Suwayda rejects Syrian FM’s roadmap, calls for international accountability
SUWAYDA, Syria (North Press) – The Supreme Legal Committee in Suwayda Governorate, southern Syria, issued on Tuesday a statement rejecting the Syrian Foreign Ministry’s recently announced roadmap to address the crisis in the governorate, describing it as contradictory and designed to entrench impunity.
The Committee – affiliated with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri – argued that the Foreign Ministry’s call for an international commission of inquiry contradicts its insistence on applying Syrian law, rendering such investigations meaningless. “The accused cannot act as the judge at the same time,” the statement said.
The committee accused the transitional government of posing as a neutral mediator while being directly implicated in violations that left thousands dead, missing, or kidnapped. It added that denying responsibility blocks reconciliation and reinforces impunity.
Describing the Syrian judiciary as politicized and subordinate to the executive, the committee rejected any accountability process under its supervision, calling it “a facade to whitewash crimes.”
It also dismissed government proposals to establish local councils and joint police forces, labeling them “an attempt to impose new guardianship on the people of Suwayda and sow internal discord.”
The statement emphasized that decades of marginalization and recent crimes justify the people of Suwayda’s right to self-determination—whether through self-administration or, if necessary, secession to guarantee security and dignity.
Calling last July’s events “crimes against humanity,” the committee urged the international community to reject imposed arrangements, ensure independent investigations, and support international accountability mechanisms beyond the Syrian government’s control.
On Monday, Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani unveiled the six-step plan, with Jordanian and U.S. backing. The roadmap includes holding perpetrators accountable, compensating victims, restoring services, rehabilitating villages, deploying Interior Ministry forces, reopening roads, disclosing the fate of missing persons, and initiating reconciliation.