Humanitarian Intervention And The Crisis In Syria: Should TheGlobal Community Intervene?

Student ID:

Yaw S. Acheampong

World Count: 5771

IR 6610Dr. Brendan HoweMay 15, 2014

Table Of Contents

I. Abstract

II. Introduction

III. Syria: Background

IV. Good Governance

V. The Arab Spring

VI. The Uprising in Syria

VII. The Atrocities Against Syrian People

VIII. Human Rights Violation In Syria

IX. Legal Issues, Analysis, & Humanitarian Intervention In Syria

X. R2P And The Use Of Force

XI. Conclusion

Should The Global Community Intervene or Not Intervene in Syria?

AbstractSince March 2011, the human suffering in the Syrian conflict is a disaster for the people of Syria, but also indicate a crisis of international intervention. The global community has failed to protect and support civilians who are in large numbers are being tortured,slaughtered, displaced, brutalized, or impoverished by the conflict. The purpose of this paper is to discuss humanitarian intervention and the crisis in Syria: Should the global community intervene or not intervene? To this end, a background on Syria will be provided. Events that led to the conflict in Syria will be presented in this paper. In addition, the paper will look at good governance, the atrocities against Syrian people, human rights violations undertaken by government forces and rebel groups, legal issues awaiting the Syrian regime and responsibility to protect. This research will arrive at a conclusion by stating the global community must intervene in Syria.

Introduction

… If humanitarian intervention is, indeed, an unacceptable assault on sovereignty, how

should we respond to a Rwanda, to a Srebrenica – to gross and systematic violations of

human rights that offend every precept of our common humanity?1

The Syrian regime atrocities against Syrian civilians and

armed rebels has produced a seemingly endless stream of grim and

grisly days with more than 9,000 civilians perishing in the

violence since March 2012, according to United Nations estimates.

However, some incidents have garnered more international

attention than others, either due to the scale of the bloodshed

or the savagery of the attack. Blanchard, Humud, and Nikitin

1 Kofi Anan, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations, See full Report ‘We the Peoples,’ The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century, (2000) p. 48. Available from: http://www.un.org/millenium/sg/report/full.htm [accesses 27 April 2014].

posits that the battle in Syria has displaced more than “2.7

million Syrians into neighboring countries as refugees (out of a

total population of more than 22 million)”. 2

Many more Syrians are displaced and in need of serious

humanitarian support, “of which the United States remains the

largest bilateral provider, with more $1.7 billion in funding

identified as to date”.3 According to the United Nations Under-

Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, current

investigations show that a significant “increase in needs and in

internal displacement”.4 For Blanchard, Humud, and Nikitia,

forces loyal to neither the Asad regime nor their enemies seem

“capable of consolidating their battlefield gains in Syria or

achieving outright victory there in the short term”.5

2 Christopher Blanchard, Carla E. Humud, and Mary Beth Nikitin. Armed Conflictin Syria: Overview and U.S. Response., pp .2 Retrieved April 19, 2014 from < https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33487.pdf>3 Ibid4 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA),“Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos: Security Council briefing on Syria, New York, 25 October 2013.” Accessed at <https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Documents/25 Oct13 Valerie Amos Statement to Security Council on Syria.pdf. (April. 14, 2014).5 Christopher Blanchard, Carla E. Humud, and Mary Beth Nikitin. Armed Conflictin Syria: Overview and U.S. Response., pp .2 Retrieved April 19, 2014 from < https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33487.pdf>

In addition, there are some enhanced cooperation and

coordination between some “anti-government forces and attrition

in government ranks make swift reassertion of state control over

all Syrian unlikely”.6 Confrontation between the Islamic state of

Irap and the Levant (ISIL, a.k.a. ISIS) and other enemies of Asad

has increased drastically.7 The conflict in Syria is intensifying

homegrown sectarian and political conflicts within Lebanon and

Iraq, threatening national stability across the Middle East.8

Syria: Background

According to teachmideast.org, “Syria is located between

Lebanon and Turkey on the Mediterranean coast. It has an area of

approximately 185,180 sq kim. This equates to an area slightly

larger than North Dakota”.9 The weather in Syria is dry in the

summers and mild and raining during the winter seasons.10

Sometimes, it snows in the capital Damascus; however, most the

country is semiarid and covered in desert.11 Northeastern part of

6 Ibid7 Ibid8 Ibid9 See “TeachMideast.org, An Education Initiative of the Middle East policy council” Syria, Retrieved March 31,2014 from <https://http://www.teachmideast.org/geography/syria>10 Ibid11 Ibid

