The Position of the U.S. Regarding the Human Rights Situation in Syria

Introduction

The Syrian uprising started as non-violent demonstration across the country, it then turned into a nationwide uprising, and is now considered to have become a civil war. Following the successful uprisings in the surrounding Arab World the protestors strive to overthrow the Bashar al-Assad's government and gain more political freedoms.

Starting in the spring of 2011 Assad used the Syrian Army to suppress the opposition throughout Syria, but that didn't stop the uprising. There were many soldiers who refused to shoot civilians and if this was the case they were immediately executed. One of the defected agents says in an interview "I was just opening fire to show the strange elements that I am shooting, because they used to shoot anyone who refused to open fire." (Aljazeera, 2011) This, among others, has caused many of them to defect and together with civilians join the Free Syrian Army to fight in a more organised way.

Until this moment, according to sources like the UN, Human Rights Watch, or the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights between 10,000 and 13,000 people have died, this includes both civilians as well as the combatants. In addition, many more have been injured or imprisoned and more than 42,000 have fled. Both the regime as well as the opposition forces have been accused of kidnapping and torture.

The international community has condemned the violence in Syria and has taken certain measures. Among others, The European Union has imposed an oil embargo, the Arab League has suspended Syria's membership, and the United States have imposed sanctions. Although the UN Security Council has also been in favor of the opposition not much could have been done due to the Russian and Chinese support for the Assad's regime. In February 2012 the Kofi Annan peace plan for Syria was launched but until now nothing has changed, if not worsened.

In what follows, we will discuss in more detail the position of the United States on Syria. We will go through the imposed U.S. sanctions as well as several bills and resolutions introduced by the Senate and the House of Representatives. Next we will talk about the U.S. actions concerning the Syrian Armed Forces, which will be followed by the U.S. position on the Syrian Opposition. We will end this paper with a short note on how the U.S. reacts to the actions of other Nations.

U.S. Sanctions and Legislation

As of August 2011, President Obama and his Administration have been calling for President Assad to step down. In addition, the U.S. has been in favour of United Nations Security Council action. (Sharp & Blanchard, 2012) However, the UN Security Council resolution, which threatened sanctions against Syria if it didn't stop its violent crackdown on civilians, has been blocked by the veto of Russia and China in October 2011 (Haaretz, 2011) and again in February 2012 (BBC News World, 2012). Therefore, the U.S. imposed its own financial, economic and trade sanctions, outside of the UN Security Council.

Nevertheless, there has been no indication so far that the U.S. is planning to become, either directly or indirectly, militarily involved in the Syrian conflict. (Sharp & Blanchard, 2012) According to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, "no outside power can or should impose on this transition [to democracy]. It is up to the Syrian people to choose their own leaders in a democratic system based on the rule of law and dedicated to protecting the rights of all citizens, regardless of ethnicity, religion, sect, or gender. We understand the strong desire of the Syrian people that no foreign country should intervene in their struggle, and we respect their wishes." (Clinton, 2011)

Sanctions Introduced in Response to the Syrian Uprising(2011-2012)

As a response to the Syrian uprising, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has implemented several sanctions through Presidential Executive Orders. (Sharp & Blanchard, 2012)

As of April 29, 2011 the OFAC has been adding more and more Syrian individuals, groups and entities (companies, government agencies, non-profit groups,...) to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. This list is part of the OFAC's enforcement efforts as the assets of those listed are blocked and, in general, U.S. persons are not allowed to deal with these individuals, groups and entities. (U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2012) For the sake of simplicity, not the entire list but just some examples will be given of Syrian individuals, entities and groups, as well as individuals, entities and group that act for or on behalf of Syria, which have been added to the list as of April 29:

*Executive Order 13582: Blocks all property and interests in property of the government of Syria. Prohibits new investments in Syria and the importation of Syrian petroleum. Forbids any transaction, service or dealing by a U.S. person (individual or entity) to Syria. (the White House, 2011)

Legislation

During the 112th United States Congress, which begun in January 2011 and will end in January 2013, several bills and resolutions were introduced by the Senate and the House of Representatives with respect to the current situation in Syria. (United States House of Representatives, 2012) (Sharp & Blanchard, 2012)

 H.R. 2106, The Syria Freedom Support Act. Among other things, this bill limits the development of Syrian petroleum resources and imposes banking, export, financial, property,... sanctions on the Syrian energy sector. (OpenCongress, 2011)

 H.Res. 296, A resolution which expresses solidarity and support for peaceful demonstrations and universal freedoms in Syria. In addition, it condemns the human rights violations by the Government of Syria. Among other things, the resolution "urges the President to continue to work with the European Union, the Government of Turkey, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and other allies and partners to bring an end to human rights abuses in Syria, hold the perpetrators accountable, and support the aspirations of the people of Syria." (OpenCongress, 2011)

 H.R. 2105, The Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Reform and Modernization Act of 2011. This bill states that the U.S. will fully implement and enforce sanctions against Iran, Syria, and North Korea for their nuclear proliferation activities and policies. Among other things, the bill prohibits U.S. nuclear cooperation agreements and export of services, goods, and materials to a country that is assisting the nuclear program of Iran,