Human Rights Week 2013: The Syrian Conflict.

Syrian Civil War

The Syrian Civil war started back in March of 2011 when protests began against President Bashar Al-Assad's regime. This was initially a part of a larger series of events dating back to 2010 known as the Arab Spring .Here, a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests (both non-violent and violent), riots, and civil wars took place in the Arab world. 

 

 

 

 

Ever since Syria gained independence from France in 1946, Syria has begun to fall into a pattern of political instability and military coups. Continued political uncertainty in the region erupted in 2011 during the Arab Spring activism in Egypt and Tunisia. An event that inspired Syrian protesters to take to the streets in demonstrations against Assad's regime

In other to suppress protest against his government, Bashar al-Assad began to adopt measures such as kidnapping, torture and killing of protesters. Government troops began opening fire on civilians, who fired back in response. Civilian rebel forces then began organizing and arming themselves to combat government violence. This led to government military powers destroying entire neighbourhoods and towns.

Hence a fully blown civil war began. After a while, many members of Assad's army began to defect to the protesters' side. These officers and soldiers eventually formed the backbone of the Free Syrian Army, the main armed group designed to oppose Assad’s regime.

On May the 6th, demonstrators rose in cities and towns across Syria to show their unhappiness with the regime. This occurred mainly in the suburbs of Damascus, the smaller cities of Homs, Hama, and Baniyas, and in Syrian Kurdistan. Video and audio of security forces responding, in some cases with lethal force, appeared online within an hour of protests beginning. As reported, this led to the killing of eleven members of the Syrian army.

At least three dead and 20 injured were reported in Homs alone, with a total of 16 dead between Homs and Hama. Tens of thousands reportedly marched in Damascus and its suburbs, and about 7,000 protesters wearing funeral shrouds and carrying olive branches and flowers gathered in Baniyas, vowing to "meet the army peacefully", according to Al Jazeera, whose channel broadcast live from the city for some minutes.

Several thousand Syrians participated in a protest march to the vicinity of Daraa, but security forces maintaining a siege of the city refused to let them enter with supplies for its inhabitants.

In an effort to starve people into stopping their protests, the government continued to prevent food from being sent to Daraa on May the 14^th.

The army launched a siege on Talkalakh, killing four civilians and sending hundreds to seek refuge in Lebanon. Protesting occurred again in several cities, including Daraa. Funerals for slain protesters were held in Damascus's suburbs. The Kurds protesting in the north have called on all opposition forces in and out of Syria to unite into one party aiming at transferring Syria from a dictatorship to a democracy. Since the wars started, over two million Syrians have been displaced and many have sought refuge in turkey.

 

The Turkish disaster management agency has estimated that the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey actually exceeds 600,000 — with 400,000 living outside the refugee camps. The government had spent an estimated $2 billion on the refugee situation as of August 2013, according to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

More Syrian refugees have also fled to The Lebanon. The Lebanese government also estimated that at least 1 million Syrian refugees are in their country. Lebanon has a normal population of 4.25 million and the government has not built formal refugee camps.

Multiple reports on Twitter claimed that Syrians in several neighbourhoods and cities, including Midan in central Damascus, Baba Amr in Homs, and Idlib city, were marching in New Year's Day protests against the regime in the early morning, shortly after midnight. The opposition Local Co-ordinating Committees announced it had confirmed 5,862 deaths in the Syrian uprising during 2011, including 287 prisoners allegedly tortured to death.

On the 18^th of January, Anwar Malek, an Algerian ex-observer from the Arab League monitoring mission, said in an interview from his home in Paris that Syrian officials tried to intimidate him and other observers. He has then called for military aid to the rebels by the United States and other countries as the only way to resolve the conflict.

 

It is evidenced that the international communities have reacted to the occurrence in Syria in numerous ways with the interest and safety of the Syrian citizen at heart. For instance, the US has called for a direct military action in Syria in response to the purported chemical attack in August 2013.

 

Even though Obama labelled the alleged attack an "assault on human dignity”, he has failed to launch any strikes without firstly agreeing to pursue a diplomatic solution backed by Russia.

 

According to the BBC website, “UN observers in Syria have suspended their activities because of the escalating violence”, the head of the UN Stabilisation Mission (UNSMIS) says.

 

Although, Norwegian Gen Robert Mood said the observers would cease patrols and stay in their current locations, he insisted that the mission remained committed to ending the violence.

The announcement came a day after Gen Mood warned that the escalation in violence was limiting the observers' ability to do their work.

Conclusively, the crisis in Syria has led to deaths of over 115 000, the internal displacement of millions of people, and an increase in limited access to basic services such as health care, sanitation and water. This negative and woeful impact has reached a tipping point and requires an immediate and meaning response.

It is submitted that a red line has been crossed by Assad’s regime and coercive intervention by international community is urgently required.

Mary Adeleke, GCD FLAC.