The
human rights record of the
Syrian Arab Republic has been evaluated by a number of different sources. The state of human rights in
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
is among the worst in the world as reported by the US State Department. Political rights reflect the one-party rule of
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
's Ba'ath Party, which is constitutionally designated as the ruling party. A
state of emergencyA state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government, alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale for suspending civil liberties...
has been in effect since 1963. Human Rights in Syria remains one of the worst in the region and there have been no effort made by the government to address any of them.
The Assad regime significantly restricts
freedom of speechFreedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship or limitation. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
,
pressFreedom of the press consists ofconstitutional or statutory protections pertaining to the media and published materials.With respect to governmental information, any government distinguishes which materials are public or protected from disclosure to the public based on classification of information...
,
assemblyFreedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests...
, and
associationFreedom of association is the individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests....
.
According to the U.S.
The
human rights record of the
Syrian Arab Republic has been evaluated by a number of different sources. The state of human rights in
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
is among the worst in the world as reported by the US State Department. Political rights reflect the one-party rule of
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
's Ba'ath Party, which is constitutionally designated as the ruling party. A
state of emergencyA state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government, alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale for suspending civil liberties...
has been in effect since 1963. Human Rights in Syria remains one of the worst in the region and there have been no effort made by the government to address any of them.
The Assad regime significantly restricts
freedom of speechFreedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship or limitation. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
,
pressFreedom of the press consists ofconstitutional or statutory protections pertaining to the media and published materials.With respect to governmental information, any government distinguishes which materials are public or protected from disclosure to the public based on classification of information...
,
assemblyFreedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests...
, and
associationFreedom of association is the individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests....
.
Sources
According to the U.S. State Department’s 2004 report on
human rightsHuman rights refer to the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the...
,
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
’s human rights record remains poor. A
state of emergencyA state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government, alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale for suspending civil liberties...
has been in effect since 1963. Security forces continue to commit numerous and serious human rights abuses including arbitrary arrest and detention,
tortureTorture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is:In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may be motivated to inflict torture on others for similar reasons to those of a state; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadistic gratification of...
in detention, prolonged detention without trial, fundamentally unfair trials in the security courts, and infringement on
privacyPrivacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
rights. Police and security forces are corrupt. Prison conditions are poor and do not meet international standards for health and sanitation. The regime significantly restricts
freedom of speechFreedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship or limitation. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
,
pressFreedom of the press consists ofconstitutional or statutory protections pertaining to the media and published materials.With respect to governmental information, any government distinguishes which materials are public or protected from disclosure to the public based on classification of information...
,
assemblyFreedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests...
, and
associationFreedom of association is the individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests....
. Kurds suffer systematic discrimination. After a brief period in 2000–2001 known as
Damascus SpringThe Damascus Spring was a period of intense political and social debate in Syria which started after the death of President Hafiz al-Asad in June 2000 and continued to some degree until autumn 2001, when most of the activities associated with it were suppressed by the government.- Background...
, during which time independent debating clubs were established,
satellite dishA dish is a type of parabolic antenna designed to receive microwaves from communications satellites, which transmit data transmissions or broadcasts, such as satellite television.-Principle of operation:...
es became much more prominent,
Internet caféAn internet café or cybercafé is a place where one can use a computer with Internet access, most for a fee, usually per hour or minute; sometimes one can have unmetered access with a pass for a day or month, etc...
s opened, new independent print publications were established, and political detainees from across the political spectrum were released, Decree No. 50/2001 was passed, which places severe restrictions on the media, especially the print media. According to Arab Press Freedom Watch, the current regime has one of the worst records on freedom of expression in the
Arab worldThe Arab World refers to Arabic-speaking countries stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast...
.
Political prisoners
Syria continues to attract criticism from human rights groups and foreign governments for its detention practices. Groups that are typically targeted include the Muslim Brotherhood, unauthorized Kurdish political organizations, the Hizb al-Tahrir Islamic Liberation Party, the pro-Iraqi Baath Party, and Islamic activists with suspected al Qaeda links. While scores are simply detained incommunicado and without trial others are tried under conditions that do not rise to the level of internationally-accepted norms for fair trials.
In their 2006 country report, Human Rights Watch reported on the continued detention of "thousands" of political prisoners, "many of them members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood and the Communist Party." They also cited the estimation of the Syrian Human Rights Committee that there are 4,000 political prisoners currently held in Syrian jails.
On December 13, 2006, US
President BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
decried
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061213-2.html the Syrian government's record saying "The Syrian regime should immediately free all
political prisonerA political prisoner is someone held in prison or otherwise detained, perhaps under house arrest, for his or her involvement in political activity.-"Political" prisoner:...
s, including Aref Dalila,
Michel KiloMichel Kilo is a Syrian Christian writer and human rights activist born in the Syrian Meditteranean coastal city and province of Latakia in 1940.-Career:...
, Anwar al-Bunni, Mahmoud Issa, and Kamal Labwani. I am deeply troubled by reports that some ailing political prisoners are denied health care while others are held in cells with violent criminals."
Lebanese prisoners
Bush also said "Syria should disclose the fate and whereabouts of the many missing Lebanese citizens who "disappeared" following their arrest in Lebanon during the decades of Syrian military occupation. The Syrian regime should also cease its efforts to undermine Lebanese sovereignty by denying the Lebanese people their right to participate in the democratic process free of foreign intimidation and interference."
Past Detentions
Syria has, to date, not addressed past detentions of thousands of "disappeared" political activists. Human Rights Watch has estimated that 17,000 political activists have been "disappeared" over the last 35 years in Syria.
Political rights
In 2005, the mainly US government funded
Freedom HouseFreedom House is a Washington-based international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights...
rated political rights in Syria as "7" (1 representing the most free and 7 the least free rating),
civil libertiesCivil liberties are rights in Freedom that protect an individual from the government of the nation in which they reside. Civil liberties set limits on government so that its members cannot abuse their power and interfere unduly with the lives of private citizens.Common civil liberties include the...
as "7" and gave it the freedom rating of "Not Free".
Freedom of religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the Government imposes restrictions on this right. While there is no official state religion, the Constitution requires that the president be Muslim and stipulates that Islamic jurisprudence is a principal source of legislation. The Constitution provides for freedom of faith and religious practice, provided that the religious rites do not disturb the public order. The Government continued to monitor the activities of all groups, including religious groups, and discouraged proselytism, which it deemed a threat to relations among religious groups. The Government also continued to discriminate against the Jehovah's Witnesses. There were occasional reports of minor tensions between religious groups, some attributable to economic rivalries rather than religious affiliation.
See also
- Wissam Tarif
Wissam Kassem Tarif has played a key role in the field of pro-Democracy and Human Rights work in Syria and Lebanon, as both an intellectual and activist...
- LGBT rights in Syria
- Human rights in the Middle East
Human rights in the Middle East are often reported to be a cause of concern among many outsider observers, governmental and non-governmental. However, the state of human rights varies from nation to nation. For example, Jordan and Bahrain have a good progressive human rights record...
External links