Syria is an important agricultural area; its natural resources

are petroleum, phosphates, chrome, manganese ores, asphalt, iron

ore, rock salt, marble, and gypsum.12 Unfortunately, there is a

growing problem of deforestation, desertification and water

pollution in Syria.13

Moreover, the Central Intelligence Agency points out that

the population of Syria is about 22,198,110. The population is

young and continues to grow at a steady rate of 1.954% (2010

estimate).14 54% of Syrians lives in the major cities with a 3%

rate of urbanization.15 Arabic remains the official language in

Syria, “some of the population also speaks Kurdish, Armenian and

Aramaic”.16 For teachmideast.org, “English and French are

somewhat understood in the major cities. The vast majority of

Syrians are Arabs (90%). The remaining (9%) is mix of Kurds,

12 Ibid13 Ibid14 See “CIA World Fact Book” <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sy.html>15 See “TeachMideast.org, An Education Initiative of the Middle East policy council” Syria, Retrieved March 31,2014 from <https://http://www.teachmideast.org/geography/syria>16 Ibid

Armenians, Greeks, etc. The rest of the population is Druze

(16%), Christian (10%) and Jewish”.17

Lastly, Syria is similar to those of several other Middle

East countries, comprises of different ethnic and religious

groups.18 Authoritarian political controls have prohibited these

differences from participating in a “divisive role in political

or social life” under the Asad regime.19 Approximately 80% of the

population of Syria is literate; this percentage is higher among

men.20 Education is free and obligatory up 9th grade; the Syrian

education system is based on the rigorous old French system.21 At

the end of high school students have to take the difficult

baccalaureate exam that determines what university and

specialization they will go into. Syria has five state

universities and eleven private universities, the top two being

the University of Damascus and the University of Aleppo.22

17 Ibid18 See Jeremy M. Sharp & Christopher M. Blanchard. “Armed Conflict in Syria: U.S. and International Response,” Congressional Research Service. July 12, 2012, pp. 29 Retrieved May 2, 2014 at < http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/195385.pdf>19 Ibid20 Ibid21 Ibid22 Ibid

Good Governance

As Kofi Anan former secretary general of the United Nations

puts it, “good governance that it is perhaps the single most

important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development

(United Nations University, 2002). For Vries, “This is nicely

said, but what does it imply? What is that thing called

governance, and what does it explain? Governance is a concept

that many scholars have addressed before.”23 Nonetheless, when

pose with governance, numerous responses are usually provided.24

Simply put, governance is “nothing else” than the management and

conduct of a government.25 Increasingly, the international

community consents that peace, security and development are

definitively shaped by ‘good governance and “institutions (World

Bank (WB) 2011; Organization for Economic Co-operation and

Development (OECD) 2008)”.26 Stel points out that this

23 Michiel de Vries. The Challenge of Good Governance. The Innovation Journal:The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 18(1), 2013, article 2., pp.3 RetrievedApril 21, 2014 from < http://www.innovation.cc/scholarly-style/de_vries18vi1a2.pdf>24 Ibid25 Ibid26 See Nora Stel. Governance and Government in the Arab Spring Hybridity: Reflection from Lebanon, May 2013. Maastricht School of Management. pp.1 Retrieved April 28, 2014 from < http://www.msm.nl/getattachment/d7fcd65d-4863-4e13-ad1e-201a16fed291>

