Committee:
Issue:
Student Officer:
GA-2 Human Rights
Human Rights Violations in Syria
Louise Dortmond (Deputy Chair of GA 2)
Introduction
“We don’t care who helps us, we want anyone to come in and help us. This regime will not go
by peaceful way, it needs to be threatened, it needs to be attacked, this is how this regime will fall, this
is how the Assad family will fall. We don’t want to bare love with them, not over all the dead bodies,
not over all the people who died in Syria.”
This is what Syrian activist Danny Dayem
said via Skype on a CNN emission. Lately,
the question of Syria had been active in the
media. From the beginning of the Syrian
revolution in March 2011 (as a part of the
Arab Spring), the situation in Syria became
worse gradually and created a civil war. The
government and its army tried to prevent
protests by using violence on the citizens and
Map of Syria
UN declared that, as a result of prevention
over 7000 people had died. By doing this, the human rights were being violated. According to Human
Rights Watch, Syria’s human rights situation is one of the worst in the entire world. However, of
course, everyone is entitled to live in a safe place. To understand the occurrence of human rights
violations in Syria, it is important to know about the situation in Syria.
Involved Countries and Organisations
Arab League
Arab League has suspended Syria’s membership because of the government’s response to the
revolution. A plan of restoring peace in the Arab League was accepted by the government in
November 2011. In December, they allowed the observation of their country.
Syria
The involvement of Syria in this issue may not come as a surprise. Although the whole world
witnesses the situation in Syria by updated news, still there is not any radical improvement on this
issue.
UN Security Council
The Security Council is one of the most powerful organs of the United Nations. As it is possible to
send troops via Security Council, the Security Council is playing a massive role for the solution.
Israel
Syria and Israel have been opponents since the existence of Israel. An example to exhibit this conflict,
Syria supports some groups which are active for harming the government and citizens in Israel.
Another issue that occurs between Israel and Syria is the issue of the Golan Heights. This is an area
nestled between Syria, Israel, Lebanon and Jordan. This border is under the occupation of Israel.
However, the Golan Heights are still internationally recognized as Syrian territory. The civilians of the
Golan Heights face violations of human rights too. In 2007, there was an attack by Israel. From the
perspective of Israel, it was a nuclear facility under instruction, however according to Syria it was an
unused military facility.
Russia
Russia has shown constant and vocal support for Assad’s regime and used its veto power about the
UN Security Council draft resolutions on Syria. According to them, the resolution was aiming to lead
violent regime-change and civil war. Russia’s primary Mediterranean naval base is located in Syria. It
is said that Russia is one of Syria’s key allies.
Russia is the county which supplies weapons in Syria. From 2007 to 2010, Russia delivered $1.2
billion to Syria. However, in June Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “Russia is not shipping
weapons that could be used in a civil conflict”.
Turkey
Turkey and Syria are two close neighbours, where Syrian civilians are able to flee to Turkey as
refugees. At the end of June, the Syrian air force shot a Turkish helicopter down and parked 170 tanks
along the border. Turkey sent out 6 jets, while the Syrian helicopters were coming too close.
Focussed Overview of the Issue
The situation in Syria
In June 2000, Bashar Al-Assad was replaced with his father as the president of Syria. His
father had been in power for 30 years and he was the president of the Ba’ath Party. After his death, the
parliament changed the minimum age to become president from 40 to 34. Therefore, Assad, who was
34 years old at that time, would be nominated for presidency. Assad won the elections with an
overwhelming majority (%97). He pledged to modernise the economy and to set up “Syria’s own
democratic experience”. In 2001, leading opposition figures were being arrested and the press was
censored again. This, the arrestment of many people, existing censorship and more factors gave Syria
the reputation of a dictatorship that continued for 10 more years.
In January 2011, the Wall Street Journal published an interview with Assad, in which he said
that the Arabian protests would not come to Syria. He explained that as the Syrian government they
were aware of the problem that Syrian citizens faced and explained that Syria was “on the right side”
about the conflict in Israel; the citizens had no reason to resist.
However, in March 2011, Syria followed other Arab countries by participating in the Arab
Spring. The Syrian citizens asked for political changes and more civil rights. The revolt officially
started on March 15 and began on a so-called “Day of Dignity” and “Day of Rage”. The “Day of
Dignity” ended with the release of political prisoners and the “Day of Rage” ended tragically in the
city of Deraa where a couple of people taking part in the protest were shot by security forces. This
resulted in more unrest and a nationwide revolt.
