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Human rights in Syria, Pelosi's silence
8.4.2007 |
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The
authorities treat Kurds, Syria's largest non-Arab
minority, as second-class citizens subject to
systematic discrimination.
April 8, 2007
US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's visit to
Damascus this week caused quite a stir. Before she
even landed in Syria, the White House was calling
her decision a "really bad idea." Pelosi's spokesman
was quick to defend the visit by saying that the
speaker intended to use her trip "to discuss a wide
range of security issues affecting the United States
and the Middle East." No one doubts that security is
essential in the region. But Pelosi appears to have
committed the same mistake as other recent visitors
to Damascus, who decided not to raise the issue of
Syria's appalling human rights record.
Pelosi was the most senior American public figure to
visit Damascus since Colin Powell visited in 2003 as
secretary of state, but she came on the heels of
other high-profile visitors. Last weekend, three
Republican congressmen, Frank Wolf, Joe Pitts and
Robert Aderholt, traveled to Syria to meet with
President Bashar Assad. Last month, Javier Solana,
the European Union foreign policy chief, also paid a
visit. The message from these various visitors has
generally been consistent: Syria needs to cooperate
on Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, and Iraq.
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US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (L) meets with Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on April
4, 2007 |
Pelosi's visit fits the mold. At a press conference
in Damascus, Pelosi told reporters that the she had
expressed to Assad her concern about Syria's support
for Hizbullah and Hamas, and that they discussed the
"issue of fighters slipping across the Syrian border
into Iraq." Pelosi also reportedly passed a message
from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about
Israel's readiness to engage in peace talks, and she
raised the issue of three Israeli soldiers abducted
by Palestinian militants in Gaza and by Hizbullah in
Lebanon. There is no indication, however, that she
told Assad or other Syrian officials that Syria
needed to improve its human rights record to truly
become a positive player in the region.
The Syrian government strictly limits freedom of
expression, association, and assembly. Emergency
powers, imposed in 1963, remain in effect, and the
government bans hundreds of political and human
rights activists from traveling. The authorities
treat Kurds, Syria's largest non-Arab minority, as
second-class citizens subject to systematic
discrimination.
Pelosi's visit took place at a time when several
Syrian political and human rights activists are
facing trial for exercising their right to freedom
of expression. Former prisoner of conscience Kamal
al-Labwani is due back in court on April 10. He was
arrested in November 2005, on his return to Syria
after several months in Europe and the United
States, where he met with officials to call for
peaceful democratic reform inside Syria. He is
charged with "encouraging foreign aggression against
Syria." Prominent writer Michel Kilo and human
rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni have been detained
since May 2006, following their signature of the
Beirut-Damascus Declaration, which called for
improved relations between Syria and Lebanon.
Many analysts fear that emphasizing human rights
concerns will weaken the objective of getting Syria
to change its regional behavior. Better not anger
Damascus by asking for internal reforms, they argue.
But these fears are misplaced. First, US foreign
policy behavior has often addressed this "tension"
by reflecting both a concern for security
cooperation and respect for human rights. Pelosi
herself is a staunch advocate of human rights in
China at a time when the US and China need to
cooperate on many critical security issues,
including the rise of North Korea as a nuclear
player.
Second, more democratic governance and rule of law
in Syria will surely be a more positive influence in
the Middle East.
Journalists and commentators will use a lot of ink
debating the merits of Pelosi's visit. But one thing
is clear. She missed an opportunity to send a strong
message to the Syrian authorities that Washington's
desire to cooperate with Syria does not mean it will
turn a blind eye to Syria's human rights violations.
She also missed the opportunity to send a message to
Syrians and other Arabs that the US still values
respect for human rights.
dailystar com.lb
** Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria
making up 10% of the country's population i.e. about
two million.
Kurds in Syria often speak Kurdish in public,
unless all those present do not. Kurdish human
rights activists are mistreated and persecuted. No
political parties are allowed for any group, Kurdish
or otherwise. Suppression of ethnic identity of
Kurds in Syria include: various bans on the use of
the Kurdish language; refusal to register children
with Kurdish names; replacement of Kurdish place
names with new names in Arabic; prohibition of
businesses that do not have Arabic names; not
permitting Kurdish private schools; and the
prohibition of books and other materials written in
Kurdish.
More about Kurds in Syria - (Kurdistan-Syria)
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