Human Rights in Syria (Part 1)

 Hello everyone, welcome back to the Middle East and North Africa human rights blog. This week we will go over a country which has been widely reported on in the context of human rights. This week’s country of discussion is the Syrian Arab Republic. The discussion on Syria will be split into two parts due to the extensive history and developments in the context of human rights.

In the early 20th century, Syria was a protectorate of France along with Lebanon  under the Sykes-Picot agreement, which carved up territories to be controlled by Britain and France. Under French occupation, peasants were used as forced labor and independence activists and fighters were executed by the French authorities. These executions included killing up to 7000 rebels during the Great Revolt against France, along with displacing civilians (French Syria). Fighting between the French colonists, and the Syrian independence fighters continued until World War II when Syria came under the control of Vichy France. After the Allies defeated the Axis controlled government, France continued to hold their claim on Syria through violence. Pressure from the British and Syrian nationalist eventually made the French withdraw from the country and Syria became independent in 1946 (French Syria). After independence Syria became part of Gamal Nasser’s Egyptian led United Arab Republic due the the popularity of Arab nationalism. The Republic failed due to the unpopular conditions that Syria was subject to and a military coup in 1961 removed Syria from the Republic (Polk). During this time, the Jewish population of Syria suffered harsh discrimination, often being accused of working with Israel. Discrimination against Jewish people included movement restrictions, confiscation of money and property, and surveillance by the authorities (Polk). After years of political instability and military coup d’états, the defense minister Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1971. His one party rule was characterized by authoritarianism, corruption, patronage, and violence. An example of this violence was his government’s response to an Islamist Uprising led by the Muslim Brotherhood. This included the 1982 massacre in Hama where the city was razed and thousands of civilians were killed (Polk). Over the next 20 years, Assad continued to build closer ties with Iran, incremental cooperation with the United States, and liberalized the economy. After his death in 2000, he was succeeded by his second son, Bashar al-Assad, one of the most notorious human rights abusers in the 21st century. The history of Syria in the 20th century illustrates the rule of the military and elite (both foreign and native) who maintained power through authoritarianism, violence, corruption, and without democratic consent. To be continued into the 21st century.

Citations:

Polk, William R. “Understanding Syria: From Pre-Civil War to Post-Assad.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 10 Dec. 2013, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/12/understanding-syria-from-pre-civil-war-to-post-assad/281989/. 

“French Syria (1919-1946).” Political Science, University of Central Arkansas, https://uca.edu/politicalscience/dadm-project/middle-eastnorth-africapersian-gulf-region/french-syria-1919-1946/.