As a reaction to this, in an attempt to conciliate the protesters, the government released groups
of political prisoners. This obviously did not work, and Assad and the Syrian secret service used
weapons, especially snipers, to take down the protests. People were tortured in order to show the other
civilians that they should not go on the streets. Not later, tanks entered the cities of Deraa, Banyas,
Homs and suburbs of Damascus. Soldiers who refused to shoot civilians were being shot by the Syrian
army. In April the state of emergency was lifted, after being intact in1963. This allowed the
government to infringe constitutional rights.
People started to flee to neighbouring countries such as Turkey and Lebanon. In July, the
French and the US embassy were attacked by pro-government activists. Therefore, US Secretary of
State Hilary Clinton said, “President Assad is not indispensable and we have absolutely nothing
invested in him remaining in power.” In December twin suicide bombs killed 44 people and injured at
least 165 people outside security buildings in Damascus. Rival groups blamed the government for the
attacks; however the government claimed that Islamist militants were responsible. After the attacks,
the Syrian government let observers of the Arab League into the country for the first time. According
to the UN, in February 2012 at least 7,500 people were killed a result of the uprising.
In April 2012, 300 United Nation observers and some journalists were allowed to enter the
country. They were witnessing terrible situations, although the government was trying to hide them.
An example to this, the UN observers were denied access to a certain village. When the observers
entered the village one day later, they noticed that there was a heavy smell of burnt flesh and there was
blood in the swimming pools. However, there were no bodies. A step into resolving the issue was
made by appointing Kofi Annan as a special UN envoy.
In Syria there are various groups which have different leaders that would take over the power
if Assad would step down.
The violation of human rights
In 1963, the Baath party came to power as a result of a military coup: the state of emergency,
which is still intact, was declared. One year before, the Council of ministers gave the military
permission to lift protection of individual freedoms, allowing the violation of human rights. According
to Freedom House, an organisation that observes countries to give them a grade on a scale of 1 to 7 of
how badly the human rights are being violated, Syria was ‘not free’ and got a 7 in 2011. Now, the
violations are worse from that time.
In 2009 the situation plummeted down. There were a lot of arrest of political and human rights
activists. It is said that at least 17 of these detainees were killed. Websites, such as facebook.com and
youtube.com, were censored and travel bans were imposed.
In 2011, the UN called the actions by the Syrian army as severe violations of human rights.
These violations include attacks on peaceful crowds, sexual abuse and rape, shootings to innocent
people –including 2 year old children-, the usage of children as shields, attacks on hospitals.
Syria has a zero tolerance policy regarding freedom of press and speech. As the Arab Press
Freedom Watch said, Syria is among the worst in the Arab World when it comes to freedom of press,
and they are currently ranked as 189 out of 197 in the world1. The government closed the Syrian
Centre for Media and Free Expression in September 2009. People can be arrested based on a
suspicious letter, something they said, or by associating, without a judicial review. According to article
3 of the constitution, which was formed in 1973, “The religion of the Syrian Republic has to be Islam.
Islamic jurisprudence is a main source of legislation.” This makes freedom of religion very hard.
However, article 35 of the constitution mentions the following: “The freedom of faith is guaranteed.
The state respects all religions. The state guarantees the freedom to hold any religious rites”.
Gender equality is guaranteed by the Syrian constitution, although there are some certain rules
that discriminate women and girls. As an example to discrimination, male relatives are allowed to kill
or assault women for sexual misconduct. Also, rapists may be acquitted from the crime if they choose
to marry their victim. Violence against women is common, according to Amnesty International
reports. However, Syria was one of the first Arab countries which granted women suffrage and
equality at education. Women hold 12 percent of the seats in the legislature, which is of course a clear
minority. Not only women are being discriminated, but also the ethnic minorities, mostly the Kurds
are differentiated. Furthermore, in September 2011, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right of food
announced that approximately 2 to 3 million Syrian inhabitants are living in extreme poverty. Also, it
is estimated that 17.000 prisoners “have disappeared”.
It is said that the revolution began due to the willingness of Syrian civilians. They asked for
democratic reforms and suggest Assad to step down. They demanded more civil rights, more rights for
the ethnic minorities and the lift of the ‘State of Emergency’. It is clear that not all the articles in the
1
http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/Global%20and%20Regional%20Press%20Freedom%20Rankin
gs.pdf
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (see ‘Key Vocabulary’) are being followed. However, the
isolation of Syria makes it very hard to do something about the situation.
Key Vocabulary
Arab Spring
According to dictionaries, the Arab Spring can be defined as: a revolutionary
wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18
December 2010.The Arab spring started in Tunisia with a protest against police corruption and ill
treatment and resulted in strikes and demonstrations demanding political freedom all over the Arabian
world. With the use of social media, awareness was raised and the whole world received updates. The
revolution was on its highest point in the spring of 2011. In some cases, the government was
overthrown. Up to now, the Arab Spring is still going on.
