UK sending non-lethal aid to Syrian opposition

The UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague, will on Thursday give his annual speech at the Lord Mayor’s Easter Banquet.  In it he will state that he has “agreed to provide a further half a million pounds of British support to Syria’s political opposition”. It includes the agreement in principle for practical non-lethal support to the anti-Assad factions inside Syria. It will also help hard-pressed opposition groups and civil society organisations inside and outside the country to "document the regime’s violations and gain the skills and resources needed to help build a democratic future for Syria”. The British Government has provided £450,000 of practical support to  the Syrian opposition and civil society in the last 8 months, including; strategic communications and media skills training to internal activists; conflict resolution and negotiation training to independent civil society; training and advice to Syrian human rights defenders from across the country; and mentoring for citizen journalists. The UK has now ring-fenced a further £500,000 to continue providing support to Syrian civil society and oppositionists. “Our funding will also support civil society organisations in documenting human rights abuses relating to the wider work of HMG on the accountability of the Assad regime; as well as a commitment to practical support for the opposition and civil society groups to help them prepare for a sustainable political transition. This includes an agreement in principle to provide practical non-lethal support to the political opposition inside Syria," said the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) in a statement UK support is intended to help Syrian political oppositionists to develop themselves as a credible alternative to Assad and his regime; keep themselves safe against regime repression and violence by communicating effectively; get improved access to humanitarian assistance; develop the necessary capability to realise an orderly transition to a more democratic Syria In addition the UK will be expanding its support for activists to ensure accountability. “We are already working together with our partners to ensure that no options regarding judicial matters are closed to the Syrian people. Gathering and securing evidence is critical to this,” said the FCO. The UK sent an expert mission to the region last month to help document the atrocities that have taken place and has previously trained Syrian human rights activists to document violations accurately and in accordance with international standards. “We will provide further training to human rights activists from Syrian hotspots which have witnessed severe repression to build their capacity to gather, document and store evidence of human rights violations and abuses. This evidence of serious human rights violations, some of which may amount to crimes against humanity, can then be used by the Syrian people to ensure that there is a day of reckoning for those responsible. “The UK is also looking at providing expert advice to nascent Syrian civil society groups, to help professionalise their reporting on human rights issues and improve their transparency,” said the statement. “Finally, as Syrian opposition and civil society groups start to tackle the challenges of a sustainable political transition, including how to maintain essential services, revive the economy and deliver comprehensive constitutional reform, we will provide UK expertise to support them in these matters”.