SYRIAN ACTIVIST URGES U.S. TO LAY DOWN MARKERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 003837

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/02/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SY
SUBJECT: SYRIAN ACTIVIST URGES U.S. TO LAY DOWN MARKERS
WITH SARG BEFORE ANY ENGAGEMENT


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael H. Corbin for reasons 1.4 b/d


1. (C) Recently released Damascus Spring detainee Fawwaz
Tello asserted in a recent meeting with Poloff that despite
the ongoing Israel-Hizballah conflict, the SARG must not be
allowed to cross "red lines" in its ongoing crackdown against
Syrian human rights and civil society activists. The SARG
might be tempted, for example, to condemn jailed Syrian
activist Kamal Labwani to death or to issue extreme prison
sentences to other jailed activists such as Syrian
intellectual Michel Kilo or human rights lawyer Anwar
al-Bunni, Tello said. The U.S. should condition any
negotiations with the SARG, by requiring a gesture of good
faith linked to the internal situation, such as the release
of prominent activists, Tello asserted. Labwani's wife made
a similar point in a conversation before her husband's July
31 court appearance, asking that any USG discussions with the
SARG include the plight of her husband and other activists.


2. (C) Tello, who spent 4.5 years in prison as a "Damascus
Spring" detainee before his January release, likened Israeli
actions against Hizballah as akin to cutting the tail off of
a snake. The head is in Iran and Syria, he said. The SARG
manipulates Hizballah, just as it manipulates the perception
of the level of extremists in Syria to strike fear in the
heart of Western countries, Tello said. "I'm Muslim, Sunni,
conservative, and I pray," Tello said. "But I'm not a
fanatic, and I know that most other Syrian Muslims are like
me."


3. (C) Tello alternated between calling for U.S. engagement
with Syria and for getting rid of top regime leaders who are
only concerned with their own survival. The Syrian regime is
like a pyramid -- if you cut off the top, you could work with
the rest, Tello said. He likened Syria to Romania under
former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, claiming that Syrian
citizens will never rise up against their government until
they are certain it is falling. In any event, reform in
Syria will be long and slow, he said.


4. (C) Comment: Tello seemed overly optimistic about the
ability of an external power to impose fundamental changes on
the SARG. His comments, however, reflect a growing belief
here that the U.S. will eventually engage with Syria and
should use such a development to push for internal reform and
to lay down a few key markers on human rights, including
insisting on the release of Labwani, Kilo, Bunni, and the
other signatories of the Damascus-Beirut Declaration.


5. (C) Comment Continued: It is notable that even in the
midst of rising anti-American sentiment here in Damascus,
Tello agreed to this first meeting with Poloff, after meeting
less than a handful of times with her predecessor. Despite
rising anti-American sentiment here, the primary constraint
on making and retaining contacts in Syria's civil society and
the opposition in recent months remains SARG
repression--especially aimed at those who signed the
Damascus-Beirut Declaration--rather than the current raw
street emotions prompted by the Israel-Hizballah conflict.
Many opposition and civil society figures here are far more
skeptical of SARG intentions--and of its support for
Hizballah--than Syrians in general and those anti-regime,
pan-Arab nationalists who have been swept up in pro-Hizballah
sentiments.
CORBIN