The Extent of Human Rights Violation..

            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.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/11/syria-united-nations-human-rights-report.html

                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