
need to improve conditions for the two countries, labor
forces, calls for the immediate release of Lebanese prisoners
from Syrian jails, and requests a review of bilateral
treaties and agreements.


3. (C) SIGNATORIES REPRESENT CROSS-SECTION OF CIVIL SOCIETY:
The 134 Syrian signatories represent a broad cross-section
of Syria's internal and external civil society. Signatories
from the political opposition include senior political
activist Riad al-Turk, Riad Seif and the other four released
Damascus Spring detainees, and Socialist Union chief Hassan
Abdulazeem. Dissident intellectual signatories include
Michel Kilo, Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Suheir al-Atassi, Akram
al-Bunni, as well as the Paris-based Borhan Ghalyoun and
Sadeq Jalal al-Azem (currently teaching at Princeton.) Other
domestic signatories include human rights activists Anwar
al-Bunni, Daad Mousa, Ammar al-Qurabi, Rezan Zeituneh, the
currently imprisoned Ali al-Abdullah, as well as the wife and
daughter of jailed activist Kamal Labwani. The most
important external signatory is exiled Muslim Brotherhood
chief Ali Sadreddin Bayanouni (COMMENT: His signature likely
crossed a second red line for the SARG). Other external
signatories of note include London-based Obeida Nahas and
Haithem Mana'a.


4. (C) KILO FACES VARIETY OF CHARGES: The SARG reacted
swiftly against the Damascus-Beirut Declaration, hauling in
one of the Declaration's rumored architects, intellectual and
opposition activist Michel Kilo, for State Security
questioning at noon on May 14, according to human rights
organization and press reports. Kilo was interrogated by an
investigative criminal court judge on the morning of May 17,
and will be prosecuted under five charges of the Criminal
Code, including weakening the national morale, awakening
sectarian rows, and publishing false news that may affect the
state's dignity.


5. (C) AT LEAST EIGHT OTHER SIGNATORIES ARRESTED: Human
rights organizations have also reported that at least eight

DAMASCUS 00002318 002 OF 002


other signatories have been arrested, with reports of new
arrests coming hourly. The latest arrestees include human
rights lawyer Mahmoud Mur'i (a member of Arab Human Rights
Organization, a pan-Arabist-oriented group closely linked to
Hassan Abdulazeem),writer and human rights activist Nidal
Darwish (a member of the Committee for the Defense of Liberty
and Human Rights),Deir az-Zor writer Khalid Khalifeh,
Kurdish activist Khalil Hussein, activist Suleiman
al-Shummar, Ghaleb Amar, and Homs-based political activists
Safwan Tayfour and Mahmoud Issa (members of Fateh Jammous's
Communist Action Party). Two other activists, Mazen Aadi and
Kamal Sheikho, are reportedly being sought by SARG
authorities but have so far evaded arrest.



6. (C) EU PRESIDENCY ASKS USG TO HOLD OFF PUBLIC STATEMENTS
AS IT CONSIDERS ITS OWN STATEMENT: The Austrian DCM, in her
capacity as EU Presidency coordinator, has asked that the USG
delay any public statements on the human rights situation in
Syria until local EU members meet on May 18 to discuss
possible public action. The Austrian official noted that any
public statement by the USG without "close coordination" with
the EU may leave the Europeans unable to make a subsequent
statement. The Austrian official also noted that she could
not predict how quickly the Europeans would be able to
publish such a statement and that there is still reticence
among EU members to confront the SARG publicly. According to
human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni, the same Austrian
diplomat had told him earlier that interest in the Syrian
human rights situation is at an all-time high in Brussels.
Bunni also noted that it would be best if the EU makes the
first statement, then the USG, but also expressed concern
that the Europeans might wait too long.



7. (C) COMMENT: While a variety of Syrian opposition
activists have informally discussed the need for
Syrian-Lebanese reconciliation, the Declaration is the first
concrete attempt by Syrian civil society to make its mark on
Syrian-Lebanese relations. The declaration's release date,
coinciding with the UNSC's discussion of a resolution urging
full implementation of Resolution 1559, was well-timed for
maximum political effect. Meanwhile, the diverse profiles
and ideological backgrounds of those arrested so far indicate
that the SARG is using the Declaration as a means to move
against all political opposition, regardless of their
position on relations with the U.S. As for the EU's request,
while an EU statement followed by a USG statement may indeed
be most effective, the EU's tendency to foot drag on Syrian
domestic issues means we cannot and should not wait too long
to react to this snowballing crackdown.




SECHE