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THE IMPACT OF THE POST ARAB SPRING ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS IN SYRIA
Corresponding Author(s) : Dakheelallah Alharbi
Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews,
Vol. 8 No. 1 (2020): January
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of the study is to give an analysis of the humanitarian situation and the case of human rights in Syria after the events of the Arab spring.
Methodology: This is analytical-descriptive research that has been done through literature review, content analysis, and documentary and case study research.
Result: our results suggest that the Syrian government made false concessions designed to end the revolts. The occurrence led to the formation of a rebel group, the Free Syrian Army whose main objective was to oust the authoritarian regime and stop the killing of civilians. This marked the beginning of the blatant violation of human rights as well as the civil war in Syria. The government not only ignited but also took the war to its own people killing, injuring and imprisoning thousands of people. Worse still, thousands of women and young girls still suffer sexual violence during the nightly raids conducted frequently on either opposing camps. Following the massive violations of human rights, almost all economic sectors of Syria have met rock-bottom.
Applications: This research can be used for policymakers and the international community to take a further step to aid the Syrian civilians.
Novelty/Originality: In our research, we try to target a very much debated topic in the Middle East. Although several articles written about the humanitarian and human rights situation in Syria studies on human rights after the Arab spring is still lacking.
Keywords
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- Allagui, I., & Kuebler, J. (2011). The Arab Spring and the role of ICTs – editorial introduction. International Journal of Communication (IJOC) 5: 1435–1442.
- Amnesty International (2016). State of the World’s Human Rights. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/syria/report-syria/
- Amnesty International. (2016). Syria after the 'Arab Spring': Eight key facts (2016) Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/03/syria-after-arab-spring-eight-facts/
- Anderson, L. (2011). Demystifying the Arab spring: parsing the differences between Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya." Foreign Affairs, 2-7.
- Anderson, T. (2017). Syria: The diplomatic endgame: ‘An analysis of what is really happening in the damaged country'. Australian Rationalist, 104:13-14. https://doi.org/10.5897/IJPDS2018.0318
- Banwell, S. (2018). Security, peace, and development: Unpacking discursive constructions of wartime rape and sexual violence in Syria. International journal of peace and development studies, 9(2), pp. 15-30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5897/IJPDS2018.0318
- Bayat, A. (2017). Revolution without revolutionaries: making sense of the Arab spring. Stanford University Press.
- Bennis, B., Boustany, A., AL Dalena et al. (2018). Human rights and democracy in the Arab World in 2017: Hopeless within, doomed abroad. Global Campus Human Rights Journal, 2, 96-126.
- Berger, H., &Spoerer, M. (2001). Economic Crises and the European Revolutions of 1848. The Journal of Economic History, 61(2), 293-326. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050701028029 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050701028029
- Bhardwaj, M. (2012). Development of Conflict in Arab Spring Libya and Syria: From Revolution to Civil War. The Washington University International Review. (1) 1: 76-97.
- Bidinger, S, Aaron L, Danielle H, Yoana K, Elena N, Susan A, Lys R, and Timothy K (2014). Protecting Syrian Refugees: Laws, Policies, and Global Responsibility Sharing. Boston, MA: Boston University School of Law, International Human Rights Clinic.
- Campante, F. R., &Chor, D. (2012). Why was the Arab world poised for revolution? Schooling, economic opportunities, and the Arab spring. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(2), 167–188. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.26.2.167 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.26.2.167
- Carlsson, U. (2016). Freedom of Expression and Media in Transition: Studies and Reflections in the Digital Age, Nordicom: Göteborg
- Comunello, F., and G. Anzera. (2012). Will the Revolution be Tweeted? A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Social Media and the Arab Spring. Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations 23 (4): 453–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2012.712435 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2012.712435
- Deutsch Karlekar, K. and J. Dunham (2012) Press Freedom in 2011. Breakthroughs and Pushback in the Middle East. New York: Freedom House. http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FOTP%202012% 20Booklet.pdf
- Duffy, Matt J., &Maarouf, H. (2015). Journalism in Jordan: A comparative analysis of press freedom in the post-Arab spring environment. Global Media Journal, 1-24.
- Erameh, N. I. (2017). Humanitarian Intervention, Syria and the Politics of Human Rights Protection. The International Journal of Human Rights, 21(5), pp. 517-530. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2017.1307829 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2017.1307829
- Fink, A. (2005). Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
- Freedom House. Syria. (2018) Retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2017/syria
- Gearty, C. (2016). Human rights in an age of counter-terrorism. In War on terror. Manchester University Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.7765/9780719095184.00011 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7765/9780719095184.00011
- GhannamJ (2011) Social Media in the Arab World: Leading up to the Uprisings of 2011. Washington, DC: Center for International Media Assistance.
