Daily News Egypt
A statement signed by 28 groups and political parties from around the Arab world has called for Arab governments to release political prisoners and to act to end the Syria crisis. The statement, released on Wednesday, is endorsed by various movements from “the Arabian Gulf to the Levant and the Nile Valley and the Maghreb.” Egyptian signatories include Al-Dostor Party and the Egyptian Current Party. Other countries represented are, Jordan, Sudan, Morocco, France, Algeria, Syria, Palestine, Bahrain and Libya.
The pan-Arab statement specifically calls for Arab governments to immediately release political prisoners, including those under military detention. It also places emphasis upon solidarity with the Syrian people and challenges Arab governments to take action in order to resolve the situation in Syria.
The statement says, “There is still Arab refusal to take a decisive stand against the regime of Bashar Al-Assad and armed gangs, which commit daily massacres against the Syrian people and the Syrian youth, who go out every day in peaceful demonstrations against the regime of Bashar Al-Assad.”
A leader of 6 April Movement, Mohamed Adel, said the purpose of the statement is to “secure the release of activists and to display solidarity with the Syrian people against Bashar Al-Assad. It calls upon President Morsy and other Arab leaders to take action on Syria.” He added “the United Nations Security Council are working on a diplomatic effort, but diplomatic pressure is not enough.”
Adel described a two step plan which is to follow the release of the statement. “There will be protests at government buildings across the Arab world calling for the release of activists and for action on Syria. There will hopefully be protests in England and the United States and worldwide if possible. The second step will be for international action on Syria.” Adel believes that there needs to be “new action on Iran, China and Russia, who are supporting Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.”
The statement calls upon “the Egyptian, Jordanian, Moroccan, Algerian, Sudanese and Bahraini authorities to respect human rights and freedom of expression and to work quickly towards the immediate release of all detained activists and end the extrajudicial measures taken against them as well as to implement all the promises of economic, legal and constitutional reforms.”
Emad Abu Ghazi, a member of Al-Dostor Party, said “the release of political prisoners would be a step towards democracy.”