Source: http://www.targetmap.com/viewer.aspx?reportId=9600
The Syrian National Council (SNC)
The Syrian National Council was formed in 2011 as a Syrian opposition coalition during the
Syrian uprising against the government of President Assad. It is aiming to create one concept for
Syria’s political opposition, resulting into making Syria a modern, civil and democratic state. The
council consists of members from different Syrian opposition groups and is based in Istanbul.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a treaty created by the UN General Assembly.
There was a need for a common definition of the human rights. In the treaty, various basic human
rights for every individual are included. The treaty pursues justice, peace and freedom. All member
states are willing to imply the declaration and defend the articles. The full declaration can be found
here: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
Important Events and Chronology
Date
1948
1963
2000
2007
15-03-2011
19-04-2011
05-2011
03-08-2011
18-08-2011
10-2011
12-2011
02-2012
03-2012
05-2012
Event
Universal Declaration of Human Rights adapted
Military coup by the Baath party, state of emergency in effect.
Former president Havez al Assad dies and his son Bashar al Assad becomes
president. 600 political prisoners are being released.
Assad wins the elections with 97.6% of the votes.
Day of Dignity: the official start of the protests in Syria. 3000 people were
arrested.
State of Emergency lifted.
Syria is being kicked out of the UN Human Rights Council.
Syria is being condemned by the UN Security Council for human rights violations.
The USA, UK, France, Germany and Canada call upon Assad to step down.
Russia and China veto UN resolution regarding Syria.
Arab League observers are allowed to enter Syria.
Russia and China gave a veto vote to UN Security Council resolution on Syria.
The governments attacked Homs and other cities with bombs and recaptures the
Homs district of Baba Amr.
Russia and China agreed with SC non-binding peace plan after a modification of
the previous version.
More than 100 people are killed as a result of a militia killing just outside Homs.
The SC condemns "in the strongest possible terms" the government's usage of
06-2012
heavy armory weapons.
Assad tells his government that they will face ‘real war’, and that the authorities
say that it will be long-lasting. He also says that the conflict is priority and all the
other things will not matter anymore.
Past Resolutions and Treaties http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=a/66/l.36 This
resolution was passed by the General Assembly. The most fascinating clause is clause 6. However, the
Syrian government did not follow the instructions of this clause and this is why the resolution failed to
help.
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session19/A_HRC_19_L.1_
Rev.1_English-adopted.pdf The most influential clause of this resolution would be clause 5. Again,
the Syrian government was not willing to cooperate.
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,UNSC,,,4fbe13972,0.html In April, this resolution passed
unanimously and was welcomed by the Syrian National Council. The major part of this resolution was
the establishment of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS). The spokesperson of
Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said, “The Secretary-General hopes that the establishment of
UNSMIS, with the united and determined support of the Security Council, will also help to stop the
killing and suffering in Syria, and the contribution to move the country towards pluralism and
democracy.” The goal of the UNSMIS is to observe the country for 90 days and to monitor the ending
of the violence and the implementation of a peace plan. It consists of a maximum of 300 unarmed
military observers and appropriate civilian component.
Failed Solution Attempts
The resolution created in February included clauses related to end the Assad regime. Russia
and China considered this resolution as a potential violation of Syria’s sovereignty and decided to use
their veto power. The next month, Russia and China did agree with a SC non-binding peace plan, as
this plan was less tough.
On July 1, the Security Council united again. The member states agreed that there must be a
transitional government of national unity. The Russian Federation is okay with the Assad Regime;
however USA was definitely against it.
Furthermore, a United Nations and Arab League special envoy regarding the question of Syria
has been appointed: Kofi Annan. He created a six-point peace plan, which you can find by opening
this link: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2012/sc10583.doc.htm. Up to now, this has been the
most diplomatic step which is taken. Annan has negotiated with Assad three times now; the last time
was July 8. It is said that both parties found this constructive. Annan made sure that many member
states came together to discuss the situation of Syria at the end of June. The appointment of a special
envoy is not a failed solution attempt; however, the situation hasn’t altered yet. Although the
establishment of the UNSMIS sounded promising, the mission had to be suspended due to the much
violence.
Other measures that have been taken were the suspension of Syria from the Arab League. The
Arab League also called countries to joint sanctions against Syria. Most of these sanctions were on oil
and such matter. Many organizations and countries, such as USA, Turkey and the European Union
have imposed them, however, certain countries, such as Iraq, did not do this. Australia, Canada,
France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States have
expelled Syrian ambassadors from staying in their countries.
All these attempts are little steps towards solving the issue, but as the issue is so severe and
complicated, these attempts were not enough up to now.
