DOCSLIB.ORG

A/HRC/21/50 Assemblée Générale

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A/HRC/21/50 Assemblée Générale Nations Unies A/HRC/21/50 Assemblée générale Distr. générale 16 août 2012 Français Original: anglais Conseil des droits de l’homme Vingt et unième session Point 4 de l’ordre du jour Situations relatives aux droits de l’homme qui requièrent l’attention du Conseil Rapport de la commission d’enquête internationale indépendante sur la République arabe syrienne* Résumé La situation des droits de l’homme en République arabe syrienne s’est sensiblement détériorée depuis le 15 février 2012. La violence armée a gagné en intensité et s’est étendue à de nouvelles régions. Des hostilités actives ont fait rage entre les forces gouvernementales (et les chabbiha) et les groupes armés antigouvernementaux. Les affrontements sporadiques qui opposaient les différents acteurs armés se sont mués en un combat continu, les deux camps adoptant des tactiques plus brutales et déployant de nouveaux moyens militaires. La violence armée a atteint des degrés différents d’une région à l’autre du pays. Au cours de la période examinée, la commission d’enquête a établi que l’intensité et la durée du conflit, alliées au renforcement des capacités organisationnelles des groupes armés antigouvernementaux, étaient telles que les critères juridiques définissant un conflit armé non international étaient réunis. Elle a donc évalué les agissements des parties aux hostilités au regard à la fois du droit international humanitaire et du droit international des droits de l’homme. La commission a estimé qu’il y avait des motifs raisonnables de croire que les forces gouvernementales et les chabbiha avaient commis les crimes contre l’humanité que sont le meurtre et les actes de torture, ainsi que des crimes de guerre et des violations flagrantes du droit international des droits de l’homme et du droit international humanitaire, notamment des exécutions illégales, des actes de torture, des arrestations et des détentions arbitraires, des violences sexuelles, des attaques sans discrimination, des pillages et des destructions de biens. Elle a conclu que les forces gouvernementales et les membres des chabbiha étaient responsables du massacre de Houla. La commission confirme ses conclusions précédentes selon lesquelles des violations étaient commises en application d’une politique de l’État. Les opérations de grande envergure menées dans différents gouvernorats, leur complexité et le fait qu’elles suivent * Les annexes au présent rapport sont reproduites telles qu’elles ont été reçues, dans la langue originale seulement. GE.12-16067 (F) 170912 180912 A/HRC/21/50 un même mode opératoire et soient conduites par un appareil militaire et de sécurité intégré indiquent que les forces armées et de sécurité et le Gouvernement sont impliqués aux plus hauts niveaux. Les chabbiha ont été identifiés comme étant les auteurs de nombre des crimes décrits dans le présent rapport. Bien que la nature, la composition et la hiérarchie des chabbiha demeurent floues, des informations dignes de foi amènent à penser qu’ils agissent de concert avec les forces gouvernementales. La commission a jugé qu’il y avait des motifs raisonnables de croire que des crimes de guerre, notamment des meurtres, des exécutions extrajudiciaires et des actes de torture, avaient été perpétrés par des groupes armés organisés antigouvernementaux. Bien qu’ils ne soient pas parties aux Conventions de Genève, ces groupes sont tenus de respecter les principes du droit international humanitaire. Les violations et les abus commis par les groupes armés antigouvernementaux n’ont pas atteint la gravité, la fréquence et l’ampleur de ceux commis par les forces gouvernementales et les chabbiha. Les deux groupes violent les droits de l’enfant. La commission n’a pas connaissance de mesures satisfaisant aux normes internationales prises par le Gouvernement ou les groupes armés antigouvernementaux pour prévenir ou punir les crimes signalés dans le présent rapport. Les difficultés d’accès ont empêché la commission de s’acquitter pleinement de son mandat. Elle n’a quasiment pas eu accès aux responsables du Gouvernement et aux membres des forces armées et de sécurité. Qui plus est, les membres de la commission n’ont pas pu interroger en personne les victimes et les témoins dans le pays. Une liste confidentielle de personnes et d’unités présumées responsables de crimes contre l’humanité, de violations du droit international humanitaire et de violations flagrantes des droits de l’homme sera communiquée à la Haut-Commissaire des Nations Unies aux droits de l’homme à la fin du mandat actuel de la commission, en septembre 2012. La commission réaffirme que la meilleure solution est un règlement négocié fondé sur un dialogue sans exclusive et constructif entre toutes les parties débouchant sur une transition politique qui tienne compte des aspirations légitimes de toutes les composantes de la société syrienne, y compris les minorités ethniques et religieuses. 2 GE.12-16067 A/HRC/21/50 Table des matières Paragraphes Page I. Introduction............................................................................................................. 1−13 5 A. Difficultés rencontrées.................................................................................... 4−7 5 B. Méthodologie.................................................................................................. 8−13 6 II. Contexte .................................................................................................................. 14−36 6 A. Contexte politique .......................................................................................... 14−20 6 B. Situation militaire ........................................................................................... 21−31 8 C. Situation socioéconomique et humanitaire..................................................... 32−36 9 III. Conclusions............................................................................................................. 37−130 10 A. Victimes.......................................................................................................... 38−40 11 B. Enquête spéciale sur les événements survenus à Houla.................................. 41−50 11 C. Exécutions illégales........................................................................................ 51−62 13 D. Détention arbitraire et disparition forcée........................................................ 63−73 15 E. Torture et autres formes de mauvais traitements ............................................ 