“Security forces opened fire, killing at least four protesters and within days, the protests grew into rallies that gathered thousands of people.” The killings of these four were ultimately regarded by many as the first deaths of the Syrian uprising. “The community’s blunt outrage over the children’s arrests and mistreatment, the government’s humiliating and violent reactions to their worries and the people’s refusal to be cowed by security forces embolden and helped spread the Syrian opposition.” This notion demonstrates that the killing of the four protestors was only the first of many deaths to occur continuing into an on-going war that has: “…triggered nationwide protests demanding President Assad’s resignation.” Because of this, the Syrian government decided that in order to handle the issue they must crush this nationwide dissent. This in return only allowed the protestors to push harder for a change within the country of Syria, in hopes of it becoming the wonderful country that it was in the years prior to the war. “Syria’s conflict has devolved from peaceful protests against the government in 2011 to a violent insurgency that has drawn in numerous other countries.” “With neither side able to inflict a decisive defeat on the other, the international community long ago concluded that only a political solution could end the conflict in Syria.” It is because of the similar actions that took place within the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that similar issues are beginning
The Syrian people began taking to the streets in hopes of a peaceful protest against the Assad regime. The Syrian government did not like this one bit and responded with excessive force, resulting in the shooting, killing, and torturing of many innocent peaceful protesters. This soon escalated into an all out civil war where the country was divided into three major groups that are occupied by the regime members, islamic extremists, and rebel fighters. The conflict in this area has become so brutal and entangled with foreign help from many countries, that citizens of the affected war zones needed to evacuate their villages to be
The Bashar regime is just trying to hurt has many innocent people as possible till they successfully recapture the power. They do not like how the protesters were speaking out against them, fearing other would turn away, so they used military action to try and regain order. A better term for what is going on in Syria is a humanitarian crisis. What is going on is affect the wellbeing of all Syrian people, not just one type of person.
Since the start of the Syrian civil war, over 250,000 people have been killed in acts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The United Nations has recently declared acts of genocide and crimes against humanity to be occurring in Syria, yet a massive military intervention has yet to occur. The conflict has now begun to effect mainland Europe and western powers, as the rise of ISIS has become a threat to the whole of the international community. With Germany taking in millions of refugees, they have absorbed most of the inherent terror risk, but with the recent airport bombings in Brussels and the attacks in Paris, ISIS has shown that if they are not met in Syria with grand military force now, they can and will carry out these same terror attacks in the United States and other western countries including Canada and the United Kingdom. This paper will give a brief overview of the history of the current Syrian conflict starting in 2011, and will determine whether the United Nations and the international community has jurisdiction to intervene with military force under specific documents like the Rome Statute, the United Nations 2005 Outcome Document, the United Nations Charter, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by comparing the current Syrian conflict to the Libyan Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973. Lastly, this paper will provide options for Prime Minister Trudeau for Canada 's participation under the legal jurisdiction of
The Syrian capital, Damascus, has seen many changes throughout history. Today, it is populated by of a number of ethnic groups, mostly Arab, a reasonable number of Kurds, and Armenians are also present. Syrians have had many protests against Assad and have wanted him and his government to step down. During a protest on March 25, 2011 thousands of Syrians were demanding reforms and “mourning dozens of protesters who were killed during a violent, week-long crackdown that brought extraordinary pressure on Bashar al-Assad's autocratic regime.”
In March of 2011 a pro-democracy protest took place in Syria in response to the arrest and torture of some teenagers who used paintings in protest against President’s Assad government (Birrel). President Assad responded to the protests by sending troops that opened direct fire on demonstrators killing many of them. The government’s extreme actions resulted in the rise of different opposition groups that brought the country to a civil war that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of Syrians. Millions of families escaped to the borders to find asylum in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan Iraq and Egypt, non-wealthy countries that all together have accepted 4.5 million refugees (Amnesty International),
The Cause of the Syrian civil war was the people that wanted a change in government, so they protested. In 2011, successful uprisings - that became known as the Arab Spring - toppled Tunisia's and Egypt's presidents. This gave hope to Syrian pro-democracy activists. That March, peaceful protests erupted in Syria as well, after 15 boys were detained and tortured for writing graffiti in support of the Arab Spring. One of the boys, a 13-year-old, was killed after having been brutally tortured. The Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, responded to the protests by killing hundreds of demonstrators and imprisoning many more. In July 2011, defectors from the military announced the formation of the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group aiming to
The Syrian war is perhaps the worst type of war of modern time. The war has gone on for more than five years now, and a solution is yet to be found. The conflict has claimed over 250 thousand lives and left more than six million refugees (Erlich 1). It is believed that more than seven million have been displaced internally. The escalation of the war and difficult in finding a lasting solution is due to the involvement of foreign countries. The situation in Syria has been made by the interference of the West. The West did not only create the situation Syria, but they have intensified the dilemma and made the conflict last for many years. Some people may argue that the Syrian war was influenced by Arab uprising.