- Guha-Sapir D, Schlu¨ter B, Rodriguez-Llanes JM, Lillywhite L, Hicks MH-R (2018). Patterns of civilian and child deaths due to war-related violence in Syria: a comparative analysis from the Violation Documentation Center dataset, 2011–16. Lancet Glob Health 6(1): e103-e110. ttps://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30469-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30469-2
- Hart, C. (1998). Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination, Sage Publications, London.
- Hehir, A. (2014). Syria and the Dawn of a New Era. Into the Eleventh Hour: R2P, Syria, and Humanitarianism in Crisis. E-International Relations (Bristol, UK).
- HRC. (2016). Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. Human Rights Council.
- Human Rights Watch. World Report (2018). Rights Trends in Syria. (2018, January 18). Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/syria
- Idris, I. (2017). International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Violations in Syria, K4D Helpdesk Report, United Kingdom Department for International Development: 1-11. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/r esources/127-IHL-and-HR-violations-in-Syria.pdf
- Klausen, J. 2015. Tweeting the Jihad: social media networks of western foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 38, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2014.974948 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2014.974948
- Lamer W. (2016) Promoting the People's Surrogate: The Case for Press Freedom as a Distinct Human Right. Journal of Human Rights 15(3): 361–382. https://doi.org/10.1080/14754835.2015.1106307 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14754835.2015.1106307
- Malashenko, A. (2013). Russia and the Arab Spring. Carnegie Moscow Center, https:// carnegieendowment.org/files/russia_arab_spring2013.pdf
- Noi, A. Ü. (2012). The Arab Spring, its effects on the Kurds, and the approaches of Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq on the Kurdish issue. Middle East Review of International Affairs, 16 (2), 15.
- Relly, J. E. and Cuillier, D., (2010). A Comparison of Political, Cultural, and Economic Indicators of Access to Information in Arab and non-Arab states. Government Information Quarterly, 27(4), pp. 360–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2010.04.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2010.04.004
- Santos, B., Camila, B., Caroline C., Joaquim M., Vivian C., Diagramação D F, and Capa H C. (2018). "United Nations Security Council (UNSC). https://www.pernambucomun.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/UNSC-STUDY-GUIDE.pdf
- SNHR. (2017). No Less than 12,958 Barrel Bombs Dropped in 2016. Syrian Network for Human Rights.
- SNHR. (2018). Syrian Network for Human Rights. Retrieved from http://sn4hr.org/
- Sperber, J. (2005). The European Revolutions. 1848-1851. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511817717 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511817717
- Turku, H. (2018). International Law on Protection of Cultural Property During Armed Conflict. In the Destruction of Cultural Property as a Weapon of War. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 99-133. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57282-6_4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57282-6_4
References
Allagui, I., & Kuebler, J. (2011). The Arab Spring and the role of ICTs – editorial introduction. International Journal of Communication (IJOC) 5: 1435–1442.
Amnesty International (2016). State of the World’s Human Rights. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/syria/report-syria/
Amnesty International. (2016). Syria after the 'Arab Spring': Eight key facts (2016) Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/03/syria-after-arab-spring-eight-facts/
Anderson, L. (2011). Demystifying the Arab spring: parsing the differences between Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya." Foreign Affairs, 2-7.
Anderson, T. (2017). Syria: The diplomatic endgame: ‘An analysis of what is really happening in the damaged country'. Australian Rationalist, 104:13-14. https://doi.org/10.5897/IJPDS2018.0318
Banwell, S. (2018). Security, peace, and development: Unpacking discursive constructions of wartime rape and sexual violence in Syria. International journal of peace and development studies, 9(2), pp. 15-30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5897/IJPDS2018.0318
Bayat, A. (2017). Revolution without revolutionaries: making sense of the Arab spring. Stanford University Press.
Bennis, B., Boustany, A., AL Dalena et al. (2018). Human rights and democracy in the Arab World in 2017: Hopeless within, doomed abroad. Global Campus Human Rights Journal, 2, 96-126.
Berger, H., &Spoerer, M. (2001). Economic Crises and the European Revolutions of 1848. The Journal of Economic History, 61(2), 293-326. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050701028029 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050701028029
Bhardwaj, M. (2012). Development of Conflict in Arab Spring Libya and Syria: From Revolution to Civil War. The Washington University International Review. (1) 1: 76-97.
