War crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria.

• Author: Gucturk, Yavuz
• Position: COMMENTARY

Human Rights in Syria before the Civil War

There were a series of coups and interminable power struggles that went on for a decade in the Syrian Arab Republic, after it was re-established in 1961. This period ended with the victory of Hafez al-Assad, a member of the Baath Party's military wing, in 1970. Although on paper, the Syrian state was considered a "republic," all key governmental positions, including the Presidency, have been controlled by the members of the Assad family and the Alawites. (1)

The situation of human rights in Syria was dismal during the Hafez al-Assad period. Ironically, the Syrian government ratified many human rights conventions during Assad's time in power. Syria's government ratified the "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" (1969), the "International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination" (1969), the "International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1969)" and the "International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women" (2003). (2) Syria also acceded to the Geneva Convention dated in 1949. At the same time, over the last 40 years, Syria remained one of the most repressive countries of the world. (3) The state of emergency, which was in effect between 1963 and 2011, granted the government sweeping powers of arbitrary detention and arrest. The government strictly restricted the freedom of movement, expression, and organization. The single party regime under the hegemony of the Baath Party and Assad's Family carried out gross human rights abuses.

Until the civil war of 2011, the gravest human rights violations took place in the Hafez al-Assad period in the 1980s. Hundreds were killed during the operations in Jisr al-Shughur (Cisru's-Sugur), Sarmadah and Kinsafrah in 1980. Following an assassination attempt against of Hafez al-Assad in Damascus, a thousand prisoners were killed in the Tadmor Prison, about 200 kilometers northeast of Damascus, on June 26, 1980. The biggest massacre of Hafez al-Assad's period took place in 1982 in the city of Hama. In response to the uprising in the city of Hama, the army laid siege to the city and exposed it to air and artillery bombardments without any distinction between civilians or dissidents. As a result, between 10,000 and 25,000 people were killed. The international community did not learn about the Hama massacre for a long time. (4) The perpetrators of these gross violations were never brought to justice. The regime's policy of oppression prevented the formation of democracy and any tangible opposition. Many Syrian citizens, who were opponents of the regime, were forced to live in exile. As there was no accountability for these previous egregious abuses, human rights violations today continue to be easily carried out by Bashar al-Assad and the current Syrian regime. Many human rights organizations continue to collect data, evidence, and document the ongoing violations for the purpose of laying bear the truth of what is occurring and attempting to enforce accountability. In the long run, it will be through the promotion of justice and accountability in Syria that peace will be restored.

In 2000, when Bashar al-Assad came to power, after the death of his father, many hoped that the decades of oppression would end. At the very beginning there was a glimmer of hope, as, Bashar al-Assad promised political and economic freedom. However, the period that was known as the "Damascus Spring" did not last long. In 2010, the Human Rights Report of the US State Department described Syria as an authoritarian regime and noted that security forces committed extrajudicial killings. Further, there were reports of enforced disappearances and systematic tortures in detention centers and prisons carried out in all impunity by security officers. There were never any formal investigations into these violations. The report also stated that the judiciary in Syria was not independent; violence and societal discrimination against women, and discrimination against minorities, particularly Kurds (5), and severe restriction of workers' rights continued. (6)

It has been claimed that sectarian differences were not an issue in Syria before the Arab Spring, and it was only after March 2011 that an artificial sectarian conflict was created. This claim, however, is erroneous from a historical perspective. The Assad family was part of a movement that came to power on the tide of Arab secular-nationalism in the 1960s and 70s. Hafez al-Assad brought Arab nationalism to the fore rather than promote the Alawite religion while in power. Along with the Alawite minority, certain Sunni families were also appointed to upper positions in bureaucracy or in the military. Still, the Alawite-minority has continued to fill about 90 percent of the management positions in the army and security units. (7) For the Assad regime, religion and ethnic identity was not important for the government unless the legitimacy of the regime was questioned. In fact, the Syrian government tended to "ignore" internal social conflicts and the ethnic pluralism that existed in the country. So, religious tolerance and ethnic plurality were not conceptually recognized and were never seriously addressed until this artificial balance broke after the last uprising.

The Arab Spring that arose in Tunisia in December 2010 reached Syria in March 2011. Bashar al-Assad's reaction to the anti-government protests was a brutal repression. This method might have been effective under Hafez al-Assad's since information flow was not open when he was in power. However, the age of the Internet and social media and new information-communication tools on mobile phones with the cumulative effect of the Arab Spring gave courage to the Syrian nation to stand up against its autocratic rule.

The regime forces used police, military, intelligence units and Shabbiha militia to suppress the protests. This method fostered the expansion of protests across the country. The peaceful protests in Syria first transformed into an uprising when the regime responded with violence and then into an armed struggle of certain opposition groups aiming to overthrow the regime. Today, what is left of Syria has become the scene of an on-going civil war, as a number of opposition groups, Kurds and ISIL have taken control of different regions and cities nationwide. The civilians are suffering unthinkable atrocities. Deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects, the indiscriminate use of explosive weapons, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment, and enforced disappearances have become routine. (8)

Road to Civil War

As Syria entered into its fifth year of civil war in March 2015, more than 220,000 people have been killed, hundreds of thousands people have been injured, almost half of the population had to migrate from their homes, and more than four million Syrian fled to neighboring countries. Massive human rights violations, crimes against humanity, and war crimes have been committed during the civil war, as Syria became the theater for one of the greatest humanitarian dramas of the 21st century.

Today, the international community and media remains focused on DAISH's (ISIL/ISIS) killings and violations because of its brutality and cruelty. However, the regime's atrocities are also shocking. This is not to belittle DAISH's barbarity, but it is still important to remember the gross human rights violations carried out by Bashar al-Assad's regime since the outbreak of the civil war. The approach taken by the Regime is that of extremely violent repression. For example, after 15 children painted anti-government graffiti on the walls in the city of Dara'a in March 2011, they were tortured while being detained by the regime's security forces. Instead of launching a thorough investigation against the security forces to appease the crowds protesting this crime, the government...