“observation is only reinforced by current development in the

Middle East and North Africa (MENA) presented as the Arab

Spring”.27

Moreover, Grindle assert that, good governance has develop

quickly to be a key factor in the study of “what’s missing in

countries struggling for economic and political development”.28

Good governance is a great notion. Individuals would be “better

off, if public life were conducted within institutions that were

fair, judicious, transparent, accountable, participatory,

responsive, well-managed, and efficient.”29 For Grindle,

governance is generally understood, “when used with regard to

government or the public sector, to refer to the institutional

underpinnings of public authority and decision-making.”30 In this27 Ibid28 See Merilee S. Grindle. Good Governance: The Inflation of an Idea. Working Papers. Center for International Development at Harvard University. CID Working Paper No. 202, October 2010., pp. 1. Retrieved April 30, 2014 from < http://www.hks.harvard.edu/var/ezp_site/storage/fckeditor/file/pdfs/centers-programs/centers/cid/publications/faculty/wp/202.pdf>29 See Merilee S. Grindle. Good Governance: The Inflation of an Idea. Working Papers. Center for International Development at Harvard University. CID Working Paper No. 202, October 2010., pp. 4. Retrieved April 30, 2014 from < http://www.hks.harvard.edu/var/ezp_site/storage/fckeditor/file/pdfs/centers-programs/centers/cid/publications/faculty/wp/202.pdf>30 See Merilee S. Grindle. Good Governance: The Inflation of an Idea. Working Papers. Center for International Development at Harvard University. CID Working Paper No. 202, October 2010., pp. 5. Retrieved April 30, 2014 from < http://www.hks.harvard.edu/var/ezp_site/storage/fckeditor/file/pdfs/centers-programs/centers/cid/publications/faculty/wp/202.pdf>

fashion, governance includes the organizations, structures,

“rules of the game” and other elements that define how “political

and economic” dealings are organized and how choices are created

and resources assigned.31

To sum up, generally speaking, good governance “refers to a

list of admirable characteristics of how government ought to be

carried out”.32 For the World Bank, features of good governance

are “accountability and transparency, efficiency in how the

public sector works, rule of law, and ordered interactions in

politics.”33 Contrary to the World Bank, The United Nations

Development Program has solid engagement in the “promotion of

good governance singles out characteristics like participation,

transparency, accountability, effectiveness, and equity as its

most important features of good governance.”34 For the millions

of people in Syria, who are currently living under a civil war,

public insecurity and instability, corruption, abuse of power,

31 Ibid32 Ibid33 World Bank, op. cit., p.1.34 UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), op. cit., p. 12.

poverty, and inequality, “good governance is a mighty beacon of

what out to be.”35

The Arab Springs

The Arab Spring is a term given to the Arab revolution

across the Middle East. Throughout 2011, a recurrent wave of

demonstrations, protests, and wars occurring in the Arab world

that began in on 18 December 2010.36 The people of the Arab lands

want overthrow the regime. According to Ajami, the revolution

bounced through borders without any problems, “carried in

newspapers and magazines, on Twitter and Facebook, on the

airwaves of al Jazeera and al Arabiay.”37 For Ajami, Arab

“nationalism” had been broken, “but here, in full bloom,” was

what definitely viewed as a pan –Arab awakening.38 Young

generation in search of political independence, freedom, and

economic opportunity, “weary of waking up to the same tedium day 35 See Merilee S. Grindle. Good Governance: The Inflation of an Idea. Working Papers. Center for International Development at Harvard University. CID Working Paper No. 202, October 2010., pp. 1. Retrieved April 30, 2014 from < http://www.hks.harvard.edu/var/ezp_site/storage/fckeditor/file/pdfs/centers-programs/centers/cid/publications/faculty/wp/202.pdf>36 Fouad Ajami. The Arab Spring at One: A Year of Living Dangerously, 91 Foreign Aff. 56 (2012) Retrieved April 15, 2014 from < http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/fora91&div=30&id=&page=>37 Ibid38 Ibid

after day, rose up against their sclerotic masters.”39As Ajami

puts it, the revolution came as disbelief.40

Many Arab Spring demonstrators have met violent “responses

from authorities as well as from pro-government militias and

counter-demonstrators. These attacks have been answered with

violence from protestors in some cases”.41 The geopolitical

implications of the protest have drawn global attention,

including the suggestion that some protesters may be nominated

for the 2011 Nobel price.42 Tawakel Karman from Yemen was one of

the three laureates of the 2011 Nobel Peace prize as a prominent

leader in the Arab Spring. In December 2011, Time magazine named

“the protester” its “person of the year.”43

The Uprising in Syria

The Syrian civil war also known to as the Syrian uprising is

an ongoing war in Syria between forces loyal to the Ba’ath party

39 Ibid40 Ibid41 “Syria clampdown on protests mirrors Egypt’s as thugs join attacks”. Ahramonline. 19 April 2011. Retrieved 12 May201442 Mounassar, Hammound (27 January 2011). “Thousands of Yemenis call on president to quit”. ABS-CBN News (Sanaa: Agence France-Presse). Retrieved 14 March 201243 “Arab protests attract nobel interests”. News24 (Oslo). 31 January 2011. Archieved from the original on 9 February 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2014.

