Syrian Civil War Study Guide Chair: Pietro Giacomin Co-Chair: Maria Fernanda Alvarez Co-Chair: Mariela Troyo
Introduction to the committee: The (UNHRC) is an intergovernmental body within the system of the United Nations, which is in charge of tackling situations regarding violations to human rights. It was established by the General Assembly (GA) on 15 th March 2006. This organism HQ has been situated in New York. It is commonly used to address different common types of abuses towards human rights, such as: Terrorism, Cultural Rights, Discrimination, and Impunity and so on along those lines. Topic Background: Syrian civil war as well known as the Syrian Uprising is an ongoing armed conflict since March 15th 2011 between forces loyal to Syrian Ba ath Party government and its opposition. It began with nationwide demonstrations, as part of the movement known as the Arab Spring. Protesters demand the resignation of President Bashar al-assad, heir of his family s decades-long rule, as well as almost five decades of Ba ath Party rule. [1] In April 2011 the Syrian Army was arranged to repress the uprising, and soldiers were ordered to open fire in demonstrations. This and other demonstrations led to an armed rebellion. Opposition forces became increasingly armed and organized as the groups enlarged. Rebels, however, remained fractured without leadership. The Syrian government characterizes the revolution as an uprising of "armed terrorist groups and foreign mercenaries". The conflict has no clear fronts, with clashes taking place in many towns and cities across the country. The Arab League, United States, European Union, Arab Gulf States, and other countries condemned the use of violence against the protesters. The Arab League suspended Syria's membership because of the government's response to the crisis, but it sent an observer mission in December 2011, as part of its proposal for peaceful resolution of the crisis. A further attempt to resolve the crisis was made through the appointment of Kofi Annan as a special envoy. On 15 July 2012, the International Committee of the Red Cross assessed the Syrian conflict as a "noninternational armed conflict" (civil war), thus applying international humanitarian law under the Geneva Conventions to Syria.
On 2 January 2013, the United Nations stated that the war's death toll had exceeded in unacceptable figures. According to various opposition activist groups about 60,000 deaths have been reported, of which about half were civilians, but also including armed combatants consisting of both the Syrian Army and rebel forces, opposition protesters and government officials. By October 2012, up to 28,000 people had been reported missing, including civilians forcibly abducted by government troops or security forces. In addition, many protesters have been imprisoned and torture and psychological terror in state prisons has been reported. International organizations accused the government and Shabiha of severe human rights violations. Anti-government armed rebels were accused of human rights abuses as well. Human rights groups report that the majority of abuses have, however, been committed by the Syrian government's forces and UN investigations have concluded that the government's abuses are the greatest in both gravity and scale. Historical Background: [2] During the 1960s Syria politically unstable, after a couple of Coup D états and one referendum, the Ba ath party successfully seized control until the 2000s. During this time there were many violations and death, the fight for the political power being the reason. Along those events, a massacre occurred in Syria known as the Hama massacre, which left tens of thousands armed insurgents and civilians dead, during 1982. This event was triggered by a quell that arisen during the attempt of quell organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists. When the current president Hafez al-assad s succession topic stroked Syria during the ending of the 1990s, there were many attempts of peaceful protests but it always ended in violence. Eventually when Hafez al-assad passed away his son became the successor, after changing the constitution lowering the minimum presidency age to 34, which was his current age during that time. Since 1963, Syria has had one of the worst ever registered Human Right scenarios, not just because of their outgoing war with Israel, as well as the countless abuses of violent responses launched by the Ba ath party. Because of their one-sided Ba ath party they are strictly controlled of basic rights such as Free Expression, Association and Assembly, amongst many others, any peaceful protests would be silenced with nothing but very unmentionable violent actions, mainly carried by their government. In depth behind the civil war: [3] The Arab Spring is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations, protests, and
wars occurring in the Arab world that began on December 2010. This has happened in countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, where rulers have been forced from power. Such actions taken led to civil uprisings in Bahrain and Syria. Also major protests have been happening in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan and many other minor in places like Saudi Arabia and Morocco. They failed to do so giving power to dictators such as: Muammar GADHAFI (LIBYA), Ali ABUDLLAH SALEH (YEMEN), Hosni MUBARAK (EGYPT), Bashar AL-ASSAD (SYRIA) and Hamid BIN ISA AL KHALIFA (BAHRAIN). As this failure increased to create discomfort in many countries populations, there has been many countries through the Arab League that have exploded on revolution or abdication, never concluding in a peaceful result, hence, making many innocent bystanders victims of said issues. The most critical issue about this problem is the fact that crossing off the current Ba ath party, Assad s Government would be of greater or equal danger as having them prevail in power. The reasons being that amongst the protestors, and the political instabilities there are groups of Extremist Arabs which would become even more chaotic world-wide if held power for even the slightest period of time. This is as well taking into account the massive influence of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda that provides the means to turn this riot into a movement on their favor, alongside with many other extremist leaders and organizations. This is feared given the fact that the highest percentage of the population s density is in fact Arab-Sunni and Arab-Alawite. That being the case, there is a lot of religious tension that goes back centuries that cannot be addressed during this committee directly. Significant Statements/Individuals: [3] The Syrian Civil War is a world-wide shocking situation, and one of the worst to deal with as far as human history has ever known. There are many activities that have occurred that triggered many reactions worldwide. "China is highly concerned about the situation in Syria, is against the use of violence, and we hope not to see any more bloodshed and casualties," a foreign ministry spokesman, Liu Weimin, said. "The Syrian government should move faster to honor its reform pledges and quickly initiate and push forward the inclusive political process with the broad participation of all parties." The move comes several days after Russia also publicly shifted its position, offering more strident criticism of the regime and demanding that Assad either reform or quit.
