Syria Atrocities Vs Israeli Atrocities
Picture (CNN) Supporters of al-Assad celebrate during a referendum vote in Damascus on February 26, 2012. Opposition activists reported at least 55 deaths across the country as Syrians headed to the polls. Analysts and protesters widely described the constitutional referendum as a farce. "Essentially, what (al-Assad's) done here is put a piece of paper that he controls to a vote that he controls so that he can try and maintain control," a US State Department spokeswoman said.
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“Wait out the storm and you can outlast your enemies”
(Jeremy Bowen, BBC International editor 20th May 2023 )
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Syria Atrocities Vs Israeli Atrocities
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Introduction
During the Hamas and the State of Israel conflict there have been many accusations made against Israel for various violations of the Geneva Conventions and the Law of war. The United Nations, western press and media outlets with various Arab press groups along with propaganda from the Islamic Republic of Iran have labelled Israel for being the worst perpetrators in the Middle East against any another group residing in the region.
The Middle East for decades has seen wars between various nations as they cannot find a dialogue to resolve their differences. Although war is a very ghastly act so are the reasons for starting them. In the case of Israel, it was the invasion of its territory, the slaughter and rape of Israelis and the illegal taking of hostages. When Hamas conducted this attack, they knew that the Israeli’s would retaliate, Hamas chose the battleground and the guerrilla war that would accompany it.
But what if the conflict is against your own people? A civil-war? Does that mean that the rules of war and Geneva Conventions must be disregarded by the regime in power who are fighting for their existence against those who attempt to overthrow them? Should they be allowed to do as they please to a population in order to remain in power?
The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011, is a complex and devastating conflict that has had far-reaching consequences. The war emerged from a series of protests during the Arab Spring in Syria. Initially, protesters demanded political reforms, greater freedoms, and an end to government corruption. The Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, responded with force, leading to widespread unrest and armed conflict.
Multiple actors and factions are involved. Government Forces, backed by Russia and Iran, seek to maintain Assad’s rule. Rebel Groups initially aimed for democratic reforms but later splintered into different factions. Kurdish Forces focused on autonomy in northern Syria. Islamic Extremist Groups which include the Islamic State (ISIS) and al-Qaeda affiliates. Also, external powers such as the United States, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia have supported different factions.
The current leader of the Syrian Arab Republic is Bashar al-Assad who became president in 2000. He succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad who died on the 10th June 2000. The national legislature of Syria approved a constitutional amendment lowering the age of a president from 40 to 34 which coincidently was the age of Bashar al-Assad at the time. On the 10th July 2000 and running for president, unopposed, Bashar was elected as president for a seven-year term, that was twenty-four years ago. Since being elected the son, Bashar, has inherited a great deal of his father’s authoritarian ways. Bashar has been re-elected ever since by a near unanimous majorities although elections have been received as a sham.
Both father and son have a very violent history when putting down attempted overthrows. Both will do anything to stay in power regardless of the actions that they take to do so.
Syria, Father and Son. The Islamic
President Hafez al-Assad (12th March 1971 – 10th June 2000)
Whilst being president Hafez al-Assad crushed an Islamist uprising led by the Muslim Brotherhood through a series of suppressions which culminated in the Hama Massacre . The massacre which started in 1976 by Sunni Muslim groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, was brutally crushed in an anti-Sunni massacre at Hama, carried out by the Syrian Arab Army and Alawite militias.
During the fight the Syrian military bombed the city of Hama from the air in order to lay the ground for infantry and tanks to advance. There were rumours of hydrogen cyanide being used by Syrian forces. Suspecting that rebels were still hiding in tunnels under the old city, government forces had diesel fuel pumped into them and stationed tanks at their entrances to shell fleeing militants. Indiscriminate bombardment by government forces razed much of the city's districts, streets, heritage sites, mosques and churches. Looting was rife and numerous families were rounded up and shot.
Before the start of operations in the city of Hama Hafez al-Assad issued orders to seal off the city from the outside world; effectively imposing a media blackout, total shut down of communications, electricity and food supplies to the city for months. The massacre remained the "single deadliest act" of violence perpetrated by an Arab state upon its own population, in the history of Modern Middle East. The attack has been described as a "genocidal massacre " which was motivated by sectarian animosities against the Sunni community of Hama. This statement would change in the future.
Deaths during the 27-day seize of the Hama (3rd July 2011 – 4th August 2011) Syrian operation was responsible for, according to Amnesty International , initially estimated at between 10, 000 and 25, 000 who were killed. Reports by Syrian Human Rights Committee claimed that "over 25,000" or between 30,000 and 40,000 people were killed. Syrian journalist Subhi Hadidi , in an article titled "The Hamat Massacre and the Syrian 'Experience' in Fighting Terrorism," wrote that Syrian army units were responsible for killing 30,000 or 40,000 of the city's citizens – in addition to the 15,000 missing who have not been found to this day, and the 100,000 expelled."
The Hama incident is just one of many during Hafez al-Assad presidential time. There is no details on how many were killed during the Islamist uprising in Syria from the 31st May 1976 to the 28th February 1982 but it is highly likely that the death toll would far exceed those figures already reported.
In March 2024 news outlets reported that the uncle to the current Syrian President, Rifaat al-Assad, was to stand trial in Switzerland for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity that decades ago earned him the nickname "The Butcher of Hama". The office of Switzerland's Attorney General (OAG) said it was charging the former Syrian vice president and former Syrian army officer with a long list of crimes committed, during a notorious clash between the Syrian military and Islamist opposition in the town of Hama in western Syria.
Rifaat al-Assad was being "charged with ordering homicides, acts of torture, cruel treatments and illegal detentions." He is also charged with alleged "war crimes and crimes against humanity", the Swiss said, they were committed "in his capacity as commander of the defence brigades ... and commander of operations in Hama", in central Syria. They took place "within the context of the armed conflict and the widespread and systematic attack launched against the population of the city of Hama", it said. Security forces killed thousands to crush a Muslim Brotherhood uprising in the city that year.
President Bashar al-Assad
Fast forward to 2011 when protesters took to the streets of Syria in peaceful demonstrations which had been inspired by the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring was a series of pro-democracy protests against authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and in North Africa starting in 2010. The demonstrations began in Tunisia and then in Egypt toppling both regimes quickly. These inspired events then spread to other Arab countries. Not every country saw success but did bring in other laws to soften the regimes in power and appeasing those citizens in their respective countries. However, in Syria’s case the peaceful protests turned ugly.
Anti-regime graffiti on public walls was the starting point by a group of children which led to arresting the perpetrators who then held for days whilst being tortured. This led to minor local demonstrations calling for their release. The demonstrators in different parts of Syria became united with the focus then pointing to the authoritarian regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
By 2012 there appeared to be an armed insurgency bringing Syria into a full-scale civil war. Many armed groups seized key cities in the north, including parts of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. As the government lost territory in 2013, Lebanon’s Hezbollah openly deployed its fighters and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) dispatched military ‘advisors’ to prop up the Assad government.