government and those seeking to get raid of the Ba’ath party.44

Demonstrations in Syria started on January 2011, when a police

officer assaulted a man in public at A-Hareeka Street in old

Damascus. The gentleman was arrested right after the incident. As

a result, protesters called for the freedom of the arrested man.

In a twinkling of an eye “day of range” was set for 4-5 February,

but it was uneventful.45

On 6th March, the Syrian security forces in Daraa, detained

a number of young boys under the age of 15 for writing slogan of

the “2010-11 Arab uprisings that: “the people want to overthrow

the regime. It was reported that Libyan Anti-Gaddafi forces shot

down 2 Syrian war planes in Ra’s Lanuf, Libya; this was later

denied by Syrian officials”.46 Four brothers, all of them Syrian

opposition activists, disappear shortly after distributing flyers

in front of the Syrian embassy in Beirut, “calling for a

demonstration to oppose Syrian government.”47 Protest erupted

44 See “Syria’s uprising: From rocks to RPGs”. CNN. 30 July 2012. Retrieved March 28 201445 ‘Day of rage’ protest urged in Syria’. MSNBC. Retrieved 19 April 201446 See “The Syrian uprising timeline” January 26th. Retrieved on May 1st 2014 from < http://slashinatorx.wordpress.com/syria/>47 Ibid

over the arrest, missing brothers, and alleged mistreatment of

the children. These events led to the current conflict in Syria.

Opposition Groups

As Landis and Pace points out, opposition groups in Syria

remains very week in the face of the “regime’s tremendous power

of repression and monopoly over the press.”48 Technology

advancement such as the internet and the spread of satellite

television made it promising for the opposition group to spread

its agenda across Syria, but the resources available to the

opposition group remains restricted and cannot compete with the

state.49 The message of the opposition groups only reaches the

upper class of society “who have access to the Internet and

politically engaged”.50 Moreover, the opposition group is “still

no match for the Syrian government, it has made a number off

advances” in the past since the beginning of the conflict.51 Most

importantly, the opposition group has begun the difficult process

48 Joshua Landis & Joe Pace, “The Syrian Opposition,” The Washington Quartely,Vol. 30, pp. 45-68.49 Joshua Landis & Joe Pace, “The Syrian Opposition,” The Washington Quartely,Vol. 30, pp. 45-6850 Ibid51 Ibid

of unifying its ranks around a common set of goals, agenda, and

principles of democracy and the rule of law.52

Furthermore, the Muslim Brotherhood, Syria’s oldest and most

respected Islamic party, has abandoned claims that Islamic that

Islamic must be instituted immediately in Syria and that non-

Muslim Syrians do not share the same political rights as Muslims.

Its leader has embraced the language of pluralism and equal

rights for all citizens. Additionally, the secular left has

abandoned Marxism and vanguardism for more classic liberal

demands of freedom and the rule of law. For Landis and Pace, “A

cultural of greater liberalism is growing among Syria’s upper and

middle classes even though it remains in competition with

Islamism, which predominates among the lower middle classes”.53

Ideas of “Human rights, respect for individual liberties, and

freedom of speech have now become common demands” across the

spectrum of Syria’s opposition leaders and the mass population.54

William Shaw, an IWPR editor in London, states “The Syrian

National Council, SNC, is a coalition of opposition groups in the

52 Ibid53 Ibid54 Ibid

Syrian civil war founded in Doha, Qatar. SNC is losing

credibility within the country after being stricken by infighting

and failing to get the international community act. The SNC

insists it is still relevant and in close touch with people on

the ground, despite the lack of substantive support from the

international community.”55 The main aims of the Syrian National

Coalition are replacing the Bashar al-Assad government and “its

symbols and pillars of support”, “dismantling the security

services”, unifying and supporting the free Syrian Army, and

refusing dialogue and negotiation with al-Assad government, and

holding accountable those responsible for killing Syrian,

destroying Syria, and displacing Syrians.

