By: Mutasem Syoufi, Executive Director of The Day After
Ten years ago, Syrian men and women poured into the streets to chant for freedom and dignity, striking the first blow against the walls of a great prison that held us all captive, and announcing the death of eternal rule in Syria. They were fueled by all the reasons to revolt against a tyrannical and corrupt regime, their souls filled with a new hope born with the Arab Spring; and so began an awakening and a new chapter in the history of Syria and the region.
After a decade of false promises of reform, Assad chose a path of violence and bloodshed rather than dialogue and responding to people’s demands. As time passed and the violence intensified, the conflict became more and more complicated. Extremist factions riding the wave of anti-regime sentiment brought their self-serving interests and alternative authoritarian projects, feeding on the blood and dignity of Syrians, further complicating the situation and resulting in foreign armies dividing control over our lands.
Our tragedy is no secret, it is glaringly obvious and has not left a single Syrian home untouched. Hundreds of thousands of people martyred, wounded, detained and disappeared, millions displaced, the destruction of infrastructure, decline of the economic and human capital of Syria – while the chief person responsible for all of this remains in his palace, prepared to sacrifice the last Syrian life to stay in power.
But nothing lasts forever. Change is a universal truth, no matter how long it takes to happen. It is our hope that when the time is right, the young men and women of Syria, innovators in every field, will do what other peoples devastated by wars have done: rebuild their homeland and bring it to the forefront of advanced nations.
We at TDA believe that the salvation of our people from its terrible ordeal is the end of the tyrannical regime and a transition towards a democratic national state where there is no place for tyrants, nor for extremists and their agendas, where all Syrian men and women enjoy equal citizenship rights without any discrimination for any reason. We seek to build a state that guarantees security, stability, and positive development for the Syrian people, one that upholds human rights as stipulated in international covenants and holds human rights violators accountable before a just court. Our work is aligned with these values and goals; we make every effort to provide support to survivors of human rights abuses, and cooperate with our partners in an emerging Syrian civil society to enhance societal effectiveness; we strive for any political solution to the Syrian conflict to respond to the revolution’s original objectives of freedom, dignity, democracy and equality; our mission is to rebuild our country on new foundations that address the fundamental causes that led Syrians to revolt.
We hope that the suffering of our people will end soon, that the wounds of the tortured may heal, that the displaced can return to their homes, that the unity of the Syrian people and sovereignty over their land will be restored, and that freedom and dignity will shine over Syria as eternally as a sun that does not set.
Mutasem Syoufi is the Executive Director of The Day After.