Many of the protesters belonged to the country’s Sunni majority, while the ruling Assad family were members of the country’s Shia Alawite minority[1]. Alawites dominated the security forces and the irregular militias that carried out some of the worst violence against protesters and suspected opponents of the regime.
As the civil-war progressed so did the sectarian divisions with Assad likening the opposition as Sunni Islamic extremists similar to al-Qaeda and claiming foreign conspiracies against Syria.
Assad Tactics Against the Opposition During the Civil War
During the conflict, Syrian government forces had attacked civilians waiting at bakeries for food with artillery rounds in opposition-controlled areas, collective punishment against Sunni suburbs in-and-around the capital after it was retaken in 2012 . Human Rights watch had evidence that cluster bombs had been used by Syrian forces. The use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of cluster munitions is prohibited by the 2008 international Convention on Cluster Munitions treaty.
Deliberate demolition of opposition neighbourhoods. In 2012 Human Rights Watch analysis of satellite imagery in 2014 showed that in the subsequent two years, the Syrian authorities had demolished a total of at least 145 hectares of mostly residential buildings in seven neighbourhoods in Hama and Damascus.
The Syrian government has reportedly used "barrel bombs " to attack civilian populations in rebel held territories in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2139 passed on 22 February 2014[2]. The bombs are "cheaply made, locally produced, and typically constructed from large oil drums, gas cylinders, and water tanks, filled with high explosives and scrap metal to enhance fragmentation, and then dropped from helicopters"
Systematic killing Syrian government officials could face war crimes charges in the light of a huge cache of evidence smuggled out of the country showing the "systematic killing " of about 11,000 detainees. Most of the victims were young men and many corpses were emaciated, bloodstained and bore signs of torture. Some had no eyes; others showed signs of strangulation or electrocution. Experts say this evidence is more detailed and on a far larger scale than anything else that had yet to emerge from the 34-month crisis.
On the 13th August 2014 the United Nations Human Rights Council issued the “Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.” The summary stated; The findings presented in the present report, based on 480 interviews and evidence collected between 20th January and the 15th July 2014, establish that the conduct of the warring parties in the Syrian Arab Republic had caused civilians immeasurable suffering.
Government forces continued to perpetrate massacres and conduct widespread attacks on civilians, systematically committing murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearance amounting to crimes against humanity. Syrian government forces had committed gross violations of human rights and the war crimes of murder, hostage-taking, torture, rape and sexual violence, recruiting and using children in hostilities and targeting civilians. Government forces disregarded the special protection accorded to hospitals, medical and humanitarian personnel. Indiscriminate and disproportionate aerial bombardment and shelling led to mass civilian casualties and the spread of terror.
Another UN report released on the 5th February 2015 stated that the war had been "characterized by a complete lack of adherence to the norms of international law" and that "civilians had borne the brunt of the suffering inflicted by the warring parties"
According to the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry medical personnel had been targeted during the civil war. According to Physicians for Human Rights, the Syrian government "responded to popular protests with months of sustained and extreme violence and intimidation and an all-out assault on the country's medical system ." The government denied "wounded civilians’ impartial medical treatment", invaded, attacked and misused hospitals, attacked and impeded medical transport, and detained and tortured doctors for treating wounded civilians, according to the group. In government-run hospitals pro-regime staff "routinely performed amputations for minor injuries, as a form of punishment", wounded protesters were taken from hospital wards by security and intelligence agents. Ambulances with wounded protesters were commandeered by security agents to go to facilities for interrogation and sometimes torture. In response medical personnel created secret medical units to treat injured.
Men and women had been subjected to sexual violence by government forces. Amnesty International had received reports of men being raped. According to the UN, sexual violence in detention is directed principally against men and boys,? rather than women and girls.
Several testimonies reported the practice of sexual torture used on male detainees. Men were routinely made to undress and remain naked. Several former detainees testified reported beatings of genitals, forced oral sex, electroshocks and cigarette burns to the anus in detention facilities . . . Several of the detainees were repeatedly threatened that they would be raped in front of their family and that their wives and daughters would also be raped. Testimonies were received from several men who stated they had been anally raped with batons and that they had witnessed the rape of boys. One man stated that he witnessed a 15-year-old boy being raped in front of his father. A 40-year-old man saw the rape of an 11-year-old boy by three security services officers.?
Bashar al-Assad and Chemical Weapons
On the 15th November 2023 the Guardian newspaper wrote that a French court had issued an international arrest warrant for the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for complicity in war crimes against humanity linked to chemical weapon attacks on civilians.
On the 12th August 2013 reports ? of chemical weapons being used in Syria rocked the world, as it saw news footage of people suffering from what appeared to be the effects of a chemical attack. News reports filtered in from various news agencies along with film footage that could not be verified of people in obvious discomfort and later bodies of dead Syrians. It later transpired that the Syrian military was carrying out an operation in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta where the reports of a gas attack were stemming from. However, the Syrian government denied that it had used any chemical weapons.
Not the First Time
This was not the first occasion that Syria had been accused of using chemical weapons on its own people. On 19th March 2013, in the village of Khan al-Assal in Aleppo there were reports? that the regime had used chemical weapons. Again, it strongly denied those reports and accused the rebels of carrying out the attack which they also denied. It was clear by the language that was used that there had been a chemical attack of sorts but without independent verification the accusations could be taken no further. Although samples from the area had allegedly been smuggled out to the United Kingdom and the United States, these samples did show that a chemical agent was used but it did not, or could not, determine by whom.
It may have been that the attack on 19th March was a test run to see how the world would have reacted should chemical weapons be used in the future. Admittedly, there was an outcry and few harsh words but that was as far as it went. No further action followed. However, the attack on 21st August could prove to have been a step too far.
President Bashar al-Assad believed that the west would do nothing and had even stated that the western intervention would be doomed.
The Syrian government was relying on its powerful allies Russia, China and Iran to keep the west away from carrying out any military action and getting involved in what was seen as a civil war. The United Nations were powerless to do anything because of the restrictions placed upon the mission to investigate the potential chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government.
The Intervention
The United States and Western governments appeared frightened of getting involved in Syria due to the alleged false intelligence reports in the build-up to the Iraq war and public opinion because it might be seen as interfering in Middle Eastern affairs once again. Another reason was the fear of the backlash from Islamic militants which could strengthen their recruitment and lead to a much larger escalation in terrorist attacks on Syrian soil and abroad.
The international community agreed that chemical weapons had been used. Even the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani , had said that there was proof of use, but did not say by whom. This would not be the first time that a dictator has used chemical weapons to attack his own people as Saddam Hussein had shown.
The chemical bombardment on 16th March 1988 in the village of Halabja , approximately 150 miles north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The attack was part of the Al-Anfal Campaign in Kurdistan and occurred during the closing days of the Iran-Iraq War. A United Nations (UN) medical investigation confirmed the use of mustard gas and unidentified nerve agents.