The Atrocities Against Syrian People

Syria constitution “guarantees citizens’ rights to freedom

of expression and assembly, freedom of religion or belief, and

women’s rights.”56 However, the regime has imposed severe

limitations on Syrian citizens’ ability to exercise these rights.

55 See “Syrian Opposition Council Struggles for Legitimacy”, <http://iwpr.net/report-news/syrian-opposition-council-struggles-legitimacy>56 See “Foreign & Commonwealth Office Corporate report. Syria – Country of Concern. Updated 16 April 2014. Retrieved from < https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syria-country-of-concern/syria-country-of-concern#torture>

These restraints increase drastically after the “start of the

uprising, despite the easing of the 43-year-old state of

emergency law in March, which had no beneficial effect in

practice.”57 The Syran government’s violent response to protest

since mid-March 2011 has left over 5,400 people dead as of 10

January 2013, including at 300 children, according to the United

Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR).

According to Mr. Paulo Pinheiro, the chair of the

Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian

Arab Republic, the violence in the Syrian Republic shows no signs

of recovery in its fourth year.58 Over one hundred thousand

people have been destroyed, for Pinheiro civilians release from

detention now live with the “physical and mental scars of

torture.”59 Thousands more remain unknown. Noncombatants in

overwhelmed areas have been reduced to scavenging.60

57 See “Foreign & Commonwealth Office Corporate report. Syria – Country of Concern. Updated 16 April 2014. Retrieved from < https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syria-country-of-concern/syria-country-of-concern#torture>58 See Statement by Mr. Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. Retrieved from < http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14397&LangID=E>59 Ibid60 Ibid

Furthermore, Pinheiro assert that the conflict in Syria is

still very active.61 Civilians all over the country face daily

“indiscriminate shelling and bombardment by Government forces.”62

Several township and communities remain “besieged, while torture

is systematically employed in Government detention centers.

Extremist and Government armed groups have targeted civilians in

attacks across the northing governorates”.63 Terror is the method

warfare been used in this conflict.64

Lastly, Frank Salmeh, a professor at Boston college, wrote

“And so today’s string of wanton murders, sexual assaults,

torture, arbitrary detentions, targeted bombings and destruction

of neighborhoods-and what they entail in terms of displacements,

deportation and population movements- are nothing if not the

groundwork of a future Alawite entity: the grafting of new facts

on the ground and the drafting of new frontiers. No longer able

to rule in the name of Arab unity (and in the process preserve

61 See Statement by Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, at the HRC 24th regular session, Geneva62 Ibid63 Ibid64 See Statement by Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, at the HRC 24th regular session, Geneva

their own ethnic and sectarian autonomy), the Alawites may

retreat into Levantine highlands overlooking the

Mediterranean”.65

Human Rights Violations In Syria

Syria Arab Republic was part of all the major “United

Nations human rights treaties and a number of optional

protocols”.66 Bashar al-Asad regime did not declare a “state of

emergency nor otherwise seek to derogate from any of the

aforementioned obligations which consequently remained in effect

throughout the conflict, irrespective of the applicability of

other legal regimes”.67 For the international community, all

divisions of the Syrian government “were therefore bound to

respect, protect, promote, and fulfill the human rights of all

persons within its jurisdiction. The obligation included the

right to afford an effective remedy to those whose rights were

violated (including the provision of reparations) and to

65 See, “An Alawite State in Syria? “ The national Interest, July 10 201266 See U.N. Document A/HRC/21/50, Report of the independent international Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, August 15, 2012.67 Ibid

investigate and bring to justice perpetrators of particular

violations”.68

According to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Syrian

regime holds the main “responsibility for protecting its own

population.”69 Nevertheless throughout 2013 Bashar al-Asad regime

has been responsible for “war crimes and systematic state-

sponsored violations of human rights within Syria”.70 The regime

is responsible for vast scale use of “chemical weapons against

civilians, the indiscriminate bombardment (by air and artillery)

