February 10, 2012

The democratic revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa continue to amaze human rights activists and all of humanity. Whereas Arab spring nations in the Middle East and North Africa have each taken different approaches to handling the ousting of a dictator, the internal strife and politics remained just that—internal. Sadly, with the uprisings in Syria, this has not been the case. In an unfortunate turn of events, Russia and China have both voted against a UN Security Council Resolution to bring closure to the violent situation by demanding Assad to step down. Turning a blind eye to any semblance of human life or dignity, Russia, China and Iran all have a vested interest in the Syrian regime as they continue to supply arms and training to Syrian troops.

The use of the veto power within the Security Council is certainly the prerogative for any nation to exercise; however, to vote against a resolution on de-escalating violence, brutal crackdowns and human suffering is a disgusting and shameful sign of economic and political exploitation. Vetoing the resolution only gave the Assad regime license to continue and even increase their violent disproportionate attacks on the Syrian people. The international community has the responsibility to protect innocent civilians when governments fails to do so; further, the fact that the Assad regime is not only killing its own citizens but in fact is the main contributor to the violence and death tolls is an abhorrent testament to the use of the veto by Russia and China.

In a political play to prop up the Syrian regime in order to gain more influence in the region, China, Russia and Iran are exacerbating the current situation of Middle East countries as a playground for international and regional bullies. According to the European Commission, China is the world’s third largest supplier of imports to Syria and Russia is one of the biggest arms suppliers to Syria. Iran’s involvement in the Syrian revolution goes beyond supplying weapons; in an affront to the Islamic principles the Iranian regime purports to uphold and maintain, their support of the Assad regime shows how little they truly value the Islamic value of human life and dignity.

It is also crucial that the Syrian people’s struggle for freedom, democracy and self-determination is not hijacked and made into a regional conflict with very heavy sectarian rhetoric. In Saudi Arabia various individuals and groups are already using the sectarian language in describing the suffering of the Syrian people. The Imam of one of Riyadh’s main mosques framed the conflict as one between Alawite Shia oppressors and Sunni freedom fighters. This type of rhetoric only emboldens the dictators and plays into their strategy to divide and conquer the Syrian people. The Arab Spring has been a struggle without sectarian strife and must remain so in places like Syria, Bahrain and Libya. Saudi Arabia should also be held accountable for its hypocritical stand on the Arab Spring in places like Bahrain and Yemen, where Saudi interference has been a major reason for oppression of the current regimes.  It is also funding extremist ideological groups regionally and internationally.

Yesterday, the Muslim Public Affairs Council released a policy position paper, “The Current Challenges to the Syrian Democratic Revolution.” In it MPAC maintains that creating a free and democratic Syria should be done so without resorting to war and human rights violators should be brought to justice. By vetoing the Security Council resolution, and maintaining stakes in the Assad regime, Moscow, Beijing and Tehran have all lost legitimacy in showing an ounce of compassion to the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people. Furthermore, the Assad regime is not allowing any humanitarian aid into the country which would compel Secretary of State Clinton to provide a formal notification to the responsible regime, according to the Medical Neutrality Protection Act.

Efforts to helping the Syrian people are urgent and we must not stand idly by as other nations seek to maintain their self-interests at the expense of innocent human lives. Syrian aspirations for freedom are as legitimate as any other oppressed people; the selfish and greedy paradigm which Russia, China and Iran are working within needs to be countered with a more responsible framework.