Bidinger, S, Aaron L, Danielle H, Yoana K, Elena N, Susan A, Lys R, and Timothy K (2014). Protecting Syrian Refugees: Laws, Policies, and Global Responsibility Sharing. Boston, MA: Boston University School of Law, International Human Rights Clinic.
Campante, F. R., &Chor, D. (2012). Why was the Arab world poised for revolution? Schooling, economic opportunities, and the Arab spring. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(2), 167–188. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.26.2.167 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.26.2.167
Carlsson, U. (2016). Freedom of Expression and Media in Transition: Studies and Reflections in the Digital Age, Nordicom: Göteborg
Comunello, F., and G. Anzera. (2012). Will the Revolution be Tweeted? A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Social Media and the Arab Spring. Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations 23 (4): 453–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2012.712435 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2012.712435
Deutsch Karlekar, K. and J. Dunham (2012) Press Freedom in 2011. Breakthroughs and Pushback in the Middle East. New York: Freedom House. http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FOTP%202012% 20Booklet.pdf
Duffy, Matt J., &Maarouf, H. (2015). Journalism in Jordan: A comparative analysis of press freedom in the post-Arab spring environment. Global Media Journal, 1-24.
Erameh, N. I. (2017). Humanitarian Intervention, Syria and the Politics of Human Rights Protection. The International Journal of Human Rights, 21(5), pp. 517-530. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2017.1307829 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2017.1307829
Fink, A. (2005). Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Freedom House. Syria. (2018) Retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2017/syria
Gearty, C. (2016). Human rights in an age of counter-terrorism. In War on terror. Manchester University Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.7765/9780719095184.00011 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7765/9780719095184.00011
GhannamJ (2011) Social Media in the Arab World: Leading up to the Uprisings of 2011. Washington, DC: Center for International Media Assistance.
Guha-Sapir D, Schlu¨ter B, Rodriguez-Llanes JM, Lillywhite L, Hicks MH-R (2018). Patterns of civilian and child deaths due to war-related violence in Syria: a comparative analysis from the Violation Documentation Center dataset, 2011–16. Lancet Glob Health 6(1): e103-e110. ttps://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30469-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30469-2
Hart, C. (1998). Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination, Sage Publications, London.
Hehir, A. (2014). Syria and the Dawn of a New Era. Into the Eleventh Hour: R2P, Syria, and Humanitarianism in Crisis. E-International Relations (Bristol, UK).
HRC. (2016). Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. Human Rights Council.
Human Rights Watch. World Report (2018). Rights Trends in Syria. (2018, January 18). Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/syria
Idris, I. (2017). International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Violations in Syria, K4D Helpdesk Report, United Kingdom Department for International Development: 1-11. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/r esources/127-IHL-and-HR-violations-in-Syria.pdf
Klausen, J. 2015. Tweeting the Jihad: social media networks of western foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 38, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2014.974948 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2014.974948
Lamer W. (2016) Promoting the People's Surrogate: The Case for Press Freedom as a Distinct Human Right. Journal of Human Rights 15(3): 361–382. https://doi.org/10.1080/14754835.2015.1106307 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14754835.2015.1106307
Malashenko, A. (2013). Russia and the Arab Spring. Carnegie Moscow Center, https:// carnegieendowment.org/files/russia_arab_spring2013.pdf
Noi, A. Ü. (2012). The Arab Spring, its effects on the Kurds, and the approaches of Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq on the Kurdish issue. Middle East Review of International Affairs, 16 (2), 15.
Relly, J. E. and Cuillier, D., (2010). A Comparison of Political, Cultural, and Economic Indicators of Access to Information in Arab and non-Arab states. Government Information Quarterly, 27(4), pp. 360–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2010.04.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2010.04.004
Santos, B., Camila, B., Caroline C., Joaquim M., Vivian C., Diagramação D F, and Capa H C. (2018). "United Nations Security Council (UNSC). https://www.pernambucomun.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/UNSC-STUDY-GUIDE.pdf
SNHR. (2017). No Less than 12,958 Barrel Bombs Dropped in 2016. Syrian Network for Human Rights.
SNHR. (2018). Syrian Network for Human Rights. Retrieved from http://sn4hr.org/
Sperber, J. (2005). The European Revolutions. 1848-1851. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511817717 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511817717
Turku, H. (2018). International Law on Protection of Cultural Property During Armed Conflict. In the Destruction of Cultural Property as a Weapon of War. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 99-133. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57282-6_4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57282-6_4