of densely-populated civilians areas, the targeting of

communities based on their religious beliefs, and the detention

of thousands of civilians in appalling conditions, with reports

of torture and extrajudicial killings in detention”.71

Additionally to the numerous “human rights concerns” prior to the

current conflict in Syria, comprising “severe restrictions on

political freedom, rights of assembly, judicial independence, and

68 Ibid69 See “Foreign & Commonwealth Office Corporate report. Syria – Country of Concern. Updated 16 April 2014. Retrieved from < https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syria-country-of-concern/syria-country-of-concern - torture>70 Ibid71 Ibid

freedom of speech, none of which exist in Syria today in a

meaningful way”.72

In an August 2012 report, the United Nations Human Rights

Council Commission of Inquiry On Syria found realistic “grounds

to be believe that government forces and the Shabbiha” had

committed serious crimes against “humanity of murder and of

torture”, incorporating illegal killing, torture, arbitrary

arrest and detention, sexual violence, indiscriminate attack,

pillaging and destruction of property”.73 The commission

establish sensible grounds to “believe war crimes including

murder, extrajudicial execution and torture, had been perpetrated

by organized anti-government armed groups”.74 The commission

asserts that the human rights violation and abuses committed by

“anti-government armed groups did not reach the gravity,

frequency and scale of those committed by government forces and

the shabbiha”.75

72 Ibid73 See U.N. Document A/HRC/21/50, Report of the independent international Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, August 15, 2012.74 Ibid75 See U.N. Document A/HRC/21/50, Report of the independent international Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, August 15, 2012.

Finally, it has been noted that “Children interviewed by the

commission describe being beaten, blindfolded, subjected to

prolonged stress positions, whipped with electrical cables,

scarred by cigarette burns and, in two recorded cases, subjected

to electrical shocks to the genitals”.76 Nevertheless several

reports of children been arrested and detained was noted in the

U.N. report. For the U.N, in two cases, “children appear to have

been arrested, along with older family members”, because of their

family ties to “anti-governments armed groups”.77

Legal Issues, Analysis, & Humanitarian Intervention In Syria

The Syrian regime faces numerous international legal issues

such as torturing of its citizens, protection of civilians and

children rights. According to the 2011 Foreign And Commonwealth

Report, “Syria became party to the U.N. Convention against

Torture in 2004,” however failed to enforce the “convention in

practice”.78 The U.N. Human Rights Council established a

commission of inquiry to investigate alleged human rights

76 Ibid77 Ibid78 See “Foreign & Commonwealth Office Corporate report. Syria – Country of Concern. Updated 16 April 2014. Retrieved from < https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syria-country-of-concern/syria-country-of-concern#torture>

violation in Syria. As stated above in the atrocities by the

Syrian Regime and human rights violation section, the report

detailed numerous accounts of torture and other ill treatment

applied to “detainees, including women, children, and the

elderly. Individuals were exposed to severe mistreatment such as

beating with batons and cables, electric shocks, sexual abuse and

humiliation, and deprivation of food, water, sleep and medical

treatment.”79

Bashar al-Asad government’s response to the demonstration

has had a “profound impact on the safely of civilians. Navi

Phillay stated over 5000 people had been killed since the

uprising began. Human Rights watch and other international human

rights organizations have documented the deaths of large numbers

of civilians, including many bystanders not involved in

demonstrations. In response to the government’s sustained

crackdown, the final months of 2011 saw an increase in opposition

violence. The vast majority of protestors remained peaceful, but

isolated attacks occurred, including acts of sectarian

79 See “Human Rights and Democracy: The 2011 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report”, <http://fcohrdreport.readandcomment.com/human-rights-in-countries-of-concern/syria/

retribution against the president’s Alawite minority. Over 2011,

a steady flow of refugees fled Syrian to escape the violence,

primary moving to Jordan and Turkey.”80

In addition, “Children’s rights have been seriously affected

by the unrest in 2011. Ms. Pillay told the U.N. Security Council

on 14 December that over 300 children had been killed since the

protests began. The U.N’s Independent Commission of inquiry

concluded that Syrian state forces showed “little or no

recognition of the rights of children in the actions taken to

quell dissent”.81 The report documented witness testimony of

“children as young as two years old killed or injured by security

forces during demonstrations; children as young as ten in

detention facilities with adults; and torture of children in

detention, including sexual torture of boys in front of adult

men”.82

80 See “Human Rights and Democracy: The 2011 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report”, <http://fcohrdreport.readandcomment.com/human-rights-in-countries-of-concern/syria/81 See Statement by Mr. Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. Retrieved from < http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14397&LangID=E>82 See Syria: Human Rights and Democracy: The 2011 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report. Retrieved from < http://syrianncb.org/2012/05/01/syria-human-rights-and-democracy-the-2011-foreign-commonwealth-office-report/>

Legal Analysis:

Issue A: The issue is whether Bashar al- Asad and his

Regime tortured their citizens. Syria became party to

the UN Convention against Torture in 2004.

