THOMAS O. MELIA MAKES REMARKS ON SYRIA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Examining the Crisis in Syria: What Can Be Done?
Remarks
Thomas O. Melia
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Conference Hosted by Arizona State University and New America Foundation
Washington, DC
January 15, 2015

Thank you, Joyce, and thank you to ASU and New America for inviting me to join this conference on Syria and particularly this panel on “What Can Be Done?"

My colleagues here and in previous panels have described the horrific conditions under which millions of Syrians live. The Asad regime continues to carry out abhorrent crimes and violations against the Syrian people -- including murder, hostage-taking, enforced disappearances, torture, rape, sexual violence, use of child soldiers, targeting civilians, and indiscriminate bombing.

The regime continues to imprison tens of thousands of individuals, many arbitrarily, and subjects many to torture, sexual violence, inhumane conditions, denial of fair trials, and execution. These prisoners include women, children, doctors, humanitarian aid providers, human rights defenders, journalists, and others, from every part of Syria’s religious and ethnic fabric. Estimates of total prisoners detained by the regime are difficult to verify given the dearth of independent monitors and the violations against them, but documentation groups estimate that 215,000 persons have been detained, including 35,000 political prisoners. These tens of thousands of documented political prisoners were reportedly detained based on their political activism and affiliations, their attempts to document abuses, and organize their communities in defense of basic human rights.

There are likely many more political prisoners, but their families have not been informed of their arrest and charges or groups have not been able to confirm their status given the ongoing restrictions. Credible Syrian groups also estimate at least 85,000 persons have been forcibly disappeared. Many are most likely either dead or in captivity.

Syrian civilians already terrorized by Asad's barrel bombs and starvation sieges are now additionally threatened by the vicious terrorist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, and its Al Qaeda affiliated rival and counterpart, Al Nusra. ISIL arose in part because a dictator in Syria has spent nearly four years destroying towns and cities, driving half the people of his country from their homes until some of them became so desperate that they turned to the false deliverance ISIL and groups like it offer.

[Deputy Assistant Secretary Clements] In support of many of the displaced, the U.S. is the largest donor in response to the humanitarian crisis, providing over $3 billion to support life-saving humanitarian assistance, such as clean water, food, and medicine to people inside the country, as well as over 3 million refugees who have fled from the horrors of this tragic conflict. My colleagues at USAID and PRM and other parts of the USG are the principal people mobilizing these resources and implementing the programs.

Working with our Coalition partners, we have come to the aid of members of communities targeted by ISIL and have dealt it strategic blows, halting its advance and thus helped prevent further atrocities. I’m sure that everyone in this room is familiar with the Coalition airstrikes, including the airstrikes on Kobani that have allowed Kurdish fighters to push back ISIL militants from their territory.

Our support for the armed moderate opposition is helping them do more to protect their people in liberated areas, push back the terrorists and defend against the regime.

Before the airstrikes and support for the armed opposition, we were working – and we continue working – with civilians on the ground to protect vulnerable communities, strengthen civil society structures and local governance structures on the ground, and document atrocities on all sides of the war eventually to hold those responsible accountable for their actions and deliver justice to victims. Amidst all the bad news from Syria, it is important to remember that there is a great deal in Syria and among its people that is worth defending and that can be built upon to achieve a better future for Syria.

Dedicated Syrians are bravely trying to maintain local self-government, functioning police and judicial institutions, to keep open schools, to deliver services, to rescue people injured in the fighting, and to rebuild what is constantly being destroyed.

The U.S. Government is also providing $330 million in non-lethal support to the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), moderate armed opposition, local opposition councils, and civil society groups, and non-lethal support to vetted members of the moderate armed opposition to help Syria's moderate center stay alive. U.S. assistance is being directed to maintain public safety and to mitigate sectarian violence. Assistance includes training and equipment to build the capacity of a network of more than 3,000 grassroots activists from more than 400 opposition councils and organizations from around the country.

