Syria: Chemical weapons use

Transcription

1 Syria: Chemical weapons use Human Rights Council Overview The situation in Syria has been disastrous for several years now, and despite efforts to bring the complex civil war to a peaceful resolution, we can understand if ordinary Syrians see no end in sight. Syria has suffered a grinding civil war featuring atrocities on both sides, including the government s use of chemical weapons both against rebel fighters and against innocent people caught in the line of fire. Years of warfare and the wanton bombing of civilians, residential buildings, and hospitals have driven millions from their homes. While there have been many international attempts to broker a deal by which Assad has given up his regime s chemical weapons, Syria remains a serious challenge to global security. Arms and aid continue to flow into the country to aid the rebels; the fighting continues, and millions have fled their homes, creating massive IDP and refugee crises. The massive human flight within and from Syria due to a lack of basic safety at home raises the issue of human security a human-rights oriented reinterpretation of security that places the focus squarely on the well-being of ordinary people and their ability to live in freedom from fear that is to say, in a manner wherein people do not live in fear every day that their physical rights are severely threatened. This topic guide examines the use of chemical weapons in Syria through the lenses of human rights and human security, both in the context of abuses that appear to have occurred, and what could be done to prevent such abuses in the future. Historical Background/Context The origins of the Syrian Civil War have historic, ethnic and religious dimensions. The convoluted origins of its violence, oppression and rebellion are complex; however, in order to have a constructive discussion about the current situation in Syria and the plight of the Syrian people (including refugees, internally displaced persons, and others1) a condensed description is needed to promote our collective understanding. For the purpose of cultivating discussion about 1 A refugee is a person who has been forced to flee his or her home country and is unable or unwilling to return due to fear of persecution. The 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees gives refugees legal protection under the international refugee law. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated to respond to refugee needs. An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who was forced to flee his/her home but who did not cross a state border. IDPs benefit from the legal protection of international human rights law and, in armed conflict, international humanitarian law. Asylum-seekers are those who have made a claim that they are refugees and are in the process of waiting for it to be accepted or rejected. 'Stateless' persons are not considered as a national by any state ('de jure') or don't enjoy fundamental rights in their homeland ('de facto'). Source:

2 these issues within the Security Council, please find below a brief overview of the historic progression of the Syrian conflict. The phenomenon known as the Arab Spring spread like wildfire across North Africa and the Middle East, reaching Syria on March 19th 2011, when a political protest against the Assad regime widely perceived to be corrupt and intolerant of internal dissent turned violent. In an attempt to crush the dissidents, President Bashar al-assad called military forces in to end the protests. This led to the riots and the deaths of several civilians in the streets of Dara a (see for example and The conflict has since grown into an all-out civil war between rebel factions and the Assad government, which for years had ruled as a minority faction over a splintered and fractious population in Syria. On March 23rd 2011 protesters marched through the streets of Dara a as a memorial to those killed. Over the course of the next few days several hundred were killed by military as the marches sprang up in cities across the country. Both sides showed little side of rescinding their efforts, and as the protests in the streets grow both larger and more frequent so did clashes with government troops. On April 19th 2011, President Assad lifted Syria s Draconian law. The term Draconian law is a reference to extreme legal codes that give emergency powers to a government. In the case of Syria, the State had been acting under its emergency powers for the past 48 years. Yet this attempt was not seen as enough change for the rapidly growing protests and civil unrest throughout the country, and opposition increased rather than dissipated in the wake of Assad s lifting of Draconian law. Since 2011, the violence and persecution by both the Assad regime, armed militias, and independent terrorist organizations has increased drastically. Military involvement by outside powers has done little to mitigate the presence of these groups in the regions. Millions of Syrian nationals still flee violent persecution from the Assad regime, ISIL, and other terrorist organizations in the regions such as the Kurdish Workers Party, who have been accused of attacking Syrian nationals who are flee Syria across the Turkish border. In light of this, it was still extremely shocking to the international community when convincing evidence was brought to their attention concerning the use of chemical weapons in Syria. We now have a high-confidence assessment that chemical weapons have been used on a small scale by the Assad regime, [Deputy National Security Advisor Ben] Rhodes told journalists. The president has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has. Source: ( As information quickly surfaced it became clear that approximately 1000 people were killed in the outskirts of Damascus by chemical weapons used by agents of the Assad regime on August 21st, The United Nations sent an investigative team who found traces of sarin gas on the victims. Former President of the United States Barack Obama spoke of military intervention to eliminate the Syrian chemical weapon stockpiles, but was met with opposition both at home and abroad. The international community was torn as Obama championed military intervention and Putin (President of Russia) backed the Assad regime and spoke out openly against any direct involvement.