Rule: The UN Convention against Torture Art. 2(1)

states “Each State Party shall take effective

legislative, administrative, judicial or other

measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory

under its jurisdiction. Art. 2(2) No exceptional

circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a

threat of war, internal political in stability or any

other public emergency, may be invoked as a

justification of torture. Art. 2(3) An order from a

superior officer or a public authority may not be

invoked as a justification of torture.

Analysis: Bashar al- Asad and his regime have violated

Art. 2 of the UN Convention against Torture. The law

state clearly that “No exceptional circumstances

whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war,

internal political in stability or any other public

emergency, may be invoked as a justification of

torture.” As stated above in the atrocities by the

Syrian Regime section, the report in November detailed

numerous accounts of torture and other ill treatment

applied to detainees, including women, children and

the elderly. Individuals were subjected to severe

beatings with batons and cables, electric shocks,

sexual abuse and humiliation, and deprivation of food,

water, sleep and medical treatment.”83 Bashar and his

boys are doomed forever in the eyes of the

international community. Art. 4(1) of the UN

Convention against Torture states” Each State Party

shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences

under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an

attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person

which constitutes complicity or participation in

torture”.84 Moreover, Art 4(2) states, “Each State

Party shall make these offences punishable by

83 See “Human Rights and Democracy: The 2011 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report”, http://fcohrdreport.readandcomment.com/human-rights-in-countries-of-concern/syria/84 See “United Nations Convention against Torture”

appropriate penalties which take into account their

grave nature.”85 The findings by the international

organizations and community are too damaging for the

regime to deny. With the help of social media sites

such as Facebook, Tweeter, YouTube, and Skype, the

Syrian people has shown and provided the international

community with massive evidence of atrocities facing

Syrian civilians implemented by the Asad regime.

Bashar al- Asad and his boy’s will definitely face the

international community and a jail term waits for the

regime.

Issue B: The issue is whether the Syrian government

failed to protect their citizens.

Rule: According to the Geneva Convention relative to

the Protection of Civilians Persons in Time of War, Art

3 states “In the case of armed conflict not of an

international character occurring in the territory of

one the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the

conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the

85 Ibid

following provisions:

1. Person taking no active party in the hostilities,

including members of armed forces who have laid down

their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness,

wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all

circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse

distinction founded on race, color, religion or faith,

sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. To

this end, the following acts are and shall remain

prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with

respect to the above-mentioned persons:

a. Violence to life and person, in particular murder of

all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;

b. Taking of hostages;

c. Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular

humiliating and degrading treatment;

d. The passing of sentences and the carrying out of

executions without previous judgment pronounced by a

regular constituted court, affording all the judicial

guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by

civilized peoples.

2. The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared

for.

a. An impartial humanitarian body, such as the

international Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its

services to the Parties to the conflict. The parties to

the conflict should further endeavor to bring into

force, by means of special agreements, all or part of

the other provisions of the present Convention. The

application of the preceding shall not affect the legal

status of the Parties to the conflict.”86

Analysis: Bashar al- Asad and his gang members plus the

Syrian National Council (SNC) have violated Art.3 of

the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of

Civilian Persons in Time of War. They failed to protect

the Syrian civilians in the time of war. Navi Pillay

point out that in December “over 5,000 people had been

killed since the uprising began. Human Rights Watch and

other international human rights organizations have 86 See “Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian persons in Time of War”

documented the deaths of large numbers of civilians,

including many bystanders not involved in

demonstrations. In response to the government’s

sustained crackdown, the final months of 2011 saw an

increase in opposition violence. The vast majority of

protestors remained peaceful, but isolated attacks

occurred, including acts of sectarian retribution

against the president’s Alawite minority. Over 2011, a

steady flow of refugees fled Syria to escape the

violence, primarily moving to Jordan and Turkey.”87 The

regime and the rebel groups have violate international

law. They should all receive the appropriate punishment

by the international community.