This assistance enhances linkages among Syrian activists, human rights organizations, and independent media outlets and empowers women leaders to play a more active role in transition planning.

In furtherance of the goals set forth in the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, U.S. support inside Syria empowers women to take an active role in governance, civic engagement, and conflict resolution. We are also amplifying the voices of Syrian women civil society leaders participating in peace-building initiatives such as in mediating local ceasefires, ensuring their perspectives are considered by the international community. We provide trainings and tools to enhance the digital security of activists and journalists to mitigate threats by all parties to the conflict.

Even in the face of this continued onslaught, courageous Syrians continue their pursuit of peace, justice, and fundamental freedoms, and civil society and human rights defenders document abuses and violations committed by both the regime and armed groups. Civil society actors provide an essential link between Syrians and the international community on a range of issues related to peace, security, and justice. The U.S. Government engages with civil society particularly on shared priorities including: protection issues, human rights, women’s empowerment, cross-sectarian reconciliation, and transitional justice. I have had the honor to meet with many dedicated activists, including some who have survived horrific imprisonments and great personal risk to continue their advocacy.

I have had the opportunity to meet just a few dozen Syrian activists, but through our outreach and programs, we aim to support many more. One of the thousands of brave human rights activists is Razan Zeituneh, who has played a critical role in documenting human rights violations and calling for peace as the founder of the Violations Documentation Center. She, her husband Wael Hamada, and their colleagues Samira Khalil and Nazem Hammadi – also known as the Douma Four – were abducted and kidnapped in Douma in December 2013. Their whereabouts are still unknown. Razan, like so many Syrians who took to the streets over three years ago, has called for the end of torture, respect for human rights, and a peaceful end to the conflict.

As Secretary Kerry has said when publicly calling for the release of Razan and her colleagues, “we stand in awe of her leadership and heroism… Their voices must not be silenced – their voices must be empowered.” Razan has also demonstrated the critical role that women as agents of change have played and continue to play in Syria. Those responsible for the multitude of other abuses and violations of human rights, must be held accountable.

To establish a peaceful, inclusive political solution in Syria, we must remain committed to seeking justice for victims of atrocities and accountability for those responsible for such heinous crimes. Towards this end, the United States supports programs to enable Syrian civil society to document human rights abuses.

This documentation, led by Syrians, can serve a wide range of future transitional justice purposes, including, but not limited to truth-telling, reconciliation, reparations, institutional reform, memorialization, evidence collection, and criminal accountability. We are supporting a number of initiatives focused on transitional justice and atrocity documentation, aimed at bolstering accountability for atrocities committed by all sides. The United States, along with eight other governments, supports the Syria Justice and Accountability Center (SJAC) as one of the premier Syrian-led institutions leading impartial documentation efforts through its database, analysis, training, and networks inside Syria. The information collected lays the groundwork for future accountability processes, including potential criminal prosecutions.

We also strongly support the efforts of the United Nations, including the critical reporting provided by the Commission of Inquiry and the efforts of the UN Special Envoy who continues to seek a negotiated political solution. We will continue to support efforts to pursue a political solution that will result in a united, inclusive, and democratic Syria. We will also continue to work with partners to end the atrocities, lay a foundation for justice, and sustainable peace in Syria.

To bring an end to the human rights violations carried out by the regime and the abuses by terrorist groups like ISIL, we must confront its root causes through a negotiated political solution that stops the violence and addresses all dimensions of human rights and international humanitarian law to the conflict. The crisis demands a political solution that leads to a sustainable peace for all Syrians, men and women alike; the U.S. Government will continue to support the Syrian people in pursuing this outcome.

DOJ ANNOUNCES FARC TERRORIST MEMBER RECEIVES 27 YEAR PRISON FOR 2003 HOSTAGE-TAKING

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Friday, October 24, 2014

Member of FARC Terrorist Organization Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison on Hostage-Taking Charges in 2003 Capture of U.S. Citizens

Alexander Beltran Herrera, 38, a commander of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) terrorist organization, was sentenced today to 27 years in prison on federal hostage-taking charges stemming from the 2003 capture of three U.S. citizens in Colombia.  All told, members of the FARC held the Americans hostage for 1,967 days.