The incident resulted in the largest chemical weapons attack against a civilian-populated area in history. 3,200 to 5,000 people were killed, and 7,000 to 10,000 more were injured, most of them civilians. Preliminary surveys showed an increased rate of cancer and birth defects in the affected region afterward.
The west called for some sort of action against the Assad government but it would have to be careful in its response, as the Syrian government was unpredictable. There may also have been retaliation from Iran whose deputy chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Massoud Jazayeri, said, “America knows the limitation of the red line of the Syrian front and any crossing of Syria’s red line will have severe consequences .”? The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Layrov also said that any such action would violate international law. Words we would here again and again in the future.
Chemical Weapons
There are numerous chemical weapons available to various governments. The Syrian government was known to possess two of which were, Mustard and Nerve agents. However, mustard gas has prominent signs and symptoms once used, nerve agents are totally different.
Syrian officials had admitted ? to stocking chemical weapons and said that they would never use them against their own people. At the time the Syrian government had never signed the Chemical Weapons Convention nor ratified the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention. Thus, no one was quite sure what the country had in its armory .?
Chemical weapons are used to kill and terrorize since its use gives no warning to those it is targeted against. A chemical weapon is a chemical substance which is intended for military operations to kill, seriously injure or incapacitate through its physiological effects. From this definition chemical agents can be divided into three categories according to their military use: Incapacitating, damaging and lethal.
Incapacitating agents are designed to disable personnel and prevent them from carrying out their tasks. Damaging agents are primarily used to cause casualties, either short or long term which may lead to death. Lethal agents are designed to kill but non-lethal doses may incapacitate.
The agents fall into two categories; persistent and non-persistent. Persistent agents are designed to contaminate the surface producing a vapor hazard that, depending on conditions, has a variable life expectancy. It is used in a lot of cases to deny the area to the enemy as it is of longer-term nature – weathering takes much longer to take effect - less manpower intensive, so therefore those on the offensive can redirect troops to other areas in the battlefield. It maximizes/stretches the?enemies’ medical facilities until a decontamination team arrives to clear up or the agent has disseminated or it is left to disseminate on its own.
Non persistent agents are designed to contaminate the air alone to cause casualties without contaminating the surface or surfaces. Often used during an attack to maximize casualties or prior to an attack to kill as many as possible making it easier for the opposing force.
Forms of delivery are disseminating by means of vapor (gas) in aerosol, liquids or solids (powder). Means of delivery can be by bursting munitions (bombs), rockets, shells and mines or by means of aerial spray, such as aircraft or venting missiles.
Nerve agents are lethal agents, as they interfere with the nervous system and disrupt such functions as breathing and muscular coordination. They may be delivered in a persistent or non-persistent format. Routes of entry into the body can be from inhalation, absorption and ingestion. Normal clothing and bare skin are easily penetrated by liquid whereas without any protection vapor will be easily inhaled with death following within seconds.
The signs and symptoms of a nerve chemical agent on a victim are a running nose and increase of saliva; tightness of the chest and difficulty in breathing, eyes will also be affected if the agent has been absorbed through the eyes. Later the casualty will suffer from headaches, dizziness and general weakness with excessive sweating. The final symptoms will be nausea and vomiting with involuntary body functions, muscle twitching and jerking followed by a stoppage of breathing.
A mustard agent if exposed to bare skin causes huge blisters that if burst either intentionally or accidently allow the liquid to spread causing more blisters. If inhaled the agent causes blisters in the trachea which eventually cause the wind-pipe to close and the casualty suffocates to death.
Government forces used chlorine gas, an illegal weapon
Chlorine is a chemical element used to disinfect water and is part of the sanitation process for sewage and industrial waste. During the production of paper and cloth, chlorine is used as a bleaching agent. It is also used in cleaning products, including household bleach which is chlorine dissolved in water.
Chlorine gas was used during the Syrian civil war by dropping barrel bombs of the gas on citizens of Aleppo in September 2016. As well as barrel bombs Syrian government forces used warheads on short-range missiles containing chlorine gas against their own people. Assad ignored the United Nations when they demanded that he stop using such tactics.
The United Nations Security Council adopted United Nations Security Council resolution 2235 (2015) on the 7th August 2015 , in response to use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War. It was later concluded that the Syrian air force was responsible for chlorine gas attacks in 2017 and 2018.
Once the gas is released it stay close to the ground being much heavier than air it also has the odor of bleach. Some of the signs that chlorine gas is present is the casualty will feel tightness of the chest, blurred vision, a burning sensation to the nose, throat, lungs and eyes along with many more symptoms.
Exposures can lead to symptoms of acute airway obstruction including wheezing, cough, chest tightness, and/or dyspnea. These findings are fairly nonspecific, and might be present after exposures to the chemical irritant. Clinical signs, includes wheezing, more severely affected individuals may suffer acute lung injury (ALI) and/or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
Investigators from the global chemical weapons agency found the Syrian regime responsible for a poison gas attack that killed 43 people in a suburb of Damascus in 2018, leaving victims choking to death in the basement of a home.
Syria and their Chemical Weapons
The Syrian government ordered the use chemical weapons against the Free Syrian Army (FSA) during select battles with Syrian regime forces, a defected general told Al Arabiya on the 28th April 2013 .
A former army general from the chemical weapons branch, Zahir al-Sakit, said he was instructed to use chemical weapons during a regime battle with the FSA in the southwestern area of Hauran.
Syrian activists had claimed on numerous occasions that government forces had used chemical weapons to attack rebel fighters and civilians. The government denied all of these allegations, describing them as mere propaganda .
Syria’s acquisition of chemical weapons has a complex history.
According to declassified intelligence documents, Syria received significant assistance from the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. These countries provided chemical agents, delivery systems, and training for Syria’s chemical weapons program. A 1983 National Intelligence Estimate specifically lists Syria as a “major recipient of Soviet CW (Chemical Warfare) assistance”. The support from these nations allowed Syria to develop its chemical weapons capabilities.
While the Soviet Union played a crucial role, evidence also suggests that Western European companies may have been involved. Equipment and precursor chemicals likely came from private companies in Western Europe . German intelligence sources even believe that blueprints for some of Syria’s poison gas plants originated from Moscow.
Syria’s chemical weapons program began in the 1970s, with initial weapons and training provided by Egypt. Production of chemical weapons in Syria started in the mid-1980s.
Investigations into chemical attacks in Syria have revealed connections to Soviet-produced weaponry. For instance , a sarin nerve agent attack involved a Soviet-produced 140mm rocket. Additionally, the remnants of these rockets bore Cyrillic letters, further implicating Russian involvement.
Syria’s chemical weapons program received support from multiple sources, including the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and potentially Western European companies. The exact extent of this assistance remains challenging to ascertain, but it underscores the complexity of Syria’s chemical weapons history.
Syria was compelled to surrender its chemical weapons due to a combination of international pressure, diplomatic efforts, and security concerns.
The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC ), an international treaty, aims to eliminate chemical weapons worldwide. Syria was not a party to the CWC initially, but in 2013, under intense global scrutiny, it agreed to join. As part of this commitment, Syria pledged to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile.
