Among the council's founders are members of prominent Syrian families.
Iman Shahoud, a Syrian female judge from Idlib and member of the
Syrian Constitutional Committee,
Mohammad Habash, a former member of the
People's Council of Syria and religious reformist thinker, Ibrahim Ibrahim Basha, sheikh of the
Milan Kurdish tribal federation and grandson of tribal leader
Ibrahim Pasha Milli, Prince Mulham al-Shibli of the Fawa'ira tribal federation; Sheikh
Amir al-Dandal of the
Uqaydat tribe of
Al-Bukamal (Abu Kamal); Sheikh Oweinan Jarbah of the
Shammar, Sheikh Abdelilah al-Melhem of the
Annazah tribe; Sheikh Mamduh al-Tahhan of the
Na'im who is a member of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, and several other tribal leaders. The current spokespeople for the council are Abdallah Rophael, a Syrian Christian lawyer from
Homs; Sheikh
Amir al-Dandal and Sheikh Mamduh al-Tahhan.
Sima Abd Rabo, a former political activist and digital expert from
Damascus, served as a spokesperson until January 2020 with Ibrahim Shaheen, a lawyer from the
Alawite community of Homs. According to an interview he granted to the public German TV channel
ZDF, the Syrian-born German
legal scholar Naseef Naeem from the Christian village of
Fairouzeh, chaired the negotiations that led to the signing of the Code of Conduct and the creation of the council. The eponymous charter, the Code of Conduct for Syrian Coexistence, includes 11 paragraphs on topics such as: the recognition of society's diversity, the individual (not collective) accountability for crimes and violations during the
Syrian Civil War; and the principle of 'no victor, no vanquished' In irregular intervals and based on the principles of the Code of Conduct for Syrian Coexistence the Council publishes declarations, mostly on social, societal and ethical aspects of the crisis in Syria. In view of the imminent outbreak of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Syria in April 2020 the Council called on all conflict parties to release detainees "in an act of humanity" since detention facilities would not be able to deliver sufficient medical support. The council also called on the international community to cooperate with the conflict parties and to deliver medical supplies to mitigate against the pandemic on Syrian territory. According to a report by the German news magazine
Der Spiegel from April 2021 the initiative was "gaining momentum" while the
official political process led by the
United Nations had "stagnated".
Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that members of the Council had met with high-ranking Western diplomats in Berlin in September 2023. The paper quoted a German diplomatic source that expects the Council of the Syrian Charter to play a role in a political solution to the Syrian crisis. to As reported by the Austrian newspaper
Die Presse the Council of the Syrian Charter was involved in local conflict resolution in the Southern provinces of
Daraa and
Suwaida. According to the German daily
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung members of the council in Syria advocated for an amnesty for dissidents and persecuted individuals. They also mediate in local conflicts between families and communities in the coastal region and other parts of Syria. The Saudi newspaper
Okaz referred to the initiative as a 'gamechanger' that might help overcome the deadlock of political negotiations over the Syrian conflict. During the night of December 8, 2024, with the events that led to the
Fall of the Assad regime, Alawite members of the initiative reportedly advocated for peace and laying down arms in Regime held territories and greeted opposition leaders when they entered
Safita and Tartus the following morning. Afterwards, the community leaders issued a statement congratulating their fellow citizens on their achievement and greeted the "new Syria". ==Controversy==