The sentence was announced by John P. Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia  and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Division.

Beltran Herrera, aka Jhon Alexander Beltrain Herrera, aka Rodrigo Pirinolo, pled guilty on March 18, 2014, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to three counts of hostage-taking.  He was sentenced by the Honorable Senior Judge Royce C. Lamberth.

 “In February 2003, the FARC – a Colombian terrorist organization – kidnapped three American citizens and held them captive for nearly 2,000 days,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin.  With the sentence handed down today, Alexander Beltran Herrera is being held accountable for his role in those offenses.  This case underscores our resolve to pursue and bring to justice those who target our citizens with violence anywhere in the world.  I want to thank all of the prosecutors, agents, and analysts who made this result possible.”

 “This Colombian terrorist will spend the next 27 years in an American prison for his role in holding three U.S. citizens captive overseas,” said U.S. Attorney Machen.  “Our fellow citizens were held hostage for more than five years under brutal conditions.  This extradition, prosecution, and incarceration should chasten terrorists who doubt our resolve to serve justice on those who harm American citizens on foreign soil.”

 “Alexander Beltran Herrera, a former terrorist commander for the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), will now be held accountable for his role in holding three U.S. citizens hostage in Colombia for 1,967 days,” said Kelly M. Darden, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Division.  “Essential to bringing Beltran Herrera to justice was our close cooperation with the Colombian National Police.”

According to the government’s evidence, the FARC is an armed, violent organization in Colombia.  Since its inception in 1964, it has engaged in an armed conflict to overthrow the Republic of Colombia, South America’s longest-standing democracy.  The FARC has consistently used hostage taking as a primary technique in extorting demands from the Republic of Colombia, and hostage taking has been endorsed and commanded by FARC senior leadership.  The FARC has characterized American citizens as “military targets” and has engaged in violent acts against Americans in Colombia, including murders and hostage taking.  The FARC was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Secretary of State in 1997 and remains so designated.

Beltran Herrera, a commander in the FARC, was involved in the hostage taking of three United States citizens: Marc D. Gonsalves, Thomas R. Howes, and Keith Stansell.  These three, along with Thomas Janis, a United States citizen, and Sergeant Luis Alcides Cruz, a Colombian citizen, were seized on Feb. 13, 2003, by the FARC, after their single-engine aircraft made a crash landing in the Colombian jungle.

Members of the FARC murdered Janis and Cruz near the crash site.  Gonsalves, Howes, and Stansell were held by the FARC at gunpoint and were advised by FARC leadership that they would be used as hostages to increase pressure on the government of Colombia to agree to the FARC’s demands.  At various times, the FARC marched the hostages from one site to another, placing them in the actual custody of various FARC fronts.

At the conclusion of one 40-day long march, in or about November 2004, the hostages were delivered to members of the FARC’s 27th Front, who imprisoned the hostages for nearly two years.  During part of this period, Beltran Herrera was responsible for moving the hostages and keeping them imprisoned.  Throughout the captivity of these three hostages, FARC jailors and guards used choke harnesses, chains, padlocks and wires to restrain the hostages, and used force and threats to continue their detention and prevent their escape.  In July 2008, the Colombian military conducted a daring operation which resulted in the rescue of the hostages.

Beltran Herrera was indicted in February 2011 and was extradited to the United States from Colombia in March 2012.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Miami Division.  The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Asuncion and Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez from the National Security Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and Trial Attorney David Cora, from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.  The case was indicted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Kohl, of the National Security Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The FBI’s Miami Division partnered in the investigation with the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the Department’s Judicial Attachés in Colombia, and the FBI’s Office of the Legal Attaché in Bogota, Colombia.  The Directorate of Intelligence (DIPOL) and the Anti-Kidnapping Unit (GAULA) of the Colombian National Police also provided valuable support during the investigation.