Protesters Demanding Basic Rights for All Syrians, U.S. Says

21 July 2011

Assistant Secretary Feltman says the Assad regime is trying to hide what is happening from the world, and the refugee crisis it has caused is destabilizing to the region.

Syrians calling for political and economic reforms are doing so on behalf of all Syrians, not as a movement seeking to divide the country along sectarian lines, and they are becoming increasingly organized and adept at spreading their positive and inclusive message to the Syrian people, says a senior State Department official.

In remarks to Al Hurra Television in Washington July 20, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has sought to portray those protesting against his government as sectarian “to try to stoke fear … [and is] trying to raise the specter of civil war” between the Alawite-dominated regime and the Sunni majority.

Feltman acknowledged Syria’s religious diversity and said that no one should underestimate the risks of sectarian conflict. But he said most of the demonstrations that have been taking place across Syria since March have been calling for all Syrians to be allowed to exercise their basic human freedoms.

“The demonstrations are composed of people from all walks of life, from all communities. They are led by people from all communities, and they are asking for things like dignity, like jobs, like security, like an end to the torture, the theft and the terror that characterizes the Assad regime,” Feltman said.

“They are projecting a positive message for the future of Syria — a positive message of inclusiveness where no part of Syria geographically, or in terms of community, [is] excluded from the government,” he said, and they are becoming increasingly organized and better able to get their messages out.

He said it is good that the Syrians are getting together and talking among themselves about the direction they want to see their country go, and that it is not the role of the United States or anyone else to determine their country’s future.

“Syrians are deciding the agenda. Syrians are deciding what’s important to accomplish,” he said.

The international community is trying to find more ways to pressure the Assad regime into responding to the demands of the Syrian people “rather than torturing and killing,” he said. He called upon the Syrian government to stop hiding the truth of what is happening inside the country by denying access to the international media, human rights groups and humanitarian aid organizations.

The Assad regime has become a source of instability in the region, Feltman said, citing the violence it is inflicting against demonstrators in cities and towns across the country, and the refugees that are fleeing into neighboring Turkey and Lebanon as a result.