By Martin Banks - 14th July 2011
My people face a very bad situation at present
Haitham Al-Maleh
A senior opposition leader in Syria has told parliament of the "perfect storm" currently erupting in the country.
Addressing parliament on Wednesday, Haitham Al-Maleh also made an impassioned plea to the EU to help overthrow the existing Syrian regime.
He said that the Syrian authorities had used torture against children as young as 12 and had also rounded up defenceless men from their homes and shot them.
He told the foreign affairs committee, "My people face a very bad situation at present.
"The authorities are shooting and killing totally innocent people and this has got to stop.
"This is a regime which does not respect the rule of law and the EU and wider international community must act now," added Al-Maleh, who was recently released from jail after being held for 17 months in detention.
"This regime has lost the right to rule. It is a dictatorship and is finished."
He added, "I am asking the EU, through my address to the parliament today, to help the people in Syria rid themselves of this regime. This will be good for both Syria and the EU."
Al-Maleh, a human rights lawyer and activist, was taking part in an exchange of views with the committee on the current state of affairs in Syria.
His comments come after the Syrian authorities responded to widespread anti-government protests with overwhelming military force.
The protests pose the greatest challenge to four decades of Assad family rule in the country.
The protests have so far left 1600 people dead, sent 10,000 fleeing to Turkey, and seen tens of thousands more injured or arrested.
Inspired by the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, the Syrian protests began in March with rallies calling for freedom in the southern border town of Deraa.
But several people were killed when security forces opened fire on unarmed crowds and the unrest in Deraa quickly spiralled out of control, then spread to other towns and cities.
President Bashar al-Assad sent in tanks and troops to restore order, blaming "armed gangs and terrorists" for the unrest.
Towns like Deraa, Homs and Douma were besieged for days. Hundreds were killed when snipers and tanks fired on unarmed protesters. Men were rounded up in night-time raids and electricity and communication lines were cut.
Earlier, Al-Maleh met parliament president Jerzy Buzek and after the meeting, the Polish MEP said, "The calls that I and the European parliament have issued to demand his immediate release from Syrian prison have been answered. "There is no doubt that a dialogue at the tip of a gun is not a true dialogue."
"With tens of hundreds of innocent civilians dead, with continued repressions and military force directed against ordinary people, the Syrian regime has lost all legitimacy."