74−89 16 F. Attaques sans discrimination.......................................................................... 90−95 18 G. Violence sexuelle............................................................................................ 96−102 19 H. Violations des droits de l’enfant..................................................................... 103−115 20 I. Attaques contre des personnes et des biens protégés...................................... 116−125 21 J. Pillages et destruction de biens....................................................................... 126−130 22 IV. Responsabilité......................................................................................................... 131−142 23 A. Responsabilité de l’État.................................................................................. 132−133 23 B. Responsabilité des groupes armés antigouvernementaux............................... 134 24 C. Responsabilité individuelle............................................................................. 135−136 24 D. Responsabilité des supérieurs hiérarchiques................................................... 137−142 24 V. Conclusions et recommandations............................................................................ 143−156 25 Annexes I. Correspondence with the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic ............................................... 28 II. Applicable law ................................................................................................................................. 47 III. Military situation.............................................................................................................................. 62 IV. Special inquiry into Al-Houla .......................................................................................................... 66 V. Unlawful killing............................................................................................................................... 71 VI. Indiscriminate attacks ...................................................................................................................... 81 VII. Arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance.............................................................................. 85 VIII. Torture and other forms of ill-treatment .......................................................................................... 88 GE.12-16067 3 A/HRC/21/50 IX. Sexual violence ................................................................................................................................ 93 X. Violation of children’s rights ........................................................................................................... 97 XI. Pillaging and destruction of property............................................................................................... 102 XII. Map of the Syrian Arab Republic .................................................................................................... 104 4 GE.12-16067 A/HRC/21/50 I. Introduction
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Safe Havens in Syria: Missions and Requirements for an Air Campaign
    SSP Working Paper July 2012 Safe Havens in Syria: Missions and Requirements for an Air Campaign Brian T. Haggerty Security Studies Program Department of Political Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology [email protected] Copyright © July 15, 2012 by Brian T. Haggerty. This working paper is in draft form and intended for the purposes of discussion and comment. It may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder. Copies are available from the author at [email protected]. Thanks to Noel Anderson, Mark Bell, Christopher Clary, Owen Cote, Col. Phil Haun, USAF, Col. Lance A. Kildron, USAF, Barry Posen, Lt. Col. Karl Schloer, USAF, Sidharth Shah, Josh Itzkowitz Shifrinson, Alec Worsnop and members of MIT’s Strategic Use of Force Working Group for their comments and suggestions. All errors are my own. This is a working draft: comments and suggestions are welcome. Introduction Air power remains the arm of choice for Western policymakers contemplating humanitarian military intervention. Although the early 1990s witnessed ground forces deployed to northern Iraq, Somalia, and Haiti to protect civilians and ensure the provision of humanitarian aid, interveners soon embraced air power for humanitarian contingencies. In Bosnia, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO’s) success in combining air power with local ground forces to coerce the Serbs to the negotiating table at Dayton in 1995 suggested air power could help provide an effective response to humanitarian crises that minimized the risks of armed intervention.1 And though NATO’s
    [Show full text]
  • EASTERN and WESTERN GHOUTA SARIN ATTACK INTRODUCTION 1. Chemical Weapons Attacks Were Conducted in the Early Hours of 21 Augus
    EASTERN AND WESTERN GHOUTA SARIN ATTACK INTRODUCTION 1. Chemical weapons attacks were conducted in the early hours of 21 August 2013 on Eastern and Western Ghouta in the Syrian Arab Republic (‘Syria’). 2. The attacks on Ghouta, with the nerve agent sarin, are the deadliest chemical attacks in the Syrian conflict. 3. Evidence collected in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, and over the last seven years, demonstrates that the Syrian government carried out the attacks. 4. This document summarizes portions of an evidentiary brief supporting a criminal complaint filed by the Open Society Justice Initiative, Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, Syrian Archive and Civil Rights Defenders on behalf of victims of the chemical attacks on Ghouta. • First, this document details the use of chemical weapons on Eastern and Western Ghouta on 21 August 2013. • Second, it analyzes evidence supporting attribution of responsibility to the Syrian government, and identifies specific persons alleged to have had a role in the chemical attacks. • Third, it places the chemical attacks on Ghouta within the Syrian government’s broader strategy and deliberate violence against civilians in opposition-held areas. • Finally, it discusses the use of chemical weapons in these attacks as a war crime and crime against humanity. 5. The complaint calls on the Swedish Police Authority and Swedish Prosecution Authority to investigate the use of chemical weapons in Ghouta as an international crime, and to pursue an arrest warrant against the suspected perpetrators. THE USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN THE GHOUTAS 6. The chemical attacks on 21 August 2013 targeted two suburbs of Damascus.
