Legal Opinion ALSA LC UNUD Volume 02 No. 3

Volume 02 No. 3

issuee

ARAB SPRING MOVEMENT: FROM AN INTERNAL POLITICAL AND HUMANITARIAN CRISIS TO AN INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT

ALSA

English Development Division

LC UNUD LEGAL OPINION

Author : Widya Oliavera Universitas Udayana 1

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ALSA LC UNUD LEGAL OPINION ARAB SPRING MOVEMENT: FROM AN INTERNAL POLITICAL AND HUMANITARIAN CRISIS TO AN INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT Widya Oliavera Universitas Udayana I. FACTS 1. Chronological Order ● 2011: Arab spring toppled Tunisia’s and Egypt’s presidents and the Arab Spring gave hope to Syrian pro-democracy activists. a. In March, peaceful protests erupted in Syria as well, after 15 boys were detained and tortured for writing graffiti in support of the Arab Spring. One of the boys, a 13 year old, was killed after having been brutally tortured. The Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, responded to the protests by killing hundreds of demonstrators and imprisoning many more. b. In July 2011, defectors from the military announced the formation of the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group aiming to overthrow the government, and

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Syria began to slide into war. While the protests in 2011 were mostly nonsectarian, the armed conflict surfaced starker sectarian divisions. Most Syrians are Sunni Muslims, but Syria’s security establishment has long been dominated by members of the Alawi sect, of which Assad is a member.

2. International Involvement ● Regional Actors: The governments of majority-Shia Iran and Iraq, and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, have supported Assad, while Sunni-majority countries, including Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia supported anti-Assad rebels. Since 2016, Turkish troops have launched several operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) near its borders, as well as against Kurdish groups armed by the United States. ● Anti-ISIL Coalition: The US has armed anti-Assad rebel groups and led an international coalition bombing ISIL targets since 2014. Israel carried out air raids inside Syria, reportedly targeting Hezbollah and pro-government fighters and facilities.

The first time Syrian air defences shot down an Israeli warplane was in February 2018.

II. ISSUES Based on the chronological story about the Arab Spring movement that have been explained above, These are issues that will be disscused in this argument : 1. What is the Arab Spring and its role in the case?

2. How about political and humanitarian crisis from legal perspective?

3. Is Arab Spring movement successful enough in the context of “finding solution”?

4. How do international actors play a role in the conflict?

III. RULES Before stepping into the analysis, here are some legal basis that used to answer the issues and convince the arguments: 1. Constitution of Syrian Arab Republic 2012

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a. Article 33 no 1 stated : “Freedom shall be a sacred right and the state

shall

guarantee

the

personal

freedom of citizens and preserve their dignity and security.” b. Article 42 no 2 stated : “Every citizen shall have the right to freely and openly express his views whether in writing or orally or by all other means of expression.” c. Article 53 no 2 stated : “No one may be tortured or treated in a humiliating manner, and the law shall define the punishment for those who do so.”

2. The Universal Declaration of Human Right (UDHR) a. Article 3 stated : “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” b. Article 5 stated : “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” c. Article 9 stated : “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.” d. Article 19 stated : “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

3. Geneva Convention 1949 Article 2 of the Common Articles stated: “In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in peace time, the present Convention shall applv to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one of them.....”

4. Additional Protocol I of 1977 Article 1 paragraph 3 stated:

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“This Protocol, which supplements the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 for the protection of war victims, shall apply in the situations referred to in Article 2 common to those Conventions.”

IV.

ANALYSIS Arab Spring is a series of pro-democracy and uprisings that took place in

various countries in North America and Middle East beginning in 2010 and 2011.

The first demonstrations took place in Central Tunisia in December 2010 catalyzed by the selfimmolation of Mohamed Boazizi, a 26 year old street vendor protesting his treatment by local officials, then another demonstrations also occured in Egypt as massive protests broke out late January 2011, only days after Ben Ali’s ouster in Tunisia. The successful of Arab Spring in toppling two regimes that time came as a big hope for Syrian activists since they experienced the similar injustice committed by the President Bashar al-Assad. The peaceful protests erupted after 15 boys were detained and tortured after writing graffiti “Ash-sha 'byurid isqat an-nizam” means “the people want to bring down the regime" in support of Arab Spring, but Bashar alAssad instead responded the protestors by killing hundreds of demonstrators and imprisoning even more.

