A Syrian Committee for Civil Peace Angers Those Demanding Justice
Discontent is simmering among some Syrians who supported the uprising against the country's ousted dictator, Bashar al-Assad. They now accuse the rebel leaders who toppled him of empowering a committee set up to ease internal divisions at the expense of holding remnants of the old regime to account.
Public outrage exploded during the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha in early June when the committee released dozens of former regime soldiers, saying they were not implicated in any crimes. Now critics are calling for protests.
'What everyone has been waiting for since Assad's fall is to see the punishment of those who committed war crimes, to see transitional justice take place,' said Rami Abdelhaq, an activist who supported the anti-Assad revolt. 'Instead, we are shocked to discover there's a release of many people.'
The peace committee was formed in the wake of the large-scale killings of minority Alawites, the sect to which Mr. al-Assad belongs. While in power, the president had made Alawites the backbone of his military forces, which fought to crush the rebellion underpinned by the Sunni Muslim majority.
After a foiled counterinsurgency in March by former regime soldiers in a region along the Mediterranean coast, armed government supporters killed hundreds of Alawite civilians, according to human rights groups.
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