Behind the scenes, the German government has long been active in the civil war in Syria and in preparations for military intervention. Berlin pushed strongly for the EU to adopt and regularly intensify sanctions against Syria. [4] For the United States, the Syrian uprising represents not only a humanitarian crisis to be addressed but a strategic opportunity to be seized. The Assad regime -- Iran's sole ally in the Middle East -- has aided terrorist groups and foreign fighters and has sought to destabilize Lebanon. "The international community must work to protect the Syrian people from this abhorrent brutality." "The United States and our international partners support the Syrian people in achieving their aspirations and will continue to assist the Syrian people toward that goal. -Barack Obama Almost simultaneously, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany issued a joint statement urging Mr. Assad to face the reality of the complete rejection of his regime by the Syrian people and to step aside in the best interests of Syria and the unity of its people. Why is this issue becoming so critical? 1. The UNHRC s International Bill of Human Right s specifically states many specifications that are being infringed during this civil war, not only by the current government which disabled some, but as well as the opposing party s members such as the FSA (Free Syrian Army). 2. The human rights committee acknowledges the rights of every culture, religion and recognized minorities throughout the world. Hitherto, terrorist groups that can play a role during uproars, pulling strings from the dark is a huge concern. Islamist Extremist groups such as Al Qaeda are catastrophic for the future of Syria and something must be done about it. [5] 3. If elections were to be held on this country during such crisis, and a religious party was to be formed, the minorities would be the non- Islamic religious groups which would face grave danger and potentially trampled upon, due to these precautions must be considered. 4. Torturing and Refugee camps are both present in this civil war, the Refugee camps are some at Turkey, in which a huge border international dispute was caused upon, in the other hand, some that did not share the fate of a Refugee were Tortured physically and psychologically, both of this actions are to be addressed by the HRC. [6] 5. Lastly UN Mediator Lakhdar Brahimi held meetings with the Syrian foreign ministry. This is the latest attempt to broker a cease-fire for the holiday Eid
al-adha, which translates to Feast of the Sacrifice which is a 4-day Muslim holiday. This truce lasted 12 hours before both sides went back upon their word and resumed fighting. Tension is growing more on both sides, and no one can be trusted. Past UN International Actions: [7] The heard that livelihoods and access to medical care, food, and water have been affected across the country. UN Independent Experts urged the Syrian authorities to ensure unhindered access to humanitarian assistance, including to internally displaced persons, adding that this must be a priority for all parties and be provided irrespective of other efforts to resolve the crisis. They also expressed concern over the impact of the violence and the growing number of internally displaced persons; they noted that more than 61,000 people are seeking shelter in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The Council voted a resolution condemning the recent killings in the village of El-Houleh, near Homs, describing it as an outrageous use of force against the civilian population, which constitutes a violation of applicable international law and of the commitment of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic [8] Forty-one members of the council voted for the resolution, three states voted against and there were two abstentions. The has previously convened three special sessions on Syria to address the human rights violations unfolding on the ground since violence erupted in the country in March 2011. Questions to consider? 1. In what matter are human rights being violated in the war in both party s members? 2. What actions may your country take that are viable for helping? If not which countries could supply this help? 3. Which party, taking into account everything that is happening, should stay in power to assure the stopping of this war and help protect the people? 4. Which options would be most reliable to attempt a cease-fire? 5. Which immediate help can be provided by neighbor countries? 6. How can living standards of the refugees be improved? Sources: 1. http://www.ohchr.org/en/newyork/ Stories/Pages/HRchiefurgesunitedacti ononsyria.aspx 2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art icle-2096374/syria-intervention-un-
3. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art icle-2096374/syria-intervention-un- 4. http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/w orld/syrian-civil-war.html 5. http://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/syriancivil-war/ 6. http://www.arableagueonline.org/catego ry/syria-news/ 7. http://www.ohchr.org/en/newyork/stor ies/pages/unofficialspressforunitedactio ntoendsyriacrisis.aspx 8. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/ world/middleeast/syrian-rebels-tied-toal-qaeda-play-key-role-inwar.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Further Research: http://www.ohchr.org/en/newyork/s tories/pages/hrchiefurgesunitedactio nonsyria.aspx http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti cle-2096374/syria-intervention-un- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti cle-2096374/syria-intervention-un- http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/ world/syrian-civil-war.html http://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/s yrian-civil-war/ http://www.arableagueonline.org/cat egory/syria-news/