    [Show full text]
  • Timeline of International Response to the Situation in Syria
    Timeline of International Response to the Situation in Syria Beginning with dates of a few key events that initiated the unrest in March 2011, this timeline provides a chronological list of important news and actions from local, national, and international actors in response to the situation in Syria. Skip to: [2012] [2013] [2014] [2015] [2016] [Most Recent] Acronyms: EU – European Union PACE – Parliamentary Assembly of the Council CoI – UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria of Europe FSA – Free Syrian Army SARC – Syrian Arab Red Crescent GCC – Gulf Cooperation Council SASG – Special Adviser to the Secretary- HRC – UN Human Rights Council General HRW – Human Rights Watch SES – UN Special Envoy for Syria ICC – International Criminal Court SOC – National Coalition of Syrian Revolution ICRC – International Committee of the Red and Opposition Forces Cross SOHR – Syrian Observatory for Human Rights IDPs – Internally Displaced People SNC – Syrian National Council IHL – International Humanitarian Law UN – United Nations ISIL – Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant UNESCO – UN Educational, Scientific and ISSG – International Syria Support Group Cultural Organization JSE – UN-Arab League Joint Special Envoy to UNGA – UN General Assembly Syria UNHCR – UN High Commissioner for LAS – League of Arab States Refugees NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization UNICEF – UN Children’s Fund OCHA – UN Office for the Coordination of UNRWA – UN Relief Works Agency for Humanitarian Affairs Palestinian Refugees OIC – Organization of Islamic Cooperation UNSC – UN Security Council OHCHR – UN Office of the High UNSG – UN Secretary-General Commissioner for Human Rights UNSMIS – UN Supervision Mission in Syria OPCW – Organization for the Prohibition of US – United States Chemical Weapons 2011 2011: Mar 16 – Syrian security forces arrest roughly 30 of 150 people gathered in Damascus’ Marjeh Square for the “Day of Dignity” protest, demanding the release of imprisoned relatives held as political prisoners.
    [Show full text]
  • Childhood Under Siege
    CHILDHOOD UNDER SIEGE Living and dying in besieged areas of Syria This report is based on interviews and focus groups with people living and working in besieged areas of Syria. Because of the risks to people in these areas, all names have been changed. Save the Children would like to thank the staff of all our partner organisations who work tirelessly to deliver essential aid to people in Syria every day and without whom this report would not have been possible. Save the Children works in more than 120 countries. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfill their potential. Published by Save the Children www.savethechildren.net First published in March 2016 This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without fee or prior permission for teaching purposes, but not for resale. For copying in any other circumstances, prior written permission must be obtained from the publisher. Cover Photo: Children walk through the corridor of a destroyed school in Eastern Ghouta. (Photo: Amer Al Shami) Designed and typeset by Soapbox, www.soapbox.co.uk In Eastern Ghouta, a child pushes his bike across the city through the destroyed buildings. (Photo: Amer Al Shami) “ There are snipers shooting at anyone on the road, and landmines in the fields. Checkpoints stop everything coming in – food, medicine, fuel; everything needed for life. They stop people leaving, even sick children in need of medical help. Homes and schools lie in ruins from bombing. Children are starving and the markets are empty. It’s the 21st century but here it’s like hundreds of years ago.
