Violence and Crisis in Syria

An attack on the Syrian state would fall within the boundaries of the international concept of the responsibility to protect. The crisis in Syria has escalated by protests in March 2011 calling for the release of all political prisoners. National security forces responded to widespread peaceful demonstrations with the use of brutal violence. The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad refused to stop attacks and allow for implementation of the reforms requested by the demonstrators. By July 2011, firsthand accounts emerged from witnesses, victims, and the media that government forces had subjected innocent civilians to detention, torture, and the use of heavy weaponry. The Syrian people were also subjected to the Shabiha, a largely armed state sponsored militia fighting with security forces. Al-Assad continually denied responsibility to these crimes and placed blame on the armed groups and terrorists for these actions.
As violence heightened the lack of assistance from the United Nations, Non-governmental organizations, and humanitarian groups caused severe shortages of food, water and healthcare within Syria. Opponents of the Assad regime began to surface creating several opposition groups such as the Syrian National Council and the Free Syrian Army. The Syrian National Council was composed of exiled Syrians while the Free Syrian Army was a militarized group largely made up of armed rebels. As government imposed media blackouts emerged in March 2011 external confirmation of the conflicts occurring in Syria have surfaced and become increasingly difficult. The United Nations Human Rights Council established an independent International Commission of Inquiry in September of that year to investigate the alleged human rights violations. The...

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...lecting convincing evidence that Syria has used Sarin gas in Ghouta, Syria. Currently, diplomacy has prevailed; the Security Council has shown rare unity on Syria by passing Resolution 2118 requiring Syria to destroy its current stockpile of chemical weapons and prohibits Syria from using, developing, stockpiling, or transferring any chemical weapons. Syria by not agreeing to these terms will face penalties under Chapter Seven of the United Nations Charter. Syrian government has yet to defy the resolution and the OPCW has declared they have successfully destroyed the sites used for production of the chemical weapons it remains to be seen whether the 2014 deadline for destroying Syria’s current stockpile of ammunition will be met in light of the ongoing destabilizing conditions. Despite this amount of progress fighting between the regime and rebels has continued on.