3 Effects of Sarin on the Human Body Though referred to as a nerve gas, sarin is a liquid at temperatures below 150C. To maximise its potential as a weapon, the substance is usually dispersed from a canister, rocket or missile in a cloud of droplets that are fine enough to be inhaled into the lungs. Inevitably, some evaporates into gas, much as spilt water turns into vapour. The chemical enters the body through the eyes and skin too. Sarin has no smell or taste and is colourless, so the first people may know of its use is when victims start to fall. Sarin takes such a dreadful toll on the body by interfering with a specific but crucial aspect of the nervous system. It blocks an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase, with devastating consequences. Nerves that usually switch on and off to control muscle movements can no longer be switched off. Instead, they fire constantly. There are mild effects: the eyes become irritated, the vision blurred; people's pupils shrink, they drool and vomit. Then there are the lethal effects. Breathing becomes laboured, shallow, erratic. Unable to control their muscles, victims have convulsions. The lungs secrete fluids and when people try to breathe, foam comes from their mouths, often tinged pink with blood. A lethal dose can be just a few drops and can kill in one to 10 minutes. For more, see the source of this information: Sarin: the deadly history of the nerve agent used in Syria, in The Guardian, However, on September 26th, 2013 US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reached a compromise that allowed for UN Security Resolution 2118 to be issued. Just two weeks ago, tonight's outcome seemed utterly unimaginable, [U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations] Samantha Power said. "Two weeks ago, the Syrian regime had not even acknowledged the existence of its chemical weapons stockpiles. But tonight we have a shared draft resolution that was the outcome of intense diplomacy and negotiations over the past two weeks," she said. Source: Reuters (via Daily Mail). ( ) For a direct link concerning Resolution 2118 (2013) that grew out of the U.S.-Russian agreement: For further information on the deliberations which brought about Resolution 2118: : For further information on the inner workings and goals set by Resolution 2118:

4 Current Crisis The UN Security Council often takes as its point of reference the security of states. In contrast, human security focuses our attention on people, and the physical safety and well-being of individual persons. For a thorough and detailed discussion of this idea, see Human Security in Theory and Practice, which includes brief profiles of several situations where it is applied: ( Advocates of this approach claim that, In practice, a human security approach complements state security and enhances human rights (p. 11). The report mentioned above states that: too often gross violations of human rights result in conflicts, displacement, and human suffering on a massive scale. In this regard, human security underscores the universality and primacy of a set of rights and freedoms that are fundamental for human life. Human security makes no distinction between different kinds of human rights civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights thereby addressing violations and threats in a multidimensional and comprehensive way. It introduces a practical framework for identifying the specific rights that are at stake in a particular situation of insecurity and for considering the institutional and governance arrangements that are needed to exercise and sustain them. (p.12) The question involving Syria and its apparent use of chemical weapons to terrorize, incapacitate, injure, and kill its own citizens and residents has had the effect of not only violating basic human rights in the short term, but also damaging the prospects for Syrians to enjoy safety, human rights, and human security in the future. The challenge in this case is not academic but a practical one. It is very important to work to create practical arrangements to restore human security to the Syrian people and to prevent future violations of their rights by the Syrian government. Because the Security Council has been rendered largely ineffective on the issue of Syria (see detailed timeline below), the task of creating a more secure situation -- and holding the Syrian government accountable for its abuses may fall to other organs and councils at the UN. The Human Rights Council is one such body, and it may attempt to use its powers to shine a spotlight on Syria s abuses. The use of chemical weapons is considered abhorrent, and illegal under international law but for our purposes, it is important to shift the perspective from a legalistic one to a human security one. Chemical weapons attacks may constitute a gross violation of the human rights of Syrian citizens and residents. To document and condemn such attacks, and take action to restore human security and human rights in a conflict or post-conflict situation in Syria, requires careful attention to the recent history of the Syrian civil war and a willingness to stretch the institutional limits of the Human Rights Council. In the Syrian case, what will it take to generate a practical framework for identifying the specific rights that are at stake in a particular situation of insecurity and for considering the institutional and governance arrangements that are needed to exercise and sustain them? This is part of the challenge that the UN, and the Human Rights Council in particular, faces in this case.