On the 21st August 2013 , a sarin gas attack occurred in the Ghouta region near Damascus, Syria. One thousand four hundred people were killed, including more than 400 children, drawing widespread condemnation. The international community demanded accountability and action.
The United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW ) played pivotal roles. A joint UN-OPCW mission investigated the Ghouta attack and confirmed the use of chemical weapons. This intensified pressure on Syria to comply with the CWC.
Diplomatic negotiations ensued, involving major powers like the United States, Russia, and other regional actors. These efforts aimed to find a peaceful resolution and prevent further chemical attacks.
The U.S. and its allies considered military strikes against Syria in response to the Ghouta attack. However, a diplomatic solution emerged: Syria agreed to dismantle its chemical weapons program to avert military action.
Surrendering chemical weapons was also in Syria’s interest. Possessing such weapons posed risks, including accidental releases, theft by extremist groups, or retaliation from other nations.
The destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons became a multilateral effort. OPCW inspectors oversaw the process, and the weapons were removed and destroyed outside Syria.
Syria’s surrender of chemical weapons was driven by international pressure, the desire for regional stability, and the need to comply with global norms against chemical warfare.
Arab Reaction to Assad’s Use of Chemical Weapons on His Own People
The use of chemical weapons during the Syrian civil war had evoked a range of opinions within the Arab world.
Many Arab countries and individuals strongly condemned Bashar al-Assad’s regime for using chemical weapons against Syrian civilians. The horrific images of victims suffering from chemical attacks, such as the nerve agent Sarin, shocked the world and elicited widespread condemnation.
Arab leaders and citizens alike expressed outrage at the suffering inflicted upon innocent people. Some Arab nations called for accountability and justice for the victims of chemical attacks.
The issuance of international arrest warrants by a French court for Assad and senior Syrian officials involved in the 2013 chemical weapons attack were seen as a crucial step toward holding perpetrators accountable.
However, opinions are not uniform across the Arab world. Geopolitical considerations, historical alliances, and regional dynamics play a role. Some Arab states maintained diplomatic relations with Syria and did not take a strong public stance against Assad’s regime. Others viewed the use of chemical weapons as a grave violation of human rights and international norms, regardless of political affiliations.
Arab civilians who witnessed the devastating impact of chemical attacks share a common sentiment. The slow and agonizing death caused by chemical agents is unlike conventional weapons, leaving victims suffocated and deprived of oxygen. For those that lived in rebel-held areas, the threat of chemical attacks added to their constant state of worry.
The Arab opinion regarding Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons was multifaceted, reflecting a mix of condemnation, calls for justice, and geopolitical complexities.
Deaths, Disappearance and Displacement During Basher al-Assad’s Rule
On the 15th March 2023 Relief Web along with the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) published a detailed report on the human toll that Assad has inflicted on his own people since the start of popular uprising for democracy in Syria.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR )[3] announced in a report marking the 12th anniversary of the popular uprising for democracy in Syria that it has documented the deaths of 230,224 Syrian civilians, including 15,272 who died due to torture, in addition to the arbitrary arrest/enforced disappearance of 154,817 others, while roughly 14 million citizens have been displaced. In the report, the group also stresses that a democratic political transition remains the principal demand of the popular uprising in its 12th year.
Relief Web (a humanitarian information service provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)) On the 12th Anniversary of the Popular Uprising: A Total of 230,224 Civilians Documented as Dead, including 15,275 Who Died due to Torture, 154,871 Arrested and/or Forcibly Disappeared, and Roughly 14 million Syrians Displaced.
Verónica Michelle Bachelet (a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022) told the Human Rights Council noting that this total was an “under-count of the actual number of killings.”
Basher al-Assad War Crimes
Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria, has faced serious allegations of committing war crimes during the 13-year Syrian civil war. The Assad regime has been accused of using chemical weapons, including chlorine gas, against civilians. These attacks have caused immense suffering and loss of life.
Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria, is facing serious accusations related to war crimes during the Syrian civil war. In 2013, a UN inquiry found “massive evidence” that Assad was implicated in war crimes. The UN’s human rights chief stated that the evidence indicated responsibility at the highest level of government, including the head of state.
Assad’s forces had engaged in indiscriminate and disproportionate aerial bombardment and shelling. These actions led to mass civilian casualties and widespread fear among the population.
Independent organizations, such as the Independent Commission for International Justice and Accountability, collected over 900,000 government documents . These documents provide evidence of systematic violence and atrocities committed by Assad’s regime.
The international community expressed outrage and concern over these alleged war crimes.
In November 2023, a French court on the 15th November 2023 issued an international arrest warrant for Bashar al-Assad for complicity in war crimes against humanity linked to chemical weapon attacks on civilians. While these allegations persist, the pursuit of justice remains a complex challenge.
On the 12th March 2024 the Swiss attorney general said that Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will stand trial in Switzerland for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The attorney general's office released a statement saying that Rifaat al-Assad is "charged with ordering homicides, acts of torture, cruel treatments and illegal detentions in Syria in February 1982" during the conflict between the Syrian Armed Forces and Islamist opposition. He had earned the title of "The Butcher of Hama" in reference Hafez al-Assad destruction and murder of the Hama city.
In July 2023, US Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar introduced a bill urging the United States to support international efforts in holding the Syrian government accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
While this bill was a step toward accountability, it remains a complex challenge. Despite these efforts, full accountability for war crimes committed during the Syrian conflict remains an ongoing process.
Arab League Expulsion and Reinstatement
Basher al-Assad, Syria was suspended in November 2011 from the Arab League because of his and his countries failure to stop the blood-shed in Syria against the peaceful demonstrations after he cracked down on them during protests after the Arab Spring.
The British newspaper ‘The Guardian ’ reported; At an emergency session of its 22 member states in Cairo to discuss the crisis, the league decided to exclude Syria until it implements the terms of an earlier agreed peace deal to stop the violence. The league also agreed to impose economic and political sanctions on Syria over its failure to stop the violence and appealed to its member states to withdraw their ambassadors from Damascus.
In May 2023 those who abolished Assad welcomed him back into the Arab League. Assad said about his reinstatement , “a new phase of Arab action for solidarity among us, for peace in our region, development and prosperity.”
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The Interpreter wrote; “Syrian opposition activists and displaced persons responded to the rehabilitation of Assad by the Arab League with dismay, some characterising it as a “grand betrayal” of the Syrian people, given the 12 years of human rights abuses they have endured at Assad’s hand.”
President Bashar al-Assad 20th May 2023 at the Arab league Summit in Jeddah said, "It is important to leave internal affairs to the country's people as they are best able to manage them."
It seems as though the Arab world had forgotten about the war crimes Basher al-Assad had been accused of as he freely walks amongst them. Jeremy Bowen the BBC Middle East correspondent said, “Wait out the storm and you can outlast your enemies.”
Allies
Syria and Iran share a strategic alliance that has persisted for several decades. Despite ideological differences—Syria’s secular Ba’ath Party ideology versus Iran’s pan-Islamist policy—the two countries have maintained a close relationship.