    [Show full text]
  • State Propaganda in Syria from War Crimes to Pipelines
    STATE PROPAGANDA IN SYRIA: FROM WAR CRIMES TO PIPELINES IN SYRIA: FROM WAR PROPAGANDA STATE Published by: International State Crime Initiative School of Law Queen Mary University of London State Propaganda in Syria ISBN: 978-0-9934574-8-7 From War Crimes to Pipelines Nafeez Ahmed An INSURGE intelligence investigation School of Law Nafeez Ahmed (CC) Nafeez Ahmed 2018 This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International license: you may copy and distribute the document, only in its entirety, as long as it is attributed to the authors and used for non-commercial, educational, or public policy purposes. ISBN: 978-0-9934574-8-7 (Paperback) and 978-0-9934574-9-4 (eBook-PDF) Published with the support of Forum for Change by: International State Crime Initiative School of Law Queen Mary University of London Mile End Road London E1 4NS United Kingdom www.statecrime.org Author: Nafeez Ahmed Recommended citation: Ahmed, N.(2018) State Propaganda in Syria: From War Crimes to Pipelines. London: International State Crime Initiative. Cover image: ‘Return to Homs’, A Syrian refugee walks among severely damaged buildings in downtown Homs, Syria, on June 3, 2014. (Xinhua/Pan Chaoyue) Layout and design: Paul Jacobs, QMUL CopyShop Printing: QMUL CopyShop School of Law From War Crimes to Pipelines ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5 FOREWORD 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11 1. INTRODUCTION 19 2. ESCALATION 23 2.1 OBSTRUCTION 24 2.2 JINGOISM 25 2.3 DUPLICITY 26 3. WHITE HELMETS 29 3.1 CAUGHT IN THE ACT 29 3.2 AID CONVOY CONTROVERSY 32 3.3 CHAIN OF CUSTODY 38 3.4 THE WHITE HELMETS AND PROPAGANDA: QUESTIONS 42 3.5 THE WHITE HELMETS AND PROPAGANDA: MYTHS 46 4.
    [Show full text]
  • Regime Crackdown in Syria (2011–2017) - Unpacking Violence Against Civilians
    FFI-RAPPORT 18/01990 Regime crackdown in Syria (2011–2017) - unpacking violence against civilians Eline Knarrum Bostad Regime crackdown in Syria (2011–2017) – unpacking violence against civilians Eline Knarrum Bostad Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) 16 October 2018 FFI-RAPPORT 18/01990 1 Keywords Syria Krig Scenarioer FFI-rapport 18/01990 Prosjektnummer 134201 ISBN P: 978-82-464-3118-5 E: 978-82-464-3119-2 Approvers Alf Christian Hennum, Research Manager Iver Johansen, Principal Scientist The document is electronically approved and therefore has no handwritten signature. Copyright © Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI). The publication may be freely cited where the source is acknowledged. 2 FFI-RAPPORT 18/01990 Summary This report sets out to explore and explain the overwhelming violence against civilians in Syria carried out by the regime and its allies from the beginning of the uprisings in 2011 until the end of 2017. The report employs the scenario-based framework developed by the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI) in trying to better understand the type of threats civilians in Syria have been subject to at different times and in different places throughout the armed conflict. The report finds that violence against civilians in Syria can be divided into five phases, each representing an escalation in the regime’s violence, and each portraying qualitative differences in the ways in which civilians have been targeted. It concludes that the regime’s overarching motivation for targeting civilians throughout the conflict has been its own survival. Simultaneously, it shows how a number of overlapping motivations and a diversification of threats seem to have guided the regime’s targeting of civilians.
    [Show full text]
  • Syria's Republican Guard
    SYRIA’S REPUBLICAN GUARD GROWTH AND FRAGMENTATION GREGORY WATERS DECEMBER 2018 CONTENTS * 1 METHODOLOGY * 3 RG UNIT DEPLOYMENTS BY REGION * 8 SEVEN YEARS OF FRAGMENTATION * 10 RG ORDER OF BATTLE CHART * 11 RG COMMAND STRUCTURE * 12 BATTALION COMMANDERS * 18 ENDNOTES * 18 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS * 19 ABOUT THE AUTHOR * 19 ABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE © The Middle East Institute The Middle East Institute 1319 18th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20036 ii SUMMARY The Syrian Republican Guard (RG) has served as the backbone of the regime’s fighting forces since protests first broke out across the country in 2011. Facing widespread defections and disobedience among the largely conscript-based Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the regime split the RG into its component battalions and companies and attached them alongside SAA units. While this strategy helped prevent defections and disloyalty within the SAA, it also ensured that the RG would remain divided as a force for the entirety of the war. While the regime could not prevent the SAA from weakening, continuous efforts were made to augment the RG and expand its ranks. Auxiliary militias were formed from Dara’a to Aleppo, new brigades were trained, and special forces units were coopted under the Guard command. This report attempts to piece together the history of the five regiments, six brigades, and 46 battalions identified as now belonging to the RG. iii * METHODOLOGY OUTBREAK OF WAR This research is based entirely on publicly Joseph Holliday’s 2013 report on the 2011 available Facebook posts from the personal structure of the SAA remains the most complete profiles of RG commanders and fighters and analysis of the SAA and RG structure today.
