UN investigators said in a report last week that rebels had committed
war crimes, including executions, albeit on a smaller scale than those
carried out by the army and security forces.One of the main factions of the Free Syrian Army issued new orders on
Monday forbidding the torture and killing of prisoners following world
outrage at rebel abuses caught on video last week.
In what was described as a new internal charter, read out by a rebel
commander in a video posted on the internet, the organization also
forbade its members from belonging to political or religious factions
and committed them to refraining from engaging in politics in a
post-Assad state.
Free Syrian Army troops must, Colonel Qassem Saadeldin said,
"implement principles of international law which forbid harming
civilians ... and torturing or killing captured combatants".
UN investigators said in a report last week that rebels had committed
war crimes, including executions, albeit on a smaller scale than those
carried out by the army and security forces.
Saadeldin, reading from the charter, also said: "Members of the Free
Syrian Army are forbidden from belonging to any political or religious
party and from interfering in the political process after the Assad
regime is brought down."
The rebels are suffering from increasing divisions in their ranks,
with an upsurge in Islamist militancy working outside the framework of
the Free Syrian Army coalition.
The Free Syrian Army brings together a number of militant brigades,
some more extreme than others, and has struggled to establish a central
command to iron out abuses.
The charter follows a similar 'code of conduct' signed by a number of
Syrian rebel factions earlier in the month, adhering to human rights
principles while engaging in their struggle.
But not all factions agreed to sign, with human rights abuses still being carried out by certain rebel groups.


Saadeldin's comments are the latest push by his command to exert
pressure on rebel groups to remain committed to the goals of the Syrian
revolt, and not deviate into its Islamist wings.
It comes as the hardline Muslim Brotherhood steps up its funding of
Islamist militants, who are largely refusing to follow the command of
the Free Syrian Army.
"Our leadership is independent," said the Muslim Brotherhood-funded
Tawhid Brigade's Abdul-Qader al-Saleh, chief of operations in the
northern hub of Aleppo that has witnessed some of the fiercest fighting.
"When we decided to join the battle for Aleppo, we did not consult with the military council," Saleh. "Why should we?"


The Muslim Brotherhood is seeking to position itself as a powerful
force in a post-Assad era, raising the stakes for a looming power
struggle with the Free Syrian Army.
Assad's opponents say they want to build a representative democracy.
Many are concerned that religious sectarianism and rival radical agendas
could condemn Syria to continued crisis even if they succeed in ousting
the regime in Damascus.http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/11296