SYRIA: The Repression Continues

Submitted by kennedy@genocid... on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 3:42pm

Over the past seven weeks, Syria has been locked in a cycle of protest and suppression that had lead to an estimated 1,000 deaths.  In response, SDC/GI-NET issued a press release on May 13, condemning the ongoing violence committed against Syrian civilians by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.  In that release, SDC/GI-NET called for the international community to take the following steps:

  • Harmonize current international sanctions and expand existing sanctions to cover all Syrian government officials complicit in violence against demonstrators;
  • Encourage Syria’s neighbors to uphold the basic principles of international refugee law, including preventing the forcible return of refugees to Syria;
  • Support the UN Human Rights Council investigation into crimes committed against Syrian civilians to ensure accountability for perpetrators of human rights abuses;
  • Ensure corporations continuing to operate in Syria, particularly those acting in partnership with the government, uphold their responsibility to respect human rights and avoid complicity in violence. Telecommunications companies should be especially diligent given the potential – as seen in other recent conflicts – for their services and technology to be wielded as tools of oppression.”

The international community has begun to implement several of these steps.  Over the past two weeks, the United States government has included Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the sanctions list, where he joins his brother Mahir al-Assad and eight other individuals.  EU sanctions have targeted more individuals, primarily from the Syrian security apparatus.  While this is an effective beginning of effective measures against individuals responsible for violence in Syria, there is still work needed to better harmonize the sanctions list, as several individuals sanctioned by the EU have yet to be designated by the US, and vice-versa.
 
As clashes continue, more Syrian citizens are searching for refuge in neighboring Lebanon.  While Lebanon is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention on Refugees, it should still uphold international norms forbidding the forcible return of refugees and blocking the entrance of refugees.  Earlier this month, it appears that the Lebanese army had been arresting refugees from Syria.  After these reports, Human Rights Watch called on the Lebanese government to provide temporary asylum.  While there have yet to be clear statements that the Lebanese government will do so, there appears to have been a greater acceptance of Syrians in Lebanon, and more than 5,000 Syrians have crossed the borderseeking greater safety.
 
Despite being authorized nearly a month ago, Syria has yet to allow the UN Human Rights Council investigation access to areas where human rights abuses may have been committed.  Despite this block, the mission plans to issue its preliminary findings in July.
 
SDC/GI-NET continues to monitor the conflict as it develops and search for appropriate policy avenues to pursue.  The Conflict Risk Network project has already reached out to telecommunications companies operating in Syria to encourage them to exercise their responsibility to respect human rights.