Syriana is a movie revolving around the many facets of US – Middle East relations. The movie is split into various plot lines to identify roots of Islamic Militancy and Terrorism in the Middle East, prospects of democracy and full self-determination and the varying effects of current US policy.
There are war crimes being committed in Syria. The conflict started during 2011 Arab Spring protests. The country has been crippled by a brutal civil war ever since. The violence has reached terrifying proportions. According to local Syrian groups, as of February 2016, the conflict’s death toll topped 470,00 people, including more than 100,000 civilians.(The New York Times) Even the lowest estimates place the number in the hundred-thousands. About 7.6 million people are internally displaced, One in a five Syrian is now refugee. More than four million Syrians have fled their homes. Neighboring countries take in most refugees. (UCHR). Around 14000 children were killed. The Assad regime and the rebel groups were already investigated, and the Assad regime implicated in the use of chemical weapons of war by UN auditors.
The Syrian Civil War started like many others did, a difference in opinion and violence. “In March 2011, unrest from the Arab Spring found its way to Syria”(Ruys 2014). When fifteen teenagers were detained after painting a revolutionary slogan, “The people want the fall of the regime”, on their school wall in Daraa, Syrian civilians were inspired after the fall of the Tunisian regime and the people began to peacefully protest. President al-Assad responded to the protestors with the deployment of the nation’s army and police forces who “engaged in a brutal crackdown of the demonstrations”(Ruys 2014). The violent attacks included sniper fire, water cannons, and smoke bombs. As the protestors increased in numbers and strength, Assad lifted Syria’s forty-eight year old Emergency Law that allowed the government to restrict any individual freedoms for the sake of national security and public safety, and arrest citizens on the spot if they
The Syrian Civil War is an ongoing international armed conflict taking place in Syria. In March 2011, Syria’s government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, faced an extraordinary challenge to its authority when pro-democracy protests erupted throughout the country. The protesters demanded an end to the authoritarian practices of the Assad regime. To put an end to the demonstrations, Assad’s government used violent force against the protest, using extensive use of police, military, and local protection units made up of volunteers known as National Defence Force. The conflict gradually morphed from important protests to an armed rebellion after months of military encirclement. Despite the violence, the protests intensified and spread to other
Thousands of innocent Syrians have been killed since the start of the civil war that all started in
The first protest erupted on March 2011 in Deraa after the arrest and torture of some teenagers who were painted with revolutionary slogans on a school wall. In order to manage the uncontrollable chaotic situation, minimum military forces were suitably in place to minimise the protest through the use of checkpoint road blocks. As the protest continued and spread widely over the country the citizens demanded for the President Bashar Al-Assad’s resignation. By July 2011 hundreds of thousand people taking to streets, town and cities across the countries such as Alepo, Hama, Homs and Deraa (BBC, 2012). As the act of protest has become uncontrollable, the government applied the military forces to crush the dissent and sending tanks to Deraa in late March 2011. Rockets and mortars were also used to hit the rebel stronghold (See Appendix 1.1 – Homs Feb 2012). After a month of bombardment, the rebels retreated with an estimate of more than 700 people were killed. People within the country have to flee to neighboring countries such as Turkey up to several months. According to the statistics recorded by the United Nations refugee agency, there are more than 200,000 Syrians who have registered with the agency fled to Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey. There was also an unofficial estimate of
“What then is freedom? The power to live as one wishes” (CITE CITE CITE). Syrian people have lost their freedom, and have been living in fear since the Syrian Civil War broke out in 2011. The horrific civil war has been going on for years. There was a rebellion against the Syrian government six years ago starting the civil war. Ever since then innocent civilians have been hurting and suffering. Syrian people have been drug away from their homes and are living in anguish. The controversy on how the United States should help Syrian people has formed over the years. The media has started to cover the Syrian civil war more, and it has shown the world how much Syrian people are hurting. Americans have started to realize that these people need help, but the question of how to help is still under discussion. Some people believe that America should use organizations to donate money and supplies to the people in need. They believe that with the help of money and food that the people will be okay. Other people believe that America should send in U.S troops to help end the fighting.
The Arab Spring has been a life changing phenomena, not only for the people who are attempting to overthrow their governments but for political scientists everywhere. The events originating in the North African country of Tunisia have led to the snowballing of several other Middle Eastern, predominantly Muslim, nation states. The figurative breaking point might have finally been reached as the oppressed peoples of the Middle East have risen up to overthrow long-standing dictatorial governments in hopes of revolutionary change; change that is subject to the will of the people.