5 United Nations Involvement The UN News Centre in 2013 published an unequivocal statement about the use of chemical weapons in Syria, which set the tone for additional UN actions: Clear and convincing evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria, UN team reports Despite this tone and the clear evidence of chemical weapons use, the UN Security Council has been reluctant to hold the Syrian government accountable. As noted in this Washington Post article, Russia and China in particular have used their status as permanent members of the UNSC to prevent sanctions from being placed on Syria s government: Nonetheless, the UN Security Council has several sub-committees such as the 1540 Committee, which is tasked with monitoring and overseeing the international standards on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The committee is named after the 2004 UN Security Council Resolution 1540 which under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter affirms that the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery constitutes a threat to international peace and security. ( ) Overall, the goals and laws with which the 1540 Committee is tasked are quite simple. The committee s work is based on the principle that it is universally beneficial to prevent the creation, proliferation, and usage of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Due to the instability that these weapons cause, their existence challenges global structure and society as a whole. SC Resolution 1540 passed unanimously and has become an integral part of the United Nations Security Council. Since then, the goals have expanded from proliferation of these weapons to include fostering the transparency of relevant state weapons programs as well as increasing state to state cooperation and assistance in this area. For more information on the 1540 Committee, please see: The following list consists of links to Resolution 1540 as well as subsequent resolutions from the United Nations dealing with Syria and chemical weapons: Resolution 1540 (2004) Resolution 1673 (2006) Resolution 1810 (2008) Resolution 1977 (2011) Report to the Human Rights Council on the use of chemical weapons in Syria Letter from the Secretary-General to the President of the Security Council about chemical weapons in Syria, from August 29, 2017

6 Moreover, the UNSC is not the only organ or agency within the United Nations framework that may be relevant. If the high politics of peace and security at the Security Council does not allow for the pursuit of justice in this case, perhaps one or more of the other institutions can play a key role. For example, the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights is involved; see Human Rights Council holds interactive dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on Syria See too the UN News Centre s more general Syria news page, which includes information about the Joint Investigative Mechanism of the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW. The UN Security Council on 7 August 2015 established for one year a Joint Investigative Mechanism of the United Nations and the OPCW, which would identify to the greatest extent feasible individuals, entities, groups or Governments perpetrating, organizing, sponsoring or otherwise involved in the use of chemicals as weapons in Syria. See: On that page there is also a tab for Human Rights concerns that will be of specific interest to you. As the site notes, with human rights violations at the heart of the Syrian crisis, the UN has called for an immediate end to violence; release of political prisoners; impartial investigations to end impunity, ensure accountability and bring perpetrators to justice; and reparations for the victims. Should the use of chemical weapons against rebels and civilians also be considered part of the human rights-related issues listed here? Other Involved Actors Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic - The Commission (of the United Nations) was established on 22 August 2011 by the Human Rights Council through resolution S-17/1 adopted at its 17th special session with a mandate to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law since March 2011 in the Syrian Arab Republic. The Commission was also tasked to establish the facts and circumstances that may amount to such violations and of the crimes perpetrated and, where possible, to identify those responsible with a view of ensuring that perpetrators of violations, including those that may constitute crimes against humanity, are held accountable. For more information, see: Syrian Government - Led by Bashar al-assad since 2000, there have been many reports from various sources of the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government on its citizens throughout the conflict and civil war in Syria. For a brief history of the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government, please see: (ABC News) and Assad s History of Chemical Attacks, and Other Atrocities (New York Times, April 2017)

7 Despite credible reports by the United Nations, mainstream media outlets, and human-rights NGOs (such as Human Rights Watch) of Syria s use of chemical weapons sarin, chlorine, and so on the government has steadfastly denied having used such weapons. Moreover, the Syrian government has indicated its disappointment with the UN Human Rights Council in particular. Read the article below from telesur: Syria Accuses UN Human Rights Council Commission of Being a 'Cheap Propaganda Machine' Published 9 September 2017 Syria said that the government has never used chemical weapons against its people, because to do so would be "a moral crime." Syria's government has rejected recent renewed allegations by a committee affiliated to the United Nations Human Rights Council that the government of Bashar al-assad used chemical weapons against its own people. A top Syrian diplomat slammed the commission for being politicized and acting as a cheap propaganda machine that serves the agendas of certain states. The Syrian government never used and will never use toxic gases against its people because it does not possess them in the first place and it considers the use of such gases a moral crime that must be condemned, the report released by Syrian state-news agency SANA said. Syria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Hussam Ala, sent a letter to the President of the Human Rights Council saying that Syria never used such weapons, and saying that the international organization had deviated from its mandate by serving impartial sides, and making accusations with no tangible basis whatsoever. The letter reiterated that Syria terminated its chemical weapons program and destroyed all such weapons it possessed in The Syrian ambassador said that the politicized and selective behavior of the Commission since the beginning and its negative impact on the situation on the ground... prompts the Syrian Arab Republic to disregard all its reports as it has become a cheap propaganda machine serving the agendas of certain states. Ala concluded his letter by demanding that the United Nations implement guidelines which would prevent certain states from exploiting the Human Rights Commission to serve its own political goals The commission's deviation from its mandate and amateurish way of adopting allegations marketed by sides affiliated with terrorists shows that this commission ignores professional criteria and is completely devoid of professionalism, credibility, and neutrality, the report by SANA paraphrased Ala as saying. The commission referred to, the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said that a warplane dropped sarin gas on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province in April, resulting in the deaths of over 80, reiterating previous claims that the United States made that were used to justify further strikes against Syrian government targets. The Syrian government, as well as their ally Russia, has denied the accusations repeatedly, saying that an airstrike hit and detonated a weapons depot that belonged to militant groups.