Bassically factors that cause the Phenomenon of Arab Spring include: a. The Middle East has the same cultural culture that is the Arab nation. Muslims dominated and once triumphed but were later divided in several countries. b. People's freedoms are limited by authoritarian systems of government and dictatorial rule.

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c. Some countries in the Middle East are still experiencing poverty and high eviction problems. d. The enactment of emergency laws by the ruling government. The existence of an emergency law gives government officials the flexibility to imprison and detain civilians without judicial process against any actions that could threaten national security.

And the Arab Spring phenomenon that occurred in Syria was a people's encouragement inspired by other countries such as Egypt and Tunisia.

The root of the Syrian conflict generally was due to dissatisfaction with the authoritarian regime that ruled at the time. The authoritarianism system allows the government to commit arbitrary actions against the Syrian people. The government's arbitrary actions have made government officials and intelligence agencies an instrument to suppress the Syrian people, which led to violence that has raised the greatest fear to the Syrian people. There are also executions that make people even more afraid of the government.1 As known that Syria is a Republican State where President as a head of state has a role in regulating the government. With that role, President as a leader should be expected as a figure who can maintain and protect the unity of the state, especially its people. But reflecting from the facts and cases happened in Syria, it seemed contradict from the main essence of a President itself. Based on the facts and cases in Syria, it is undeniable that the Syrian government led by Bashar alAssad has largely deviated from the prevailing laws, such as: Constitution of Syrian Arab Republic 2012 Articles 33 no 1, stated “Freedom shall be a sacred right and the state shall guarantee the personal freedom of citizens and preserve their dignity and security”, It says that people deserve freedom and the state guarantees their security. In other words, the country in this context can be described as a home for the people. Country plays a role as a shelter and a sense of security, while in those conditions instead of giving people a sense of security, the government at that time probably has created terror of fears for the community.

Moreover, the detention and torture case happened to 15 boys which even reported that one of the boys, a 13 year old, was killed after being brutally tortured, certainly, it broke the law. Constitution of Syrian Arab Republic 2012 1 Primoz Manfreda, Top 10 Reasons for the Uprising in Syria, https://www.thoughtco.com/top-10reasons-forthe-uprising-in-syria-2353571 accessed on November 21st

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Article 42 no 2 stated “Every citizen shall have the right to freely and openly express his views whether in writing or orally or by all other means of expression”. It is clearly stating about freedom of speech in any way or any media. There are few words that could point out in the Article; “freely”, “openly”, “writing or orally or by all other” which means freedom of speech is quite specifically contained in the regulation. So by then, didn’t the graffiti writing done

by those 15 boys was just their kind of way expressing opinion?

In addition, reviewed from more general perspective, the similar articles can also be found in the Universal Declaration of Human Right Article 3 stated “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”, and Article 19 stated “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

Then for the detention and torture case, it specifically set forth in Article 5 stated “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” and Article 9 stated “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.” Based on those Articles, it is clear that the actions taken by the government have violated the laws. It is unlawful to tortured people and caused them death, for to life is a fundamental right every human has born with. Those repressive actions and authoritarianism system were an evidence of

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the political and humanitarian crisis in Syria which triggered people’s anger and evoked the demonstrations.

But, Is Arab Spring movement successful enough in dealing with the turmoil in Syria and came as a solution? Based on the chronological order, it could probably ranked no relating the fact that the authoritarianism of the Assad regime still continued even though massive waves of demonstrations ignited in many places. Some of regulations made by Bashar al-Assad considered as justification and an excuse to imprison civilians, also all his efforts in dampening people’s anger had not worked. Bashar al-Assad even considered the demonstrators as rebels in guise of maintaining the legitimacy of the state. Meanwhile the repressive actions still remained even denounced by many humanitarian organizations.

Humanitarian Law classified armed conflict into 3 forms; international armed conflict, non-international armed conflict/armed conflict not of an international character, and internationalized internal armed conflict. Tracing from participation of international actors in that situation, the Syrian conflict is indirectly more complex from just a national problem. For in fact, the Syrian conflict qualified as an internationalized internal armed conflict. The Syrian conflict according to a juridical assessment included in the international qualifications due to the intervention of other countries and supporting armed conflicts in the form of weapons supplies, military training, and finances to a certain number of fractions.

