Press Release

"Civil Peace" Conference in Damascus

An Introduction to Acquitting the Remnants of the Former Regime and Normalizing Relations with Symbols of Oppression and Crime

The press conference held by the "Civil Peace Committee" in the Ministry of Information building in Damascus on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, managed by committee member Hassan Soufan, sparked widespread resentment and anger among Syrians, especially among the families of martyrs, the missing, and the sons of the revolution, due to its positions that many considered provocative to the families of the victims, a belittlement of the sacrifices of the revolutionaries, a disregard for the blood of their martyrs, a disregard for clear facts and blatant truths, explicit justifications for war criminals, and normalization with the symbols of the former regime under the slogan of "civil peace," "nation-building," and "preserving blood." This general state of anger came after Soufan's statements during the conference, in which he defended the policy of releasing a number of former regime officers and not holding them accountable according to the law and through public trials, especially "Fadi Saqr," ignoring their bloody record, and Soufan went so far as to consider some of these as partners in victory, considering that some of them contributed to "preserving Syrian blood" and "cooperating with the military operations leadership during the liberation battles," demanding that those who criticize them provide "reliable evidence" of their involvement in crimes!

Soufan confirmed that the released officers are working officers since 2021, and they voluntarily surrendered themselves on the Iraqi border within what is known as the "entrustment" case, and indicated that the detainees underwent legal investigations that did not prove any charges against them related to the commission of war crimes, stressing that their continued detention does not achieve a national interest, and is not based on any legal legitimacy, after which the pages and social media were filled with visual documentation and evidence confirming the involvement of a number of those released, especially Fadi Saqr and Socrates al-Rahia, in murders and blatant violations against civilians. Soufan also pointed out that figures like Fadi Saqr play a role in dismantling the contract, solving problems, and confronting the dangers facing the country, adding: "We understand the pain and anger felt by the families of the martyrs, but we are forced to take decisions that ensure relative stability at this stage," and stressed that the release only included those "whose hands were not stained with the blood of Syrians," and that what happened is "part of the civil peace procedures," adding that transitional justice does not mean holding accountable everyone who served the regime, and accountability is for senior criminals who committed serious crimes and violations, and that pushing for haste in the transitional justice process or implementing it individually will lead to chaos and the emergence of the state as if it is unable to carry out its tasks, and that will open the door to foreign interference, and that revenge and retaliation will not be a reason for achieving transitional justice, and that integrating controversial figures within the reconciliation process comes from the point of trying to address the structural crises in the country, considering that granting security to Fadi Saqr was after assessing the general situation, and that he was given security by the leadership instead of arresting him based on an assessment of the scene, as a way to prevent bloodshed in the hot areas, and to reassure the societal incubators.

The follower of the facts of the press conference held by the "Civil Peace Committee" finds it a confirmation of the current administration's course of action for the transitional phase and its policy, whether in dealing with the remnants or changing its position on the constants of the revolution and its goals, or its treatment of the demands of the people of the revolution to achieve justice and hold accountable those involved in shedding innocent blood, which led many to say that no party has the right to waive the rights of the victims or forgive on their behalf their blood and honor or equate the executioner with the victim, with a warning of the aggravation of matters as a result of belittling the feelings of the families of the martyrs and the missing who see the release of the symbols of criminals one after the other, considering this forgiveness "partnership in the crime."

The lifting of sanctions file has been an American-European file pressuring the current administration to impose their vision of governance and its direction in Syria, starting from "combating terrorism" to the secularism of the state, to violating its sovereignty by keeping it linked to the West and what it decides for us from decisions and what it imposes on us from dictates, to gradually integrating the remnants of the former regime into the institutions of government and the state under various pretexts, slogans and flimsy justifications.

This glorification of the criminal Fadi Saqr and the like in public and without any embarrassment is a flagrant provocation to the feelings of Syrians, especially his appearance next to the governor of Damascus and what that carries of connotations and what it sends of messages. Instead of prosecuting those involved according to a clear and rapid criminalization law, recourse is made to deceptive, mined initiatives in the name of dialogue, national unity, community peace, and tribal reconciliation, as if the events of 14 years were a civil war and not one of the greatest revolutions in history!

It must also be remembered that at a time when many of those with a criminal history against the revolution are at the forefront, a large number of callers, prisoners of conscience, revolutionaries, and jihadists are still unjustly languishing in Idlib prisons for years, and a large number of our people in displacement camps still do not have the price of returning to build their homes destroyed at the hands of those who changed their skins and their roles changed.

In the same context, the appearance of Fadi Saqr and many of the leading figures in the era of the former regime at the forefront of those calling for civil peace, and providing security protection for them, in addition to the senior merchants and major war criminals known in the era of the former regime, who have recently returned to Damascus, in addition to the loyalists from the Shabiha and artists and figures who supported the fugitive tyrant for many years and called for killing and destruction, and are still safe and without accountability under the pretext of "civil peace," all of this fuels feelings of hatred and anger among the families of the martyrs and the missing.

God Almighty has warned against injustice and the consequences of the unjust, so the revolution of Al-Sham will not end and the problems that are growing after the fall of the former regime will not end except by achieving the constants of our revolution, so that the fall of the former regime will be an introduction to justice, security, tranquility and a happy life, and that will not be through a secular system that separates religion from life, the state and society, which the West wants to impose on us, but by establishing a system emanating from the heart of our faith that satisfies our aspirations and achieves the goals of our revolution, so that the rulings and legislation of Islam and its state will be the gateway to justice, security and safety that everyone seeks, and for such great good, let the workers work.

The Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir

In the Wilayah of Syria