DAMASCUS: Syria’s new government spokesman said on Thursday the country’s constitution and parliament would be suspended for the duration of the three-month transition period following president Bashar Assad’s ouster.
“A judicial and human rights committee will be established to examine the constitution and then introduce amendments,” Obaida Arnaout said.
The current constitution dates back to 2012 and does not specify Islam as the state religion.
Militants led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham seized the capital Damascus on Sunday, sending Assad fleeing into exile.
On Tuesday, they named Mohammed Al-Bashir, who headed the militants’ self-proclaimed “Salvation Government” in their northwestern bastion of Idlib, as the country’s transitional prime minister until March 1.
Arnaout said a meeting would be held on Tuesday “between Salvation Government ministers and the former ministers” of Assad’s administration to carry out the transfer of power.
“This transitional period will last three months,” he added in an interview with AFP. “Our priority is to preserve and protect institutions.”
Speaking at the state television headquarters, now seized by the new militant authorities, Arnaout pledged that they would institute “the rule of law.”
“All those who committed crimes against the Syrian people will be judged in accordance with the law,” he added.
Asked about religious and personal freedoms, he said “we respect religious and cultural diversity in Syria,” adding that they would remain unchanged.
The Sunni majority country was ruled with an iron fist by Assad, a follower of the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam who sought to project himself as a protector of minority communities.

LONDON: The Irish government will ask the International Court of Justice to expand its definition of genocide over Israel’s “collective punishment” of civilians in the Gaza Strip, Sky News reported on Thursday.

Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin said his government is “concerned” that a “narrow interpretation of what constitutes genocide” is leading to a “culture of impunity in which the protection of civilians is minimized.”

He added that there has been “collective punishment of the Palestinian people through the intent and impact of military actions of Israel in Gaza,” and that the Irish government “prioritizes the protection of civilian life.”

Ireland is set to link the request to the case brought by South Africa to the ICJ under the UN Genocide Convention, as well as a case brought by Gambia against Myanmar.

“By legally intervening in South Africa’s case, Ireland will be asking the ICJ to broaden its interpretation of what constitutes the commission of genocide by a state,” Martin said.

“Intervening in both cases demonstrates the consistency of Ireland’s approach to the interpretation and application of the Genocide Convention.”

The convention identifies the practice as the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group” by killing, inflicting physical and mental harm, and imposing destructive conditions. Collective punishment is not currently part of the criteria.

Israel has also been accused of committing genocide by Amnesty International, which said the country has repeatedly attacked Palestinians, destroyed infrastructure and limited civilians’ access to food, water and medicine.

Amnesty’s executive director in Ireland, Stephen Bowen, called Dublin’s actions a “glimmer of hope,” adding: “Those like Ireland who have called for a ceasefire must join with other like-minded states to create this common platform to end the genocide.

“They must be resolute; they must be relentless; they must be loud, clear, visible. This is genocide. This must stop.”