The Role of Responsibility to Protect in Syria

Throughout history, instances of genocide, mass murder, and extreme acts of violence are widespread and pervade through every culture and society. As demonstrated by Panh, Lifton, and O’Brien, similar examples of excessive violence can occur in widely different situations. In order for such violence to occur, there first must exist certain systematic factors. In this paper, I will argue that conditions of instability within a country allow for changes in belief and perception, and these changed perceptions leads to dehumanization and the loss of human rights. The Holocaust, the Cambodian genocide and the Vietnam War, all follow this pattern to some extent. First, I will compare and contrast the ways in which the Holocaust and Cambodian genocide follow this pattern, as well as explore the separate factors within each and possible solutions to these factors. Next, I will discuss the dramatically different Vietnam War, compare and contrast it to the other two, and explore how the uniqueness of the Vietnam War impacts the possible solutions for the loss of human rights within this situation.

The term ‘war’ as defined by the Oxford Dictionary is explained as “a state of armed conflict between different countries or different groups within a country” (Oxforddictionaries.com, 2016). The concept of war has created contrasting views on the relationship between war and genocide as well as the effect that war has on genocide. The term ‘genocide’ literally means ‘the killing of a race’ and is arguably the most atrocious crime conceivable (Gunter, 2011). It is a specific term that refers to crimes that are committed against groups with intent to destroy their existence (Ushmm.org, 2016). There are various motives and numerous reasons as to why genocides may occur, however this paper will seek to address the extent to how, if at all, the concept of war being a necessary condition for the occurrence of genocide, as well as looking at correlations between war and genocide using specific examples to determine whether war is a necessary condition or not.

The Darfur Genocide is the current mass slaughter and rape of civilians from South Sudan killing women and children in Sudan. The Genocide began in 2003 but the outbreak around the world in early 2004 and still continues today which is known as the first genocide in the 21 Century. There have been many responses toward the genocide such as United Nations and China but the conflict continues to be unresolved. This had caught attention from many countries around the world, including our country, the united Nation and China had different perspectives referring to Sudan conflict, however their initiatives had worsen the situation.

The analysis of the genocides that took place both in Rwanda and Sudan’s Darfur region exhibit some similarities as well as differences. The character of violence was similar in both cases, but in Rwanda the violence was more intense, participatory, and extraordinary. The violence in these two places took place in an environment that had experienced civil wars. It was a period of political transition which was further aggravated by ethnic nationalism and a conflict of ethnic populations that were living in close proximity. However, in the Rwandan genocide, the state is more centralized, compact, and effective. This is what explains the intensity and variation. The international response to these genocides through observers emphasized on

The US sponsored research conducted by the Political Instability Task Force identified key factors responsible increasing the political instability of states. These factors include: bad neighborhood, state discrimination and anocratic regimes. ( USAID, 2012 ). These are clear characteristics of Syria.The Syrian constitution for example does not address sexual orientation, the Alawite community ( from which Asad is a member ) dominate the entire government and according to Human Rights Watch, the government detains protesters and subject them to atrocities. Political parties are also harassed. (United States Department of State, 2014). Terrorists prey on domestic political instability to advance international terrorism because unstable states offers them the military and organizational skills. ( Campos & Gassebner, 2009).

The Bosnian, Srebrenica, and Herzegovina land was involved in an ethical war where ethnic cleansing was seen as a way to solidify the breaks in that region (“Bosnian Genocide”). The trigger of this ethnic war was the break-up of Yugoslavia from one country to three (Bosnia, Srebrenica, and Herzegovina) in 1990 (“Bosnian Genocide”). This rupture of Yugoslavia resulted in the massive dispute between Muslims, Serbs, and Croatians (Bennett). Not long after the war began, the Serbs began executing the Bosnian Muslims through ethnic cleansing, in order to fill the fissure that was created in 1990. The mass execution lasted three years and nine months, and did not end until the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intervened in 1995 (Bennett); by that time, an unforgettable 70,000 Bosnian citizens were executed by the Serbs (Perl 71). If NATO had intervened sooner, perhaps thousands of lives could have been saved and this haunting genocide may have had less of an impact on the world.

The Arabs took this opportunity to start an uprising. The fighting continued for twenty years until France, in 1936, agreed to let go of their political influence, but they would keep a military presence there and could benefit economically, which meant they controlled the oil. Four years later France fell to the Axis powers and consequently so did Syria. Since the, now Free French, troops needed support along with the British, they agreed to leave the region completely if they helped them win World War 2. After the Germans were defeated, the French, reluctantly, kept their word and left the region. This, however, did not subside the fighting; what was once a battle for freedom turned into an ideological battle between Shias and Sunnis. Eventually some stability was gained and a proper government was set up. In 1971 Hafez Al-Assad was elected president and the country went from being a democracy to a monarchy. He groomed his first son to take over the country once he died but his son passed away in a car accident before he did. Hafez’s second son, Bashar Al-Assad, took control of the country in 2000 and he has remained in power ever since. Prior to the Arab Spring, there were outbursts, but none significantly affected his regime. Once the Arab Spring began, however, the people of Syria, mainly Sunnis, revolted against Assad. At the same time, The United States pulled troops out of Iraq leaving them without any structure or

The video “On our Watch,” provides the viewer with detailed accounts about the first genocide of the 21st century. The images of death and destruction in Darfur, coupled with the startling murder and rape statistics, clearly suggests that the United Nations (UN), an organization designed to maintain international peace and security failed to protect the people of Darfur from the Janjaweed militias or the corrupt Sudanese government. Although, the UN and the world had embraced the slogan “Never Again,” after 800,000 innocent civilians were slaughtered in Rwanda, history would repeat itself in Bosnia, Darfur, and Chad. Sudan’s campaign of genocide, its economic and political ties with China and Russia, combined with failed peace talks, as well

The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines the act of genocide as killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately imposing conditions intended to bring about the physical destruction of, imposing measures intended to prevent births within, and forcibly transferring children away from any ethnic, national, racial or religious group . Per Alain Destexhe, the three genocides that were committed to the greatest degree during the 20th century were the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, and the Rwandan Genocide – and it is on the latter that I will focus on in this paper . I will compare the historical analysis of the Rwandan Genocide laid out in Destexhe’s work, Rwanda and Genocide

After the World War II, the international community vowed ‘never again’ but that promise was never kept. The world experienced a number of conflicts that in total claimed more lives and violated more human rights than the World Wars. The Rwanda genocide was one of the worst of these conflicts that alone claimed the lives of half a million people, displaced many vulnerable families, created an increased number of refugees, and indirectly contributed to two successive multistate wars in the Republic of Congo.

The debate of humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect have been discussed in international relations discourse more seriously within the last 60 years. The major historical developments which have led to an increase in the intensity of these debates have had beneficial and detrimental effects on Earth within the last 20 years. Several factors have contributed to this including; globalization, the rise in international accountability, an increase humanitarian consciousness to prevent major atrocities from occurring, the expansion of territorial to global responsibility of the western world, and the realization of the western world that regional sovereignty no longer accounts for national security. To develop an opinion

Is there a difference between genocide and war? The idea and concepts of conflict are often misunderstood. To many, any form of conflict is war. War can be defined as a direct violent encounter between two or more opposing parties with a view to gaining access to an object of their mutual interests. It is usually accompanied by the use of weapons such as guns, bows and arrows, machetes, sticks, biological weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. (Insert bibliography #1). Genocide has been described as a specific term, referring to violent crimes committed against particular groups, with the intent to destroy the existence of such groups (insert bibliography #1). Having said that, one common factor often exhibited by genocide perpetrators is to destroy a group perceived to be a threat to the ruling power. The purpose of this paper is to take a look at both the historic and political causes for the Rwanda Genocide, and to distinguish whether ethnicity was the cause or was it the aspect of the conflict.

To better understand the atrocities of these wars, one must have knowledge of the definitions of certain terms and war crimes. The ideas of “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” are often thrown

Since 2011 Syria has been experiencing a civil war. On the 22nd of August 2014, the United Nations has estimated that over 191,000 people have died. Many children have been killed or kidnapped throughout this war. The current president of Syria is Basar al-Assad; he has served since 2000 when he succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad. Basar was a graduate of Damascus University and Western Eye Hospital. Where he studied ophthalmology. He returned to Syria because his brother had died in a car crash and was now the next in line for the thrown. In 2000 and 2007, the national electorate reconfirmed Assad as the president of Syria. In December 2000 is when he married Asma Assad. She was born to Syrian parents but was raised in the United Kingdom. She graduated from Kings College with a bachelor degree in computer science and French literature. The Former president of Syria, Hafez al-Assad was president for 29 years. In 1970, he seized power by toppling Jadid. When he took power he de-radicalized the current government, also strengthened the countries foreign relations. During the cold war, he sided with Soviet Union so that they would show support against Syria. He also instituted the one-man rule, and then set up the state services. The Sunnis became political the formal heads of the political institutions while the Alawites were in charge of military actions. His son Basar al-Assad was not the first choice to

Syrian civil war started in 2011 was the outcome of the opposition against the President Bashar al-Assad regime. The uprising emerged as a response to the Arab spring movement that lead to regime change in Tunisia and subsequently turned into mass unrest rooted into the discontent with long-term dictatorship and poor economic situation in the country (Manfreda, n.d.). The number of Syrian citizens killed in the civil war reached 140000 since March 2011 (SBS 2014). The European Commission (2014, 2) reports approximately 9.3 million civilians “in need for humanitarian assistance”. The scale of armed rebellion between government and opposition that lead to an increasing number of casualties among civilians did not remain unnoticed by the