Tensions continue to mount in
Syria following further bombings in Homs, and around the country, as voting on
a referendum was held yesterday.
The city of Homs remains under
fire and troops are reported to be firing artillery, mortars and anti-aircraft
weapons at several towns in the Idlib circumference.
Syria is the latest in a string
of Arab countries to be tipped into turmoil and the threat of revolution.
Whilst the events have not yet been classified as either a civil war or as an
uprising, there are threads of similarity to the revolts seen in Libya and
Egypt in 2011.
The protests pose the greatest
threat to four decades of Assad family rule in the country and a strong
military force since March 2011 is starting to fail. While the eyes of the
world were on other pressing revolutions in the area over the course of 2011,
action was sparked when citizens wrote “The people want the downfall of the
regime” on several buildings in the city of Deraa. When protesters were set
upon with army force, they accidentally sparked a wave of national movements.
As a great many Westerners remain
ignorant of the initial causes and reasons behind the revolutionary action due
to more violent unrest elsewhere, here is a summary of some key concerns for
Syrian citizens:
·
- Fall of the regime: no step down has been forthcoming from Assad.
- End to the 48-year-old emergency law: although revoked, Syrian forces still open fire at will.
- Immediate end to extrajudicial killings and torture: the president has revoked claims of crimes against humanity.
- Release of political prisoners and detained protesters
- Transition to a democratic, free and pluralistic society
Yesterday saw a mobilisation towards the final
objective: a referendum was held across Syria for a new constitution. Of
course, whilst the voting was opened and ran according to predetermined
regulation, there is concern not only that there will be tampering with
results, but that as many significant cities with revolutionary zeal were under
fire, the results will be skewed with too few voting in favour of change,
either being scared or unable to leave their homes.
The new constitution calls for a
multi-party parliamentary election within three months.
Even President Assad himself was seen
voting, the leader claiming that he sees the new constitution as the key
element in a reform process he says will make Syria a beacon of democracy in
the region. Perhaps the president believes that if he is able to curb and
appease the uprisings, he will be able to remain in power.
However, the process has been deemed a
sham by some countries, who claimed that even the old regime was not too far
off Western politics, but leaders chose to ignore its constitution.
Meanwhile, China dismissed US criticism
of its Syria policy, branding the claims that continued trade with Syria was
“despicable” as laughable; many officials stated that the US had no right to
speak for the Arab world after the atrocities seen in the invasion of Iraq.
However, Europe continues to impose
sanctions on the country, including:
- a freeze on the European-held assets of the Syrian central bank
- travel bans on seven close associates of President Bashar al-Assad
- a ban on cargo flights from Syria into the EU
- restrictions on the trade in gold and precious metals.
Although French President Nicholas Sarkozy believed
that things in the area were beginning to move, and that there was an imminent
solution in the offing, the situation remains extremely tense and it may only
be with the pressure of sanctions that the country becomes pliable to the whims
and demands of the West. Should China continue to support the Arab world
however, the violence and unrest could gather a sudden momentum.
With hundreds of citizens killed in the new year
alone, it would seem that there is still an equal resilience on both sides of
the Syrian crisis, which only poses further confrontation with the Arab world
as an example of the latest battle for a new independence.