Possible Solutions
According to a spokesperson from Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, “The Secretary-General
calls upon the Government of Syria and other parties swiftly to create the necessary conditions for the
deployment of the mission. He stresses the need for the Government of Syria to terminate all violence
and human rights violations, and in particular to stop the use of heavy weapons and to withdraw such
weapons and armed units from population centers.” When looking carefully at the situation, it is clear
that the issue of human rights in Syria cannot be solved simply by the Human Rights Council. A
possible solution would be cooperation with the Security Council or NATO troops. However, not
everyone is fond of a military intervention in Syria: it can make the situation worse. Other groups of
people agree that maintaining talks with Syria would be better. One thing is clear: the regime needs to
change.
The appointment of the special UN and Arab League envoy was good progress, and may be a
step to find a solution for the issue. In order to have better overviews with new information, more
observers should be allowed to enter the country.
Useful Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRFK0x0WEF0&feature=related
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18595884
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/SY/A.HRC.S-17.2.Add.1_en.pdf (especially page 21-23)
Works Cited
"Syria Profile." BBC News. BBC, 12 Jul. 2012. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14703856>.
“Syrië: revolutie of burgeroorlog?”. Nieuws van de Wereld. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.
<http://nieuwsvandewereld.nl/Dossier/Kalam/Syrie_revolutie_of_burgeroorlog.php>.
"Syrian National Council." Syrian National Council. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.syriancouncil.org/>.
Almond, Kyle. "Why the World Isn't Intervening in Syria." CNN. Cable News Network, 23 Feb. 2012.
Web. 25 Feb. 2012. <http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/23/world/syriaintervention/index.html?hpt=hp_c1>.
“2011-2012 Syrian uprising.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Feb. 2012. Web. 25 Feb.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%932012_Syrian_uprising>
Guo, Yike. “The human rights situation in Syria.” Muimun. Web. 25 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.muimun.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SC_topicA.pdf>
Marcus, Jonathan. "Syria Unrest: Opposition Seeks Arms Pledge." BBC News. BBC, 24 Feb. 2012.
Web. 24 Feb. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17144805>.
"Cracks Emerge in Syrian Opposition amid Ongoing Anti-government Protests”The Observers. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 07 July 2012. <http://observers.france24.com/content/20120113-syria-cracksemerge-opposition-amid-ongoing-anti-government-protests-assad>.
"Human Rights in Syria." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 07 July 2012. Web. 07 July 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Syria>.
"Syria - Events of 2006." Human Rights Watch World Report. 31 Dec. 2006. Web. 07 July 2012.
<http://www.hrw.org/legacy/englishwr2k7/docs/2007/01/11/syria14722.htm>.
"Isolate Syria's Arms Suppliers." Human Rights Watch. Web. 09 July 2012.
<http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/06/03/isolate-syria-s-arms-suppliers>.
"Is Syria in an "official" Civil War?" CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 13 June 2012. Web. 09 July 2012.
<http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-57452666-503543/is-syria-in-an-official-civilwar/>.
"Syria Freedom in the World - 2012 Report." Freedom House. Web. 10 July 2012.
<http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2012/syria-0>.
"Syria Freedom in the World - 2011 Report." Freedom House. Web. 10 July 2012.
<http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2011/syria-0>.
"Syria Freedom in the World - 2010 Report." Freedom House. Web. 10 July 2012.
<http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2010/syria-0>.
Ghadry, Farid N. "Syrian reform: what lies beneath." Middle East Forum. Web. 10 July 2012.
<http://www.meforum.org/683/syrian-reform-what-lies-beneath>.
Frattina della Frattina, Christopher. " Human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan." Research Report
Booklet Human rights Commission. Web. 10 July 2012.
<http://87.253.140.15/thimun/images/stories/downloads/ResearchReports2011/hrc2%20bookl
et.pdf>.
Shin, Arthur. “Responsibility to protect civilians in Syria.” MY-MUNOFS III Security Council
Research Report. Web. 10 July 2012 <http://my-munofsiii.wikispaces.com/file/view/Responsibility+to+Protect+Civilians+in+Syria.pdf>
"Security Council Authorizes UN Observer Mission in Syria, Ban Welcomes Decision." UN News
Center. UN, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 11 July 2012.
<http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=41835>.
Muir, Jim. "UN Observers Suspend Syria Work." BBC News. BBC, 16 June 2012. Web. 14 July 2012.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18471686>.
"Security Council Establishes UN Supervision Mission in Syria, with 300Observers to Monitor
Cessation of Violence, Implementation of Special Envoy’s Plan." UN News Center. UN, 21
Apr. 2012. Web. 14 July 2012.
<http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2012/sc10618.doc.htm>.