Issue C: The issue is whether Syrian state forces

showed “little or no recognition of the rights of

children in the actions taken to quell dissent”.

Rule: United Nations Convention on the Rights of the

Child Art. 3(1) states, “In all actions concerning

87 See “Human Rights and Democracy: The 2011 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report”, http://fcohrdreport.readandcomment.com/human-rights-in-countries-of-concern/syria/

children, whether undertaken by public or private

social welfare institutions, courts of law,

administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the

best interests of the child shall be a primary

consideration. Art. 3(2) States Parties undertake to

ensure the child such protection and care as is

necessary for his or her well being, taking into

account the rights and duties of his or her parents,

legal guardians, or other individuals legally

responsible for him or her, and, to this end, shall

take all appropriate legislative and administrative

measures. Art 3(3) States Parties shall ensure that the

institutions, services and facilities responsible for

the care or protection of children shall conform with

the standards established by competent authorities,

particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the

number and suitability of their staff, as well as

competent supervision. Art. 6(1) States Parties

recognize that every child has the inherent right to

life. Art. 6(2) States Parties shall ensure to the

maximum extent possible the survival and development of

the child.”88

Analysis: The findings by the United Nation independent

Commission of inquiry clearly states, “ Syrian state

forces showed “little or no recognition of the rights

of children in the actions taken to quell dissent”. The

report documents witness testimony of children as young

as two years old killed or injured by security forces

during demonstrations; children as young as ten in

detention facilities with adults; and torture of

children in detention, including sexual torture of boys

in front of adult men. It gives evidence of children

suffering post-traumatic mental health problems; the

government’s refusal to allow children medical

treatment; the use of schools as detention facilities;

and interruption of education. Children’s rights

organizations have also expressed concern about the

welfare of Syrian child refugees in Jordan, Turkey and

elsewhere. The detention, torture and killing of

88 See “UN Convention on the Rights of the Child”

thirteen-year-old Hamza al-Khateeb demonstrated clearly

the terrible suffering of children during the recent

unrest.”89 Again Bashar and his associates have

committed serious crimes against humanity and the

people of Syria.

R2P And The Use Of Force

According to Wilmshurst, though the UN Security Council has

collectively agreed a “resolution on Syria and the destruction

for chemical weapons, civilians continue to be killed in large

numbers”.90 For Wilmshurst, “the responsibility to protect (R2P)

and the question of the legality of the use of under Article 2(4)

of the UN Charter are still relevant”.91 For the UN Charter

“Statesmen have a responsibility to protect their own population;

where this does not occur the international community has

committed to stepping in and taking collective action in

accordance with Chapter VII of the UN Charter”.92

89 Ibid90 Elizabeth Wilmshurst. Syria and International Law: Use of Force and State Responsibility., International Law Discussion Group Summary. pp.2 Retrieved from < http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/International Law/300913summary.pdf>91 Ibid92 Ibid

In the case of Syria, the Security Council members has no

agreement “within the Security Council” to enforce collective

action permitting the use of force.93 As Wilmshurt puts it, “R2P

is not as such a sufficient basis for the use of force by one

state against another. Is the use of military force for

humanitarian purposes but without the authorization of the

Security Council lawful”?94

Should The Global Community Intervene or Not Intervene in Syria?

To sum up, as former United Nations Secretary general Kofi

Annan puts it, “if humanitarian intervention is, indeed, an

unacceptable assault on sovereignty, how should we respond to a

Rwanda, to a Srebrenica – to gross and systematic violation of

human rights that offend every precept of our common humanity”?95

In the case of Syria, the global community must intervene and

save innocent lives. Base on the legal analysis pointed out in

this paper, Bashar al-Asad and his ruthless regime has committed

93 Ibid94 Ibid95 Kofi Anan, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations, See full Report ‘We the Peoples,’ The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century, (2000) p. 48. Available from: http://www.un.org/millenium/sg/report/full.htm [accesses 27 April 2014].

crimes against humanity and mankind. We the global community must

intervene for a better Syria.