February 10th, 2008
Last month Syria vehemently denied reports that its “president” promised two US congressmen it would release some of the dozens of political prisoners it has arrested since a crackdown on dissidents began in December. In an apparent demonstration of his sincerity and devotion to continued repression, Assad topped off the spectacle this week by arresting another dissident, Riad Seif, a leading organizer of the pro-democracy opposition meeting that spurred the recent crackdown.
Syria has jailed dozens pro-democracy dissidents since they met in December to form a joint opposition front.
Two US congressmen subsequently met with Assad and announced that he promised to release the dissidents.
The quick, strong Syrian rebuttal and further arrests confirm that Assad’s image as a moderate and reformer is nothing more than a carefully crafted scam. Rather than Assad reducing Syrian authoritarianism as many in the West had predicted would occur, he has increased repression, with the number of political prisoners in Syria rising by over a thousand since 2005. Assad’ increasing moves to eliminate any and all voices of opposition, regardless of whether they represent a true political threat makes one wonder if he is taking history lessons from another famous world dictator... Hitler himself...
If the past two months are any indication, such a comparison may not be as far off as some imagine…
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