Furthermore, about the role of international actors

in

the

Syrian

conflict, it was stated that the group, led by the Syrian Free Army (FSA) admitted they had received a number of weapons, which would be used to overthrow

the

Assad

regime's rule. The Saudis and Qatar are at the forefront of defending armed groups in Syria. A Persian Gulf coastal Arab States have also provided $100 million in funding to warring factions

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to overthrow Bashar Al Assad's government also Riyadh and Doha in cooperation with Washington and its allies. 2 On the other hand, Bashar al-Assad regime is also supported by a number of regional allies such as Iran, Russia and Hezbollah. Iran and Hezbollah are also reported to have not only provided weapons support and military training but also deployed their soldiers to fight alongside government forces against Bashar al-Assad's anti-regime rebel group.3 The parties’ emergence in intervened the Syrian armed conflict, as well for political reasons of

the parties’ involvement has completely changed the

definition and the identification of the Syrian armed conflict, began from only qualified as internal armed conflict then turned into an international armed conflict. According to Pietro Verri stated: "A non-international conflict (or internal conflict), may be considered (to be) an international armed conflict if the following conditions have been fulfilled: 1. If a country that is fighting against rebel forces within its territory has recognized the rebels as belligerent; 2. If there is one or more foreign countries providing assistance to either party in an internal conflict, by sending their official Armed Forces in the conflict concerned; and 3. If there are two foreign countries, with the Armed Forces each intervening in a country engaged in internal conflict, in which each of these armed forces assists the opposing side.4 Therefore, referring to the description of the armed conflict and considering the Geneva Convention 1949 Article 2 of Common Articles stated : “In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in peace time, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one of them.....” and Additional Protocol I of 1977 Article 1 Paragraph 3 stated : “This Protocol, which supplements the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 for the protection of war victims, shall apply in the situations referred to in Article 2 common to those Conventions.”, it all means that the conflict occurred in Syria is not only classified and considered as an internal conflict.

The armed conflict is undeniably detrimental to the community. Due to that 2 http://indonesian.ws.irib.ir/international/timur-tengah/item/45250-Saudi_dan_Qatar_ Tingkatkan_Bantuan_Kepada_Pemberontak_Suriah , accessed on November 22nd 3 http://www.dw.de/konferensi-damai-suriah-tanpa-perdamaian/a-17380238, accessed on November 22nd 4 Pietro Verri, Dictionary of the International Law of Armed Conflict, ICRC, Geneva, 1992, page. 35.

4 Pietro Verri, Dictionary of the International Law of Armed Conflict, ICRC, Geneva, 1992, page.

35.

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conflict, a lot of people had to lose their lives as an impact of the war and not only that, millions of people had to leave their homes and evacuated to safer places.

This is definitely a major issue of concern. Also it is totally heartbreaking seeing that number of victims affected by the conflict. They should have gotten the security and protection as a citizen as what stated in the rules above, but instead, they lived in fear which means that their rights were deprived and obviously it violated the law.

V. CONCLUSION On a final note, based on the analysis and arguments above, it can be conclude that:

1. The situation and cases that happened in Syria have broken the law. The government has violated many regulations such as Constitution of Syrian Arab Republic 2012 Article 33 no 1, Article 42 no 2, Article 53 no 2; The Universal Declaration of Human Right (UDHR) Article 3, Article 5, Article 9, Article 19; Geneva Convention 1949 Article 2 Of the Common Articles, and Additional Protocol I of 1977 Article 1 paragraph 3.

2.

The government has deprived people’s right and undermine the main essence of a President as the head of state who regulates government and protects the citizens.

3. The protracted conflicts involving international actors has increased the fears and harming society.

4. The government must take an action to resolve the conflict and provide justice to

the

community.

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REFRENCES



https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/4/14/syrias-war-explained-from-thebeginning, accessed on November 21st



Primoz Manfreda, Top 10 Reasons for the Uprising in Syria, https://www.thoughtco.com/top-10-reasons-forthe-uprising-in-syria2353571 accessed on November 21st



Tingkatkan_Bantuan_Kepada_Pemberontak_Suriah November

22nd

,

accessed

on

http://www.dw.de/konferensi-damai-suriah-tanpa-

perdamaian/a-17380238 accessed on November 22nd 

Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic - 2012 (ilo.org) , accessed on November 21st



Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations , accessed on November 21st



Identifikasi Jenis Konflik Bersenjata Suriah Menurut Ketentuan Hukum Humaniter Internasional | Mahfud | Kanun Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (unsyiah.ac.id), accessed on November 22nd



The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols - ICRC, accessed on November 22nd