11. Disarmament and Security
• External governments and other actors should immediately stop supplying weapons and military equipment to the warring groups. They should monitor their borders effectively to ensure that weapons, equipment and recruits cannot continue to flow into Syria;
• A new or renewed national army which is capable of retaining the confidence of all citizens is needed. Any person involved in the new/renewed national army must not have been involved in gross violations and crimes;
• The leadership of the new/renewed national army must inspire public confidence. It might reside in one person who has the confidence of both sides and the public or, for an initial period of time, be a joint office shared by a leading figure from each side provided each has the confidence of the other;
• Any disarmament process must be able to convince both sides to engage in demobilization and disarmament. Disarmament must be verifiable and require a lasting commitment to give up arms from those who engage in the process. Disarmament might be conducted in one of two ways: (i) if it is agreed quickly, the new/renewed national army could implement a mechanism for disarming all sides. (ii) Alternatively there could be two separate bodies – one for the regime and one for the opposition – conducting disarmament on each side;
• An international Disarmament Commission for Syria should be appointed to oversee disarmament on all sides;
• Individuals with weapons might be offered a financial incentive to return their guns. In order to qualify for amnesty and escape prosecution, they should: (i) hand in their weapons; (ii) agree not to take up arms against the new/renewed army or at any time in the future; and (iii) commit in writing, or by other sworn means, to pursue only peaceful means to resolve conflict in future;
• Qualification for amnesty and escape from prosecution must not apply to those who have committed gross violations and crimes;
• It will not be possible to achieve full disarmament by these means as some people will not give up their weapons. There should be a means to disarm those who refuse. Alongside this, there should be a mechanism for ridding Syria of foreign combatants;
• CSOs could have a role in assisting and monitoring the disarmament process. CSOs should work on building confidence and reducing fear, and building relationships that create the possibilities and routes for people to hand over guns; and
• The military forces and security services should perform according to human rights and professional standards. Human rights training must be introduced for all ranks of the army and security services. This should be assisted and supervised internationally.