As the eight-year Syrian civil war draws to what appears to be a conclusion, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has organized a 150-person committee to create a new constitution to guide the nation’s rebuilding and future. One-third of the committee members will be from those still loyal to strongman President Bashar Al-Assad; one-third from the opposition “rebels” and the final third will be chosen by the United Nations. Since 2011, when Assad began to forcibly move against those who protested his heavy-handed rule, some 370,000 Syrians were killed (according to the UN) and millions were displaced from their homes – many becoming refugees in neighboring countries and many becoming refugees albeit inside of Syria. Apparently not much has been decided about the committee’s mission: it has not even been determined whether a new document will be created ab initio, or the existing constitution will get a make-over. Assad’s forces have retaken only about 60% of the territory it lost.
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