8 Questions to Consider The following are a few questions to consider when preparing for the conference (including writing your position paper). You do not need to answer every question in your position paper. Rather, these questions should be used as a basis for research regarding this topic and your specific country assignment. Which human rights may have been violated by the use of chemical weapons in Syria? Please refer to the numbered list of human rights articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ( ) when formulating your response. Is the use of chemical weapons in war a human rights issue? Why or why not? Where does your country stand on the issue of whether the UN Human Rights Council should be involved in this controversy? What is the reasoning behind your country s position? The Assad regime was able to survive the chemical weapons crisis, but clearly its legitimacy is in question. Should the UN issue a demand that Bashar al-assad step down and turn over the governance of Syria, either to the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolution or to an international provisional authority under United Nations auspices? How can the resources of the United Nations be brought to bear to bring an end to the violence in Syria? Should the UN consider additional action beyond the chemical disarmament of Syria? If so, what can and should be done? How can the Human Rights Council encourage a peaceful future for Syria and the people who have been victimized by war? Should the UN Security Council push for Bashar al-assad or other individuals to be held accountable for the chemical weapons attacks by recommending that they be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court? Further Resources Some of this topic guide was based off of previous work done in 2013 and 2016 in preparation for similar topics for different councils at the High School Model UN Conferences those respective years. In most cases, sources are stated at the end of each section. However, the following are further resources that delegates should use to prepare themselves for this topic from their individual actor s perspective. Human Rights Watch on the 2013 Attack Joint Intelligence U.K. French Intelligence The Economist on Syrian Attack

9 NYT Reports of Continued Use Russian Stance on 2013 Attack UN Reports Human Rights Council Reports Partial Timeline 2016 November 6, 2015: A press release from the OPCW fact-finding team claimed with "the utmost confidence" that the Islamic State used sulfur mustard in an attack on August 21, 2015 in Marea, in northern Syria. January 4, 2016: The OPCW announced in a press release that the last of the Syrian chemical weapons material, 75 cylinders of hydrogen fluoride, had been destroyed by Veolia Environmental Services Technical Solutions. August 10, 2016: Hospital officials reported a chemcial weapons attack using chlorine gas in Aleppo. August 24, 2016: The third report of the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism was realeased, finding that the Syrian government was responsible for chemical weapons attacks in Talmenes in April 2014 and in Sarmin in March The report found that the Islamic State was responsible for an attack using sulfur mustard in Marea in August September 7, 2016: Allegations were made that toxic chemicals, likely chlorine gas, were used in Aleppo. October 21, 2016: The OPCW-UN Joint Investigate Mechanism issued a report finding that the Syrian regime was responsible for a third attach using chlorine gas in Idlib province on March 16, November 11, 2016: The OPCW Executive Council adopted a decision that condemns the use of chemical weapons in Syria and calls upon parties responsible for use, as identified in the OPCW-UN Joint Investigate Mechanism reports, to desist from further attacks using chemicals. The decision called for additional investigations at Syria at sites identified by the UN-OPCW reports and inspection of facilities in Syria. December 13, 2016: Allegations were made that chemical weapons were used in the Islamic State controlled areas of the Hama Governate, northwest of Palmyra.

10 2017 April 4, 2017: Chemical weapons were used in an attack that killed dozens of people in Syria's northern Idlib province. Initial reports suggest the attack used sarin gas, a nerve agent. The attack is believed to have been perpetrated by the Syrian government, due to the type of aircraft in the area at the time. The OPCW announced that it is investigating the reports. Syria denied it was responsible. April 5, 2017: The UN Security Council called an emergency meeting to discuss the chemical weapons attack in Idlib. April 6, 2017: The United States used Tomahawk cruise missiles to target an air base in Syria. The Assad regime is believed to have conducted the April 4 chemical weapons attack from that base. April 11, 2017: The United States released a declassified report that confirmed victims were exposed to sarin in the April 4 attack. April 12, 2017: Russia vetoed a UN Security Council Resolution that condemned the April 4 chemical attack, called upon Syria to provide full access to investigators, and expressed determination to hold perpetrators accountable. Russia said that blame for the April 4 attack was prematurely attributed to the Assad regime. April 19, 2017: The OPCW said there was "incontrovertible" evidence that the April 4 attacks used sarin or a sarin-like substance. June 26, 2017: The White House issued a release saying it identified "possible preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime." The statement said that Assad will "pay a heavy price" if he conducts an attack using chemical weapons. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said in a separate statement that by supporting the Assad regime, Russia and Iran would also be accountable for any further use of chemical weapons. For further information, see: