Outputs of the first dialogue session in Qamishlo

Saturday 6 March 2021

Ezdina Organization held its first dialogue session in its office in the city of Qamishlo/Qamishli under the title "A Constitution That Protects Us", as the session started at 11:00 and ended at 14:15.

Facilitator:
The session was moderated by lawyer, legal advisor and human rights activist Omar Ali, who holds a master's degree in non-profit organization management.

Participants:
10 persons from representatives of media institutions in northeastern Syria and independent media professionals participated in the session according to the following percentages: Males 50% - Females 50%

Aram Sarkis Shavrashian (Suryoyo FM correspondent)
Maryam Tamr (Bûyer FM correspondent)
Diana Mohammad (Aso News Network correspondent)
Maria Hanna (Director of Suryoyo FM)
Jamal Bali (CEO, Oxygene Radio)
Vivian Fattah (Rûdaw Channel reporter)
Hassan Murad (Welatî News correspondent)
Izzedin Saleh (Coordinator at Syrians for Truth and Justice)
Solin Mohammad Amin (Freelancer journalist)
Bakhtiar Ali (Freelancer Photojournalist)

However, the media and political analyst Hiwa Osman and journalist Sirwan Kajjo participated in the dialogue session through the "Zoom" program.

National background of the participants:

A variety of religious representatives from national backgrounds in the region participated in the session, which contributed to enriching the session through their participation, the national distribution of attendance in the session: Kurds 80% - Syriac 10% - Armenian 10%

Session's most important topics:

Geneva conferences on resolving the Syrian crisis.
The importance of the political process in Geneva.
Security Council Resolution 2254.
The Syrian Constitutional Committee in Geneva (its components - its actions - its activities - its decisions).
The role of the constitution in protecting minorities (recommendations and proposals).

The dialogue session started with a welcome speech and introduction to the project by the facilitator and the member of media office, then the facilitator began to introduce himself and get to know the attendees, then the pre-evaluation questionnaire was distributed to the participants. Then the facilitator began his detailed discussion of the nine Geneva conferences and their results. Then the participants in the dialogue session listened to the intervention of the journalist and political analyst Hiwa Osman via the program "Zoom".

This was followed by a speech by the member of Ezdina's head council, Masoud Aqil, about the importance of holding such dialogue sessions in order to get acquainted with the opinions of the components of the Syrian society and to come up with proposals and recommendations that serve and guarantee the interest of all the people of the region. Then, the director of Ezdina, Ali Isso, who participated in the session via the "Zoom" program, spoke about the task entrusted to the media professionals and journalists at this stage.

In the second axis, the session facilitator, Lawyer Omar Ali, talked about the establishment and composition of the constitutional committee and the drawbacks to the committee’s representation in addition to the main reasons for the failure of the constitutional committee in its work so far.

The session facilitator also divided the attendees into two groups to develop and discuss a set of recommendations and proposals, in order to reach several general proposals that were agreed upon by all the participants.

This was followed by an intervention by the journalist Sirwan Kajjo from Washington, then the questionnaire questions related to the post evaluation were distributed.

Session results:

The participants proposed a set of recommendations and suggestions, namely:

Recognizing a pluralistic, secular Syria and guaranteeing the rights of all political, cultural and religious components.
Ensure the participation of the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria in the preparatory committee for the future constitution of Syria.
Ensure women's representation and protect their rights in the constitution through a quota system, so that the percentage reaches 50 percent.
Changing the decision-making and voting mechanism to ensure the rights of all components.
Ensuring freedom of expression for the media and the press and the rights of media professionals in accordance with international standards.
Not to limit the presidency (the presidency of the republic) to a specific nationality, religion, or gender, and to guarantee the right of candidacy for all.

Questionnaire during the session:

A questionnaire was conducted by Ezdina Organization at the beginning of the session and at the end of the session. The questions and answers were as follows:

Pre-evaluation:

The general context of the topic of the dialogue session

Is the topic of the dialogue session appropriate to the context of the current situation in Syria, keep pace with political developments, and your concerns as an activist in public affairs?

Additional comments of the participants on the general context of the topic of the dialogue:

Discussing what a constitution is is an appropriate topic at all times because it guarantees the rights of all Syrians.
Moving towards the Constitutional Committee and drafting a constitution for Syria came late and requires greater effectiveness and effort to achieve its goals.
Representation in the Constitutional Committee must be for all Syrian components, including religious sects.

The Constitutional Committee

Do you have any knowledge of the developments in the constitutional process in Geneva regarding Syria?

Do you have knowledge of the components of the Constitutional Committee?

Do you have knowledge of the current constitution of Syria?

Do you have knowledge of the course of dialogue and negotiations, points of difference and consensus between the parties?

Participants' additional comments on the Constitutional Committee:

No information about the new Syrian constitution is published, sometimes the sources are not highly reliable.
Representation of a group of components of Syria that are considered national and religious minorities, such as the Kurds and Yazidis, have been marginalized.
Freedom of religions, beliefs and sects must be protected in the new constitution.
The right to obtain international protection and the importance of preserving the acquisitions in northeastern Syria.

The political process and negotiations on the future of Syria

Do you have knowledge with the role that the United Nations plays in the political process in Syria?

Do you have information about the content and outputs of the Geneva conferences and the number of these conferences?

Are you familiar with the UN resolutions related to Syria, especially Security Council Resolution 2254?

Are you familiar with the negotiation processes that took place between regional and international powers and the role of these parties in the negotiations?

Do you have knowledge of the current political process for reaching a peaceful solution to the conflict in Syria?

Do you have your information about the details of the recent negotiations on the constitutional process?

Do you think that the constitutional process is part of the solution to the conflict in Syria?

Additional comments of the participants on the political process and negotiations on the future of Syria:

Media coverage of the constitution and the work of the constitutional committee is very weak.
Achieving a political solution in Syria needs more seriousness and pressure from the international powers.

Post evaluation:
By your participation in the dialogue session, were your expectations fulfilled?

Do you have clear information about the course of the constitutional process in Geneva regarding Syria?

Do you have enough information about the components of the Constitutional Committee?

Did the dialogue session provide you with information about the current constitution of Syria?

Have you benefited from the dialogue session by knowing the course of the dialogue and negotiations and the points of difference and consensus between the Syrian parties?

Did the dialogue session help inform you about the role that the United Nations plays in the political process in Syria?

Did the discussion session help you to know the content of the Geneva conferences and the number of these conferences?

Do you have enough information about the UN resolutions related to Syria, especially Security Council Resolution 2254, after the session?

Did the dialogue session contribute to forming a clear picture about the negotiations that took place between the regional and international powers and the role of these forces in the negotiations?

Did the dialogue session contribute to increasing your information about the current political process for reaching a peaceful solution to the conflict in Syria?