{"id":2344,"date":"2009-03-08T00:50:22","date_gmt":"2009-03-08T00:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?p=2344"},"modified":"2009-03-08T01:48:26","modified_gmt":"2009-03-08T01:48:26","slug":"syria-could-be-softening-stance-on-dissidents-phil-sands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/syria-could-be-softening-stance-on-dissidents-phil-sands\/","title":{"rendered":"“Syria could be softening stance on dissidents,” Phil Sands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acting Assistant Secretary Feltman Briefs on Meetings With Syrian …<\/strong><\/a><\/span>
\nQUESTION<\/strong>: Hisham Melham.
\nAMBASSADOR FELTMAN<\/strong>: Hi, Hisham.
\nQUESTION<\/strong>: What would you expect the Syrians to do as a prelude for higher-level meetings and a return of the American ambassador to Damascus?
\nAMBASSADOR FELTMAN<\/strong>: You know, Hisham, this was not a meeting where the Syrians set up benchmarks for us or we set up benchmarks for the Syrians……<\/p>\n

Syria could be softening stance on dissidents<\/a>, Phil Sands, The National, March 7, 2009 (Thanks: Jefferson Gray)<\/p>\n

\n
\"Dr

Dr Ammar Qurabi, head of the Syrian National Organisation for Human Rights<\/p><\/div>\n

There are indications that Damascus may be loosening \u2013 ever so slightly \u2013 its iron grip on political dissent….<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been minor changes, small signs of improvements in certain areas,\u201d Ammar Qurabi, the head of the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria (NOHRS), said in an interview. \u201cThey are subtle things and they may mean that a new approach is coming. Or they may mean nothing.\u201d Last week there was a demonstration by Kurds in Syria\u2019s northern border region. Whereas in the past such events have resulted in rioting, shootings and widespread arrests, this one apparently ended in a peaceful and unusual way.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout 50 people were rounded up and taken to see the area security chief,\u201d said Mr Qurabi, who has contacts with opposition and pro-democracy groups across the country. \u201cHe was respectful and told them, \u2018None of you are under arrest, I am meeting you as a delegation, tell me what you want and I will move your statement up to the president\u2019. \u201cAll of the demonstrators were released after two hours.”….<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the opposition didn\u2019t want the EU to sign agreements with Syria until activists were released from prison,\u201d Mr Qurabi said. \u201cMy opinion is that good ties with the US and Europe will positively affect Syrian domestic life.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 2005, when relations were bad, Syria was dealing with the political opposition and domestic issues in a hard way. The regime thinks, \u2018We are already on the blacklist so we have nothing to lose if we crack down.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen there are better ties, the regime is more comfortable and doesn\u2019t feel under threat it will be softer, even if only as a decoration. They won\u2019t make the improvements I want, but it will maybe be something. They will count to 10 before arresting dissidents, they will put people through the courts, rather than just into prison.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

See this earlier story by Human Rights Watch<\/a>: Syrian authorities should abolish the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC), a special court that exists outside the ordinary …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acting Assistant Secretary Feltman Briefs on Meetings With Syrian … QUESTION: Hisham Melham. AMBASSADOR FELTMAN: Hi, Hisham. QUESTION: What would you expect the Syrians to do as a prelude for higher-level meetings and a return of the American ambassador to Damascus? AMBASSADOR FELTMAN: You know, Hisham, this was not a meeting where the Syrians set […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-civil-soc","category-opposition"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n"Syria could be softening stance on dissidents," Phil Sands - Syria Comment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/syria-could-be-softening-stance-on-dissidents-phil-sands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Syria could be softening stance on dissidents," Phil Sands - Syria Comment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Acting Assistant Secretary Feltman Briefs on Meetings With Syrian … QUESTION: Hisham Melham. 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