Voice of Syria

Special to Voice of Syria, By Radwan Ziadeh*

The Syrian revolution began to realize a dream of freedom, and dignity, in its simplicity. The time for Syrian’s shared dream is now. However, price of the simple dream has not only been huge but still soaring. We thought that systems such as the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the Nazi regime in Germany, the fascist in Italy, and Pinochet in Chile had become extinct. We thought, perhaps sinfully, that the international community had developed to the extent that it will never allow a system similar to those from the past to re-emerge in our time and age.

What Syria is witnessing today and what Syrians live in every moment dispel any such hope. After war crimes and crimes against humanity in former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the General Assembly of the United Nations established an initiative known as the ‘responsibility to protect’ or ‘R2P’ in 2005, a norm that changed traditional principles regarding protection of the sovereignty of States, stating that sovereignty is not a right – it’s a responsibility. The R2P argues that regimes committing such crimes, they lose their sovereignty; and the international community has the right to take necessary measures to protect civilians and prevent further crimes against them.

Unfortunately, the R2P has not been invoked given what is happening in Syria. The international community has abandoned Syrians to die at the hands of their ruler. Indiscriminate aerial bombardment has taken the lives of more than 82,000 civilians so far, and Bashar al-Assad’s forces have begun using far-reaching ballistic missiles, SCUDs and even Sarin gas, classified as weapons of mass destruction, against areas of Syria no longer under regime control with utter disregard for the lives of Syrian civilians and to residential areas and infrastructure. If Assad continues his military madness against his own people, Syria then will become a worse hell than it has been so far.

Western media and officials describe uprising in Syria as a civil war, a description the Syrians find far from reality of the ground. Syria is in the midst of a popular revolution against an authoritarian regime. If we conduct a simple comparison of the number of victims in Syria with the number of victims in countries in which a civil war has actually occurred, such as Peru, the conflict (1980-2000) claimed more than 70,000 victims while the number fatalities has long surpassed this figure in a matter of two years.  According to a report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, we found that the number of victims has risen from 1,000 per month during the start of the revolution to 5000 per month today. If Assad is allowed to continue his war against the Syrian people, the number of victims can be expected to exceed 150,000 sooner than later.

With ever-increasing destruction and bloodshed in Syria, how can we expect to rebuild the country? Clearly, it will not be possible to fully begin the transition to a pluralistic and democratic society without a complete cessation of violence. And yet, we can begin to consider the first steps to heal the deep wounds that have left Syrian society in tatters.

One option is to lay the groundwork for transitional justice and reconciliation programs. The launch of transitional justice processes can let victims feel that those responsible for committing crimes will be brought to justice and that the ‘era of impunity’, lasting for over 40 years, is over. However, as transitional justice experiences across the world have taught us, it is closely linked to the path of political transition and depends mainly on the political will and vision of both the actors and the democratic forces on the ground.  Unfortunately, Syria has practically no history of political participation aside from complete domination of the regime-supported Baath party, thus here options are few when considering to whom to turn in order to implement post-conflict reconciliation programs.

Some have suggested that the Syrian justice system remains capable of bringing to trial the hundreds, if not thousands, of perpetrators of human rights violations and crimes against humanity in Syria. This remains an option, but those anxious to avoid the mistakes of Libya wherecourts remain inundated with tens of thousands of pending cases leftover from the revolution of 2011, advise using a different path given the lack of credibility the Syrian judiciary has in the eyes of citizens.

International justice is another option. Bashar al-Assad’s crimes are certainly within the scope of work of the International Criminal Court. However, Russia, with its position in the Security Council, may prevent the referral of Syrian criminals to the ICC. Any future government formed after the fall of the Assad regime will undoubtedly ratify the Rome Agreement, enabling an international prosecutor to open an investigation into these crimes. However, the path of international justice remains a less than ideal choice. The process is slow and Syrians will be impatient. Syrians acknowledge that they will need the international community, which failed them before, to rebuild their country and construct future institutions. But they also realize that there are limits to assistance provided by the international community. They will have to ultimately rely on themselves to build their democracy in the future.

In fact, a number of Syrians are beginning to do just that. A few months ago, a group of Syrians announced the creation of a’“National Preparatory Committee for Transitional Justice’ in Istanbul, Turkey. This committee, made up of human rights activists, defected judges and lawyers, and others representing all the various sects and ethnic groups in Syria among them a respected Alawite lawyers and public figures, is determined to consider all the options for a future post-conflict transitional justice and reconciliation program in Syria. The work of this group is crucial. The fact that positions on the committee are reserved exclusively for Syrians, and that this committee was formed without the urging of international actors, means it is uniquely positioned to be considered a legitimate institution in a sea of organizations and committees regarded with suspicion and skepticism by the Syrian public.

Tens of thousands of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, wives and children continue to suffer in Syria. The Syrian society will not be able heal the rifts created by a half-century of brutal Assad family rule without truth and justice procedures. The victims have the right to truth andto know the fate of their loved ones. And also to see punishment meted out to those responsible. A transitional justice and reconciliation program will help Syrians foster confidence in themselves and their community and help the restoration of the structure of society, rocked by grudges of injustice and suffering.

*Besides being a member of Syrian National Council, the writer is a visiting scholar at Lehigh University, and Fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) in Washington DC.

Source URL: http://www.voiceofsyria.com/463/
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