The alliance between Syria and Iran dates back to the Iran–Iraq War when Syria supported non-Arab Iran against neighbouring Ba’ath-ruled Iraq. Both countries harboured a common animosity toward then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Their coordination extended to countering the influence of the United States and Israel.
Syria cooperates with Iran in sending arms to Palestinian groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon. During the Syrian Civil War, Iran played a significant role alongside Russia in supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to remain in power. Together with Iraq and Russia, they form an anti-terrorism alliance headquartered in Baghdad.
Syria and Iran’s alliance has endured despite challenges, reflecting their shared interests and historical context.
Iran has played a significant role in supporting Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria, during the Syrian civil war. Iran provided critical battlefield support to Assad’s regime. This includes deploying combat troops, advising Syrian military forces, and coordinating operations.
Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters had been instrumental in bolstering Assad’s forces. Many of these fighters were battle-hardened and experienced. Iranian security and intelligence services assisted the Syrian military in various ways to maintain Assad’s hold on power.
The Russian air force, in conjunction with Iran and Hezbollah, helped crush the uprising against Assad. President Assad’s visits to Iran reflect the intent to strengthen strategic ties between Damascus and Tehran. These visits aimed to deepen cooperation and ensure Assad’s control over Syrian territories.
Iran strategically utilizes its alliance with Bashar al-Assad to further its interests in the region, including actions against Israel. Here are some ways in which this alliance plays out.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on the 9th December 2020 his country will continue to support Syria, urging Damascus to confront Israel in the occupied Golan Heights. The Islamic Republic of Iran will “continue its support to the Syrian government and people as our strategic ally and we will stand by Syria until its final victory.” Rouhani said confronting “Zionist occupiers and terrorism” is the joint goal of both nations. “Until the liberation of all occupied lands including the Golan, confronting Zionist occupiers,” should continue.
The IRGC’s primary responsibility in the present era is to extend the foreign and defence depth of the Islamic Revolution, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi said in an address to an academic meeting on the 7th March 2021 and reported in Tehran’s Tasnim News.
In 2014 the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) recruited Afghan Shia personnel to form the Fatemiyoun Division or Fatemiyoun Brigade to fight in Syria. The group’s official designated purpose was to defend the Shrine of Zaynab bint Ali (The cousin of the Prophet Muhammed) and to fight Takfiri (An Arabic and Islamic term used to denote a Muslim who excommunicates or is expelled) terrorists. The group was funded, trained and equipped by Iran with the fighters being led by Iranian officers. According to the Human Rights Watch they committed war crimes by recruiting children, some as young as 14, to fight in Syria. Iran did not just offer Afghan refugees and migrants incentives to fight in Syria, but several said they were threatened with deportation back to Afghanistan unless they did. An accusation Iran denied.
The Afghan fighters were impoverished, religiously devout, or ostracized from society. They sought money, social acceptance, and a sense of purpose that they could not find at home. Some went to Syria for a financial incentive, while others were motivated by a desire to defend holy Shia sites in Syria.
Central to this recruitment were people who acted as middleman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC). They connected with combat-willing men through Iran’s embassy in Kabul. The embassy assisted with visas and travel arrangements, paying the middleman a commission for their role. In return for fighting, Afghans were offered a residence permit in Iran and a monthly salary of about $500.
It was thought that around 20,000 Afghan Shia personnel fought in Syria to save the government of President Basher al-Assad. Such was the Iranian importance of keeping Assad in power to be used at a later date.
Syria and Iran Military and Strategic Cooperation
The Quds Force, part of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is a key player. It provides training, weapons, funding, and military advice to various groups within the so-called “Axis of Resistance.”
General Qasem Soleimani, who led the Quds Force, wielded significant influence over Shia armed groups in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon (notably Hezbollah). Soleimani was killed in an American drone attack on the 3rd January 2020.
Hezbollah, backed by Iran, operates in Lebanon and has a strong presence near Israel’s northern border. Syria serves as a conduit for the transfer of arms to Hezbollah. By supporting Syria, Iran gains a foothold in the Arab-Israeli arena. This allows Iran to open up a second front against Israel, enhancing its strategic position. Additionally, Syria provides Iran with a base from which it can target US positions in the region.
Iran invests in Syria’s social and religious sphere, establishing institutions to strengthen the Shiite faith. Syria becomes a lever for Iran’s tactical and operational activities against Israel, reinforcing their shared anti-Israel stance. Iran leverages its alliance with Bashar al-Assad to exert influence in the region, challenge Israel, and maintain a strategic foothold.
Ideologically speaking, one of the major pillars of Iran’s foreign policy has been anchored in exporting its revolution to other Muslim nations. This critical mission has been incorporated into the constitution of the Islamic Republic. As a result, the Alawite sect-based state of Syria serves as a crucial instrument for advancing, empowering, and achieving this ideological foreign policy objective. The Syrian Alawite sect-based state of Syria serves as a crucial instrument for advancing, empowering, and achieving this ideological foreign policy objective.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR ) reported on the 16th October 2021 that the Iranian-backed Iraqi group Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba is building a number of weapons workshops in the eastern countryside of Syria’s Raqqa. The workshops will reportedly manufacture mortar rounds, rocket launch rails and bullets of different calibres for Iranian-backed forces. Damascus has declined to comment on such accusations in the past and Tehran has denied it builds production capabilities across the Middle East.
In a Tasnim News report dated 23rd March 22, claimed Syria’s National Security Advisor Ali Mamluk praised Iran for playing a prominent role in strengthening regional stability and countering the terrorist groups (United States and Israel). During the visit to Damascus, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian held a meeting with Syrian National Security Advisor Ali Mamluk. In the meeting, the Syrian national security advisor underscored Iran’s key role in stabilizing the region and fighting against the terrorist groups.
Axis of Resistance
The Axis of Resistance is an informal Iran-led political and military coalition in West Asia and North Africa. It brings together various groups and governments, despite their differing ideologies, with the shared objective of opposing the regional influence of Western countries, Israel, and certain Sunni Islamists perceived as a threat to Iran’s ideology of Shia Islamism.
The Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, is a central member. Syria has been a stronghold against Western and Israeli interests in the region. Groups include the Lebanese political party and militant group Hezbollah who play a significant role. They have a strong presence near Israel’s northern border.
Ansar Allah the Yemeni political and military organization, also known as the Houthis, opposes Saudi and Western influence in Yemen.
Various Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas, Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and others, align with the Axis of Resistance in their struggle against Israel.
Despite their differences, these groups are unified by their anti-Western sentiment, opposition to Israel, and commitment to Shia Islamism. The Axis of Resistance remains an influential force in the region, projecting power and challenging established dynamics.
Weapon and Logistics from Tehran to Damascus
Iran employs various methods to transport weapons and logistics from Iran to Syria, ensuring support for its allies in the region and its fight against the State of Israel and the United States.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has championed the proliferation of precise weaponry to its proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon. This vision emphasizes not only the quantity but also the quality and precision of missiles and rockets. Iranian ballistic missiles have evolved to include steering wings, allowing for manoeuvring during atmospheric entry based on GNSS (GPS and GLONASS) and inertial guidance. The result is precision levels between 10 meters to 50 meters, making them effective against small targets.
To avoid detection and airstrikes, Iran has used pilgrim convoys (pilgrim convoy refers to a group of travellers or pilgrims who journey together for safety, mutual support, and shared resources) to smuggle weapons and drones into Syria from Iraq. These weapons are concealed within vegetable and food trucks or humanitarian aid convoys.
Iranian and Syrian military aircraft are involved in transporting weapons. Syrian military aircraft usually transfer weapons for the Syrian Armed Forces. Iranian aircraft, at the request of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force (IRGC-QF), carry weapons for delivery to Hezbollah and other proxy groups in the region.
Iran’s connection with the Syrian weapon sector suggests that industry relocation may have motivated Tehran to enhance its defence alliance with Damascus. Despite attacks on its internal infrastructure, Iran continues to support Syria’s defence industry .
Iran employs a combination of covert methods, including precision weaponry, smuggling, and airliners, to transport weapons and logistics to Syria, supporting its allies in the ongoing conflict.
On the 6th February 2023 a 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked southeast Turkey near the Syrian border, with thousands of aftershocks. Over 55,000 lives lost and nearly 130,000 injured. Millions were displaced from their homes. Many countries around the world responded with help and aid including Iran who made big boast about the amount of aid is was flying into Syria.
On the 9th February 2023 Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force Brigadier General Esmail Qaani is in Syria to assess the quality of the Islamic Republic's outreach operations aimed at the quake-hit people in the Arab country. The following day Iran declared it was ready to start dispatch aid relief to Syria.
On the 8th May 2023 CNN carried a report that Iran was using aid shipments to smuggle weapons into Syria. American intelligence officials believed the weapons were destined for Iranian proxies in Syria
Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a member of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, said in an interview with the state-run news website Etemad Online, Iran has spent about $30 billion in Syria since the start of the civil war in the country in 2011, said a prominent Iranian lawmaker in rare remarks about Tehran’s spending in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. “We have probably paid $20-30 billion to Syria, and we have to take that money back.” In 2018, General Yahya Rahim Safavi, a top military aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in similar remarks that Iran must recoup what it has spent in Syria, without saying how much the Islamic Republic had spent in the war-torn country.
Syria and its Involvement with the Drugs Trade?
Captagon
Captagon[4], the trade name for a drug called fenethylline, was developed in Germany in 1961 as a treatment for a range of conditions, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, depression and narcolepsy.
Fenethylline is a combination of amphetamine, a central nervous system stimulant, and theophylline, a caffeine-related chemical known as a bronchodilator.
Captagon is recognizable by the distinctive twin half-moons logo, which gives the drug its Arabic street name, “Abu Hilalain,” Father of the Two Crescents, the pills are easy to make, readily available and relatively cheap to buy.
Captagon has many uses .? It can suppress trauma, improve productivity, and induce a euphoric feeling. The drug is popular among different demographics in the Gulf, with some people using it recreationally, “but also amongst university students studying for exams to increase productivity. Captagon has been seen across the region used by taxi drivers, by lorry drivers and truck drivers as well as workers that are looking to work a second shift.” The drug “stimulates the nervous system and affects vital body organs, including the brain.”
One worrying side to taking Captagon is it also endowed some users with an indifference to pain and fear and a dangerous sense of invincibility — qualities that have reportedly led to the drug being adopted by the foot soldiers of Daesh (Islamic State) and other terror groups in the region.
Taking the drug lowers inhibitions to violence and prolongs a fighter's ability to remain alert for combat. “There was no fear any more after I took Captagon,” one interviewed fighter said. One Kurdish special forces soldier who fought against Daesh during the siege of Kobani from 2014 to 2015 said the enemy fighters “would consume the pills before launching large-scale brutal attacks, or prior to a suicide attack.” The former soldier said that “on most of their suicide missions, the person doing it would be high on Captagon. It gave them the courage to do so.” Small bags of the drug were found on dead terrorists.
At first, it was seen as a miracle drug, and Captagon was prescribed legally for about 20 years. During the 1980s, however, in the face of increasing evidence that it was addictive and could cause multiple unwelcome side-effects, it was banned by various medical authorities around the world.
Captagon is found to cause strokes, memory loss, and nerve damage, auditory, visual and sensory hallucinations. It also negatively impacts cardiovascular health, leading to increased heart rates, and high blood pressure, as well as damage to liver and kidney functions.
Syrian Made Assad Endorsed
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s family members and associates rely on the illicit drug trade to fund his regime’s violent oppression and commission of abuses against the Syrian people,” Vedant Patel , the State Department’s deputy spokesman, said.
The government “appears to use local alliance structures with other armed groups, such as Hezbollah, for technical and logistical support in Captagon production and trafficking.” Caroline Rose, a senior analyst at New Lines, told Arab News there was no doubt that “Captagon is being produced and trafficked by an array of individuals that are very close to the Assad regime, some of them cousins and relatives of regime members.” Most notable among them, she said, was “Bashar Assad’s brother, Maher, who has been affiliated with production and smuggling efforts in his role as commander of the Fourth Armoured Division,” a military unit whose primary mission is to protect the Syrian regime from internal and external threats.
The Assad regime, Lebanese militia Hezbollah, and other Iranian-backed groups in the region are all known to facilitate the Captagon industry, and in doing so fuel regional instability while creating a growing addiction crisis.
The director of New Lines Institute, Caroline Rose , explained that she was doubtful the Bashar Assad regime would relinquish its lucrative drug business income. The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office statement said the Captagon industry was worth $57 billion to Assad, and has been a key source of revenue as Syria’ uprising turned-conflict continues for a 13th year.
On the 1st May 2023 Syria agreed to halt drug trafficking across its borders with Jordan and Iraq, and identify who was producing and transporting narcotics. The pledge came at a meeting in Amman of foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, also attended by Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad. The aim of the meeting was to discuss how to normalize ties with Syria as part of a political settlement of the 13-year civil war that has shattered and divided the country.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the meeting was “a start, and the process is ongoing” to secure an end to the conflict.
Just days after Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s foreign minister, warned in an interview that his country is “not taking the threat of drug smuggling lightly” and was ready “to do what it takes to counter that threat.” Merhi Al-Ramthan, a reputed Syrian drug kingpin, was killed when airstrikes targeted his house in the village of Shuab in the Sweida governorate. A Syrian opposition activist said the facility was used by Iran-backed groups to produce and store drugs before smuggling them to Jordan.
Merhi Al-Ramthan, who was long known to be Jordan’s most wanted man and a Captagon kingpin, an “influential trafficker and smuggler in the south (of Syria),” he was not a key actor in production, making him a “smaller fish … that the regime could give up as a show of goodwill.”
Caroline Rose further explained, Al-Ramthan’s killing was “serving a message to a number of traffickers” that “if you are not in close, close coordination with the Syrian regime, then you have a target on your back.” A sacrifice.
Syrian Arab Republic and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
In July 2021 King Abdullah of Jordan confirmed that his country had been attacked by Iranian made drones. The King’s comments came during a sit-down interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on the 25th July 2021 . “We’ve seen Saudi being a recipient of missiles out of Yemen. Israel from Syria and Lebanon to an extent and what misses Israel sometimes lands in Jordan.” “And unfortunately, Jordan has been attacked by drones that have come out that are Iranian signature that we have had to deal with,” King Abdullah said, adding the attacks happened in the past year.
Jordan said on the 24th May 2022 that pro-Iranian Syrian army units and militias loyal to Tehran are stepping up their attempts to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of drugs across the Jordanian border to wealthy Gulf markets. Senior army spokesperson Colonel Mustafa Haiti said, Iranian militias are the most dangerous because they target Jordan's national security.”
Jordan explained that four smugglers had been killed by the army recently in the latest showdown along the border that had left at least 40 infiltrates dead and hundreds injured since the start of the year, mostly nomads employed by Iran-linked militias who hold sway in southern Syria. Jordan is both a destination and a main transit route to the oil-rich Gulf countries for the Syrian-made cheap amphetamine known as Captagon.
Brigadier General Ahead Khleifat, the head of border security, told al Glad newspaper. “The smuggling operations are getting support from elements within the Syrian army and its security agencies and also Hezbollah militias and Iranian militias present in southern Syria.” Jordan said the amounts confiscated in the last five months exceeded 20 million Captagon tablets compared to 14 million for the whole of last year.
King Abdullah II protested on the 25th July 2022 in what he described as regular attacks occurring near Jordan’s borders by “militias linked to Iran”, in an interview with Al-Rai newspaper. King Abdullah called for “a change of behaviour by Iran” and said that Jordan “does not want tensions in the region.” The remarks by the Jordanian King refer to incidents of deadly clashes with drug smugglers on the frontier with Syria.
The Jordanian army conducts regular anti-smuggling operations on the border with Syria, where Iran-backed fighters support the Damascus regime in a civil war that erupted in 2011. According to organizations which monitor drug trafficking, the increasingly popular amphetamine-style stimulant Captagon is produced in government-controlled areas of Syria and marketed almost exclusively in the Middle East
On the 29th August 2023 the Arab News wrote that all was ‘not’ quiet on the Jordanian northern front. The report explained that the Jordanian Armed Forces had been involved in thwarting several narcotic-smuggling operations emanating from Syria of which two incidents involved drones.? It is not drugs alone that Jordan is fighting to stop as the report said, but an alignment between drug cartels in Syria and terrorist organizations that could see the latter use the proceeds garnered to finance operations, not only against the kingdom but beyond. Jordan has been frustrated with the Syrian regime’s failure to curtail what has been described as an “organized” smuggling network that extends from Lebanon to southern Syria.
Further airstrikes by the Royal Jordanian Air Force targeting drug factories and warehouses in southern Syria were conducted. The warehouses are where the drug smugglers would prepare and package illegal drugs before smuggling them across the southern border into Jordan.
On the 20th September 2023 Jordan’s King Abdullah II expressed doubt as to whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is in control of his country in light of the “major problem” of drugs and weapons being smuggled into Jordan. The King continued, “this is a major issue that all the parties, including some people inside the regime, and the Iranians and their proxies, are all taking advantage of."
Incursions from Syria into Jordan continued and still does. In 2024 the airstrikes continued against what Jordan describes as Iranian backed smuggler with intelligence from Jordanian and regional sources. Drugs, weapons and explosives are being smuggled in to Jordan. Not only are drones used but also vehicles.
Jordan and its Western allies have blamed Lebanon-based, Iran-backed Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian militia who control much of southern Syria as being behind the surge in smuggling. Iran and Hezbollah have dismissed the allegations as a Western plot against Syria, which itself denies complicity with Iran-backed militia which opponents link to its security forces. A usual response from the worlds state sponsored terrorist country.
Prince Faisal a top Saudi diplomat was asked about the Arab League’s decision to readmit Syria and the Assad regime after years of a brutal war. He defended Saudi Arabia’s stance on normalizing with the Assad regime. “Regardless of what one thinks about Bashar al-Assad, we took the only pathway to resolving the humanitarian challenges that we face in the aftermath of the Syrian crisis.” The United States said it was no secret that the US did not think Syria merited readmission to the Arab League, adding that there would be no US normalization with the Assad regime. “But at the same time, we also see that we [and the Arab League] have the same goals when it comes to what we’re trying to achieve.” Those goals include countering Captagon trafficking, and reducing Iranian influence. “Now, I have to admit we are sceptical of Assad’s willingness to take the necessary steps, but we’re aligned with our partners here on what those steps are and on the ultimate objectives,” Antony Blinken United States secretary of state said.
Syria was readmitted to the Arab League on the 7th May 2023 after a suspension lasting more than a decade. This decision came as President Bashar al-Assad sought to normalize ties with other Arab nations. Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit clarified that Syria’s readmission did not automatically imply normalization of relations between Arab countries and Syria.
Iran’s Call to End the War in Gaza
The Islamic Republic of Iran since the conflict began with Hamas and Israel in 2023, consistently continues to call a halt in the Gaza conflict along with investigations into Israeli atrocities. Headlines are found in Iranian backed propaganda outlets such as Tasnim News call for, “urgent action needed to curb Israeli atrocities in Gaza.” Tasnim again , “Iran Condemns Zionist Regime's Crimes on International Women's Day.” The Islamic Students News Agency , “Iran FM: (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) OHCHR must hold Israel, supporters accountable for atrocity in Gaza.” These and other Iranian government controlled ‘news’ outlets keep producing articles against Israel.
What you do not see is any ‘news’ against Syria or president, Basher al-Assad to halt his on-going civil-war against his own people. Nor does any of their government backed propaganda outlets inform their readers about the 503,000 deaths over the time period. Nor do they tell of the 164,000 civilians, including more than 15,000 women and 25,000 children that have been killed in the last 13 years. Assad is an extremely helpful ally to the Islamic Republic. Assad knows where he sits in regards to the relationship. He owes Iran a huge debt in helping to keep him in power due to the Iranian strategic location to in the Levant.
But it is the Syrian people that are suffering. Just as the Palestinians are agonising under the Hamas rule.
When it comes to brutality, Basher al-Assad is a long way in front of what Israel has been accused of. Equally Assad, Hamas and others linked to Iran are being encouraged by the Islamic State to commit atrocities against their own people.
On the 17th March 2023 Iranian Defence Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani in a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Ali Mahmoud Abbas Ashtiani condemned the Zionist regime's aerial assaults and its blatant violation of Syria's territorial integrity. Israel targets Iranian weapon supplies to Syria and to Iranian proxy terrorist groups held in Syria.
The two highlighted the toll of over 30,000 fatalities and 70,000 injuries in Gaza. Ashtiani also drew attention to the ongoing “atrocities committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza.” The Tehran Times report finished with, “Since the onset of the Western-backed conflict in Syria in 2011, Iran has maintained advisory forces to assist in the fight against terrorism in the country. Both nations have recently expressed their willingness to further enhance cooperation across various military domains.”
The conflict in the Gaza Strip may well be savage but it does not scratch the surface when it comes to what atrocities the Iranian-backed Syrian government has carried out. What’s more Assad has committed this cruelty and barbarity against his own people. Iran wants a West Asia to be under its wing with the type of leaders similar to Basher al-Assad to ensure the populace stays where they want them to be through viciousness, fear and control.
Iran and its View on the Use of Chemical Weapons
Chemical weapons were employed by Iraqi forces against Iranian combatants and non-combatants during the Iran–Iraq war (1980–1988). In August 1983, chemical weapons had been employed on the Piranshahr and Haji Omaran battlefields. Next, they were used on the Panjwin battlefield, in November 1983. The Iraqi army began extensive chemical attacks in 1984, by using tons of sulphur mustard and nerve agents on the Majnoon Islands.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has strongly opposed the use and possession of chemical weapons. During the Iran-Iraq War (1980 to 1988), Iranian troops and civilians suffered tens of thousands of casualties from Iraqi chemical weapons. As a result, Iran ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1997. This international treaty aims to eliminate chemical weapons globally. Despite accusations from Western governments, Iran has reiterated its commitment to the CWC and its full support for the work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The considerable suffering caused by these weapons to the Iranian people underscores Iran’s stance against their use.
Warnings About Israeli Use of Chemical Weapons in Gaza
In November 2023 , Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs issued a warning to the Director-General of the OPCW. The warning concerned Israel’s alleged use of chemical weapons in Gaza.
In response to Israeli regime charges that Tehran violated the Chemical Weapons Convention, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs flatly denied the accusations in December 2023. Iran emphasized that the Israeli regime, which hasn’t disclosed its own chemical weapons stockpiles, lacks the authority to comment on a member state victimized by such lethal weaponry.
Iran has raised concerns about Israel’s involvement with chemical weapons and has consistently opposed their use.
Human Rights Watch (HRW ) had recently accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon. This accusation raised serious concerns about the safety and well-being of civilians in conflict zones.
White Phosphorus (WP) is a chemical substance that can be used for various purposes, including marking, signalling, and obscuring. However, when used as a weapon, it has a significant incendiary effect. It can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other civilian objects on fire.
HRW verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza on the 10th and 11th October 2023, respectively . These videos showed multiple airbursts of artillery-fired WP over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border.
The usage of WP is restricted under international humanitarian law. Although there can be lawful uses, it must never be fired at, or in close proximity to, a populated civilian area or civilian infrastructure, due to the high likelihood that the fires and smoke it causes spread. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) WP is used for military purposes in grenades and artillery shells to produce illumination, to generate a smokescreen and as an incendiary. Israel denied the allegations that it was using WP against civilian targets.
Iran has been a staunch supporter of Bashar al-Assad’s regime throughout the Syrian civil war. This support extended to political, military, and economic assistance.
Iranian officials echoed Assad’s denial of using chemical weapons. They maintain that the Syrian government did not possess or use such weapons. Between 2014 and 2018 Syria stands accused of committing 106 chemical attacks.
Iran’s response to Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons was a delicate balancing act: supporting its ally while condemning any actions that violate international norms and endanger civilians. Iran stays quiet on the matter of accusations against its ally Basher al-Assad.
President Trump in an address to the people of America reported by the Voice of America on the 18th April 2018 spoke about the scores of Syrians killed in yet another chemical weapons attack by the regime on the 17th April in the town of Douma. He said, “The evil and the despicable attack left mothers and fathers infants and children thrashing in pain and gasping for air. These are not the actions of a man; they are crimes of a monster instead.” President Trump included a message “for the two governments most responsible for supporting, equipping and financing the criminal Assad regime. To Iran and to Russia, I ask, ‘What kind of a nations wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children?’”
It would seem that Iran and its ally supports the type of mass murder action in any form. Iran supports, funds, trains and finances Hamas who brutally attacked Israel on the 7th October 2023.
Conclusion
The main setback of Syria’s civil war is that the problem that started it, Basher al-Assad, dictatorial government is still in power. This acts as a drive for those who stand against him and what he stands for. The Islamic Republic have propped up and support Assad purely because it uses Syria to move weapons and logistics into the country to be dispersed to Iranian proxies. With the lack of free and fair elections the Syrian people are left with little hope of a better life. Their only way of achieving this is by trying to overturn the current dictatorship that is in power. Both father and son have put down civil unrest in a brutal manner. Basher al-Assad believes that fear will keep those who want change in check. He has also shown Syrians and the world that he will, and has proven that he will use any means possible to remain in power, including chemical warfare. The Arab league who were once so disgusted with Assad’s treatment of his people rejected him, but perseverance by Assad has shown that the Arab League can be forgiving, as was shown when he was reinvited back into the fold. It could be that they will regret this action as Assad shows no sign of changing his ways.
The current conflict in the Gaza Strip guerrilla battlefield chosen by Hamas is a sad reminder of what happens when one group attacks another. Israel tries its best to overcome civilian casualties. By gridding off the Strip they can drop leaflets in that area warning of what is to come, numerous phone texts and calls are made in an attempt to lower the cost of civilian casualties. Yet you have South Africa accusing Israel of genocide and taking them to the highest court with such spurious accusations whilst saying nothing about what is happening in Syria under the brutal regime of Assad.
The very supportive Islamic Republic of Iran who themselves have been accused of murdering over thirty thousand of their own people after the 1980 – 1988 war with Iraq condemning Israel of genocide. Iran the worlds state sponsor of terrorism stirring the flames in the hope an entire race will be eliminated. In January 2021 the Iranians discussed a bill to eliminate Israel by March 2041. Iran supplies the weapons and ammunition along with missiles and rockets to Hamas, Palestinian Jihad, Hezbollah amongst others to kill Israelis.
The same country, Iran, that is now assisting the Houthi’s in Yemen and controlling the Gulf of Aden and its international shipping lanes.
All these actors are attempting to murder a whole race. But it appears that it is all one sided. As, father and son al-Basher have killed more of their own people than all the others put together. Where is the outcry against Syria? ?
According to the Middle East Institute around 90% of Syrians are currently living under the poverty line, and 80% require daily humanitarian assistance ; yet at the same time, the core foreign aid budgets for Syria are being cut by 20-40% in 2024, with wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and elsewhere stretching funds to the breaking point. The Arab News reported on the 14th March 2024 that the Syrian war has killed 507,000 people yet the world stays quiet and reports on Israel and its fight against Hamas.
It seems the Arab world and the world in general has forgotten the Syrians. Its only concern is Israel and Hamas.
Will the State of Israel wait out the storm so it can outlast its enemies as al-Basher and his Syrian Arab Republic have done?
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Paul Ashley
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Further Information:
[4]??????? The Kingdom Vs Captagon Inside Saudi Arabia's war against the drug destroying lives across the Arab world
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