DAMASCUS, Syria, June 14 (UPI) -- Ten Syrian human rights organizations and independent activists have issued a declaration calling for democratic change and the peaceful rotation of power.
The "Syria Declaration," issued late Tuesday night, underscored the urgent and pressing need of the Syrian people for an all-out democratic change that will move Syria from being a security state to a civilian one with an effective parliament and institutions.
"The rotation of power ensures the participation of the Syrian people in running the affairs of their country whereby their vote will bestow legitimacy on the authority and its administration," the declaration said.
It stressed that placing Syria on the path to democracy requires major changes in all the state's institutions as well as amendments in the country's internal and foreign policies to suit the interests of the Syrian people.
The declaration also called for canceling the emergency laws which have been in force since 1963; increasing public freedoms, including liberties of expression, thinking and religious belief; and requested separation between the executive, the legislative and the judicial authorities.
It called "for releasing all political prisoners, drafting a new publication law that secures freedom of expression, as well as a new law for political parties, (and) removing restrictions on the creation of political groups."
On the economic level, the declaration called for uprooting corruption and distributing national wealth equitably by securing jobs for the unemployed without discrimination.
It requested a modern economic system that ensures social justice, bans monopolies and follows the rules of the open market economy.
Among the signatories were the Committees for Defending Democracies and Human Rights in Syria, led by lawyer Aktham Noeimi; the Syrian Organization for Human Rights of Abdel Karim Rihawi; the Damascus Center for Democratic Studies and Human Rights, presided over by lawyers Khalil Maatouk and Anwat Bunni -- who is currently imprisoned; the Movement of Syria's Assyrians; the Secular Liberal Democratic Gathering; and the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
