International observers and commentaries from scholars show that human rights situation in Syria are considerably poor. From early 1923 to 1946 Syria was under the control of France. During that period, there were concerns regarding human rights such as the French treatment of Druze in their autonomous southern territory as peasants and prisoners (Paul, 1990, p. 9). The French used the Druze as forced labor. Following the Great Syrian Revolt, the French forces laid siege in the countryside and in Damascus. The forces killed about 6,000 rebels and displaced over 100,000 civilians. The authorities displayed the mutilated bodies of rebels within Damascus and Syrian villages as a way to intimidate the opponents (Provence, 2005). Consequently, in 1926, the martial court executed about 355 Syrians without allowing them legal representation (Schumann, 2008, p. 70). Further, the courts sentenced many Syrians in absentia to sentences varying from death, life imprisonment, and varying prison sentences with hard labor.
Hafez al-Assad responded in 1982 to an insurgence in Hama City. He Al-Assad sent paramilitary forces to kill indiscriminately. This led to the killing of between 10,000 and 50,000 civilians in the Hama massacre (Ghadry, 2005).
Accordingly, the state of emergency that was in existence from 1963 to 2011 enhances the opinion of observers. The state of emergency provided the security forces considerable powers to arrest and detain. For a long time, people have accused authorities of harassing opposition members and human rights activists using the security forces.
Further, Amnesty International claims that the Syrian regime may be perpetrating crimes against humanity following the 2011 uprising as per witness accounts. This is particularly with reference to the increased arbitrary detentions, torture claims, and deaths of detained persons following government crackdowns.
As to religion, the Syrian Constitution acknowledges freedom of religion. However, the constitution restricts this freedom by providing that the president must be a Muslim. The constitution further provides the Islamic jurisprudence that is the extension of the Sharia Islamic Law to be the ultimate source of legislation. The freedom of movement is also highly restricted especially for people who wish to approach foreign embassies. Accordingly, those hoping to travel to other countries must first acquire exit visas from the authorities (Ghadry, 2005).
The freedom of speech is limited and so is the media freedom. The Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party controls the media. Authorities continue to harass and arrest journalists for their reporting. The treatment is the same for the online reporters who run unfavorable reports against the government and security forces. Consequently, there is an extensive internet censorship. As such, the government bans political websites and authorities arrest people who access such sites and those that post political comments in social sites (Zisser, 2006, p. 47). In 2009, the Syrian government banned the Syrian Centre for Media and Free Expression, the only NGO that focused on media concerns.
It is noteworthy that for a long time, successive regimes enhanced racial and ethnic discrimination. The government denied citizenship to the Kurds who are non-Arabs and who constitute about 10 percent of Syrian population. However, it is notable that the government recognized the Kurds as Syrian citizens in 2011. Further, discrimination against women regarding personal status is widespread. The Syrian Penal Code has provisions that discriminate the girls and women. For instance, the penal code allows the judges to suspend sentence for rapists if the perpetrator chooses to marry the victim. The penal code also provides for clemency for the alleged ‘honor crimes’ such as the murder of girls or women by the male relatives for supposed sexual transgressions.
References
Ghadry, N. (2005). "Syrian Reform: What Lies Beneath". The Middle East Quarterly. pp. 61-70.
Paul, J. (1990). Human Rights in Syria (Middle East Watch report). Human Rights Watch.
Provence, M. (2005). "The Spread of Rebellion". The Great Syrian Revolt: And the Rise of Arab
Nationalism. University of Texas Press. pp. 87–107.
Schumann C. (2008). Liberal Thought in the Eastern Mediterranean: Late 19th Century Until
the 1960s. Brill. pp. 70–71.
Zisser, E. (2006). Commanding Syria: Bashar al-Asad and the First Years in Power (Library of
Modern Middle East Studies). New York: I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd.