    [Show full text]
  • The Image of the Martyr in Syrian Performance and Web Activism Edward Ziter
    The Image of the Martyr in Syrian Performance and Web Activism Edward Ziter Since the spring of 2011, Syria has been the site of competing performances asserting and contesting the legitimacy of Baath Party rule.1 US press coverage in 2012 has understand- ably focused on the escalating violence that has defied efforts by the Arab League and the UN to quell the fighting: the February Homs offensive that caused the death of hundreds, among them US reporter Marie Colvin; attacks by the Free Syrian Army in and around Damascus; car bombings in Damascus and Aleppo for which no group has taken responsibility; and the mas- sacres in Houla, Quebeir, Douma, and elsewhere. Much less commented on, but necessary to a full understanding of the uprising, has been activists’ use of performance and visual cul- ture to bolster and spread an ethos of creative resistance and the failure of the regime to posit equally compelling performances and images in defense of their continued rule. A spectrum 1. Sameer Hamady provided help with Arabic transcriptions. Any translation errors are my own. When spelling Arabic names, I have used the most common English transliterations. I have simplified my own transliteration by excluding diacritical markings. TDR: The Drama Review 57:1 (T217) Spring 2013. ©2013 116 New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00238 by guest on 01 October 2021 of performances and web activism is in part responsible for the remarkable durability of the uprising, now in its second year despite brutal oppression and a virtual state monopoly of tele- vision and print media.
    [Show full text]
  • Martyrs List Name: Alaa Lastname: Abd Alqadr Joumaa Gender: Male Death Date: 2012-01-21 Death City: Edlib Death Place: Details
    Martyrs list Name: alaa Lastname: abd alqadr joumaa Gender: male Death Date: 2012-01-21 Death City: Edlib Death Place: Details: ----------------------------------------- Name: boutan Lastname: haji tarboush Gender: male Death Date: 2012-01-21 Death City: Aleppo Death Place: Details: ----------------------------------------- Name: muhammed Lastname: mouhssn alkaraz Gender: male Death Date: 2012-01-21 Death City: Damascus Death Place: Details: ----------------------------------------- Name: ali Lastname: adnan kalil Gender: male Death Date: 2012-01-21 Death City: Lattakia Death Place: Details: ----------------------------------------- Name: haeel Lastname: reda gaybor Gender: male Death Date: 2012-01-21 Death City: Hama Death Place: Details: ----------------------------------------- Name: shadi Lastname: abd alrhman alslama Gender: male Death Date: 2012-01-21 Death City: Homs Death Place: Details: ----------------------------------------- Name: rami Lastname: sami abdoush Gender: male Death Date: 2012-01-21 Death City: Homs Death Place: Details: ----------------------------------------- Name: youssef Lastname: ali alamouri Gender: male Death Date: 2012-01-21 Death City: Homs Death Place: Details: ----------------------------------------- Name: adel Lastname: ahmed mosstafa Gender: male Death Date: 2012-01-21 Death City: Lattakia Death Place: Details: ----------------------------------------- Name: adb alsatar Lastname: joumaa albarsh Gender: male Death Date: 2012-01-19 Death City: Hama Death Place: maart anouaman Details: -----------------------------------------
    [Show full text]
  • Us Policy Toward Syria
    U.S. POLICY TOWARD SYRIA (PART I) HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 Serial No. 115–168 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ( Available: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/, http://docs.house.gov, or http://www.Govinfo.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 32–306PDF WASHINGTON : 2018 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 06:40 Nov 13, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 Z:\WORK\_MENA\092718\32306 SHIRL COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida BRAD SHERMAN, California DANA ROHRABACHER, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey JOE WILSON, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida TED POE, Texas KAREN BASS, California DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island MO BROOKS, Alabama AMI BERA, California PAUL COOK, California LOIS FRANKEL, Florida SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas TED S. YOHO, Florida ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania LEE M. ZELDIN, New York DINA TITUS, Nevada DANIEL M. DONOVAN, JR., New York NORMA J. TORRES, California F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER, