This past Tuesday, the topic of
discussion was the conflict that is currently going on in the Middle East.
While we were discussing, one of the most poignant ideas present throughout the
class was the issue of human rights. As has passed, there has been a degradation
of human rights in both Syria.
Influenced by neighboring countries, the
social uprising that has been going on within the walls of Syria has been
described as unprecedented. Part of the Arab Spring (a series of revolutions
within the Muslim world with the aim of political freedom and ending the
overbearing rule upon the people), what began as protests has quickly escalated
into a state of emergency for the Syrian people. The goal of the protests was
to force President Bashar al-Assad into resigning from his position. Inspired
the by the success in Egypt, the people have adopted similar methods of
protest, from marches to strikes to self-inflicted harm like self-hunger. In
response, the government has implemented the use of military force to kill any
civilians that resist. Those in the military that refuse to do so were
executed. This is proof of the decline of human rights. The Syrian government
is not afraid to execute even its own members. But those that comply with
government orders have engaged in horrendous acts of violation. Under President
Bashar Assad's regime, the crackdown on protestors has resulted in the
torturing and killing of children, the death of unarmed civilians as well as
serial rape among those that have been detained. As of November, almost three
hundred children have been killed. Many more have been raped by those in a
position of power. Soldiers, who are supposed to be a sign of protection, have
been morphed, quite literally, into the angels of death. It is almost
unimaginable as to what would possess anyone to kill so many children and rape so
many more innocent people. (World News - LA Times) Perhaps the key word is
possessed. In an effort to reestablish the authority lost due to the birth of
the Arab Spring, the Syrian government has taken it upon themselves to reassert
their dominance. This obsession has given rise to their demented reasoning.
Serving not only as a sick reminder, many of the children were killed just
because they were viewed as potential threats, especially when they would grow
older.
This violation of human rights is so severe that it has crossed over into genocide. The government's response to its civilian uprising has been far too extreme to ever be justified. The severity has reached international news as well, despite the lack of media coverage. Whatever has been seen is left to the imagination of its viewers as to how extreme (or not) the situation has become. However, the United Nations has finally decided on a majority vote on how to deal with Syria. Decided in December, the United Nations has condemned the violation of human rights. Even countries like Russia, who were reluctant to interfere in the first place, has been putting pressing on the Syrian government to stop the genocide. (U.S. - CNN) Although there has been a unanimous agreement that what Syria is doing is wrong, there is no clear-cut solution on how to resolve it.
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-12-02/middleeast/world_meast_syria-unrest_1_rights-and-fundamental-freedoms-rights-council-free-syrian-army/3?_s=PM:MIDDLEEAST
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-12-02/middleeast/world_meast_syria-unrest_1_rights-and-fundamental-freedoms-rights-council-free-syrian-army/3?_s=PM:MIDDLEEAST
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