LCC initiates FSA Code of Conduct, which many great battalions signed in the past few days:

In light of recent events in Syria. FSA commanders got together and signed the new FSA code of conduct.

The document was initially published by the Local Coordination Committees (LCCs) and underlines the requirement to respect human rights and international humanitarian law including laws pertaining to the treatment of prisoners of war.

Code of Conduct of the Free Syrian Army

Article I
In the Free Syrian Army, as an independent, defected soldier, or civilian volunteer, my first responsibilities are to:
Defend Syrian revolutionaries in the face of tyranny and ensure the continuation of the revolution to oust the regime. I will direct my weapons exclusively against Assad aggressors. I will serve my nation, Syria, and the freedom of the Syrian people. I am a fighter in the battle to defend my people.
I will use my weapons to overthrow the criminal regime that has been imposed upon us.

Article II
I pledge to my people and my revolution that I will refrain from any behavior or practice that would undermine the principles of our revolution: the principles of freedom, citizenship, and dignity. I will respect human rights in accordance with our legal principles, our tolerant religious principles, and the international laws governing human rights – the very human rights for which we struggle today and which we intend to implement in the future Syria.

Article III
Any person who takes up arms in the name of the regime, regardless of their rank, should be arrested and remain in the custody of the Free Syrian Army.
In the event that an individual is arrested, and it is determined that the individual was working for the regime, voluntarily or for payment, to supply information about revolutionary activists, that individual shall be considered a prisoner and treated in accordance with laws governing prisoners of war.

Article IV
I pledge not to practice any form of torture, rape, mutilation, or degradation.
I will preserve prisoners’ rights and will not exercise any of the above practices in order to obtain confessions.

Article V
I will not issue any executive orders, particularly with regard to death or corporal punishment. Only an appropriate legal authority, with relevant expertise, may conduct trials and find perpetrators guilty.

Article VI
I will not engage in any practice that leads to the physical torture or murder of prisoners or informants, and I will not participate in any public execution.

Article VII
I pledge not to engage in any form of theft or looting on the pretext that I am helping to finance the armed struggle. I pledge not to take any person hostage for ransom.

Article VIII
I pledge not to use my weapon against activists or civilians, whether or not I agree with them; and I pledge to not use my weapon against any other Syrian citizen. I pledge to limit my use of weapons to the defense of our people and myself in facing the criminal regime.

Article IX
I pledge not to exercise reprisals on the basis of ethnicity, sect, religion, or any other basis, and to refrain from any abusive practices, in word or in deed, against any component of the Syrian people.

Article X
I pledge to surrender my weapons to the Transitional Authority, which will manage the country’s affairs during the transitional period after the fall of the regime.

Article XI
If found guilty of violating any of these articles, I agree to submit to a fair trial undertaken by specialized committees formed under the supervision of the Free Syrian Army’s leadership and monitored by an independent judiciary body.

Signatories:
Lieutenant Colonel Muhannad Ahmad Al-Talaa, Commander of the Military Council of Deir Ezzor
Colonel Qassim Saad Eddin, Commander of the Military Council in Homs
Sergeant Ismail Sheikh Saleh, Jisr Al-Shoghour, Idlib
Lieutenant Colonel Zahid Hourani, head of the Military Office in Homs
Major Ibrahim Moutawaa, Commander of the Al-Nour Battalion in Qosair
Colonel Radwan Ayyoush, Commander of the Military Office in Homs
Lieutenant Colonel Jamil Ra’adoun, Commander of the League of Battalions in the Hama Countryside
Colonel Khaled Alqatini of Khan Sheihoun and its countryside
First Lieutenant Hamza Qaziz, Al-Baraa Brigade in Douma
The Al-Baraa Brigade in Douma
Major Abou Mohammad Al-Homsi, the Soldiers of God Brigade in Damascus
The Falcons of the Land Brigade in Hama
The Martyrs of Latamna Battalion
The Martyrs of Asi Battalion in Hama
The Abi Al-Fidaa Battalion in Hama
The Special Operations Battalion in Hama
The Sunna Lions Battalion in Mayadeen
The Omar Al-Mukhtar Battalion in Deir Baalba, Homs
Abdul Baset Sarout
Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad al-Aboud Commander of the Revolutionary Military Council in Deir Ezzor
Captain Mostafa Shawardi/ Ansar Mohammad Battalion in Mawrak
Lieutenant Colonel Hafez Jad AlKaeem Faraj Commander of the Military Council in the Governorate of Sweida
Lieutenant Maher al-Tamer Commander of Shuhada al-Hurriya (Martyrs of Freedom) Battalion in Mawrak
Al-Haq (The Truth) Battalion in Mqeilbiya
Burkan al-Sham (Damascus Volcano) Battalion
Major Qassem Najem/ Tahrir alJanoob Battalion in Daraa
Captain Khaled Fatehallah Commander of the Free Syrian Army in Daeel
Captain Ali Shakerdi/ al-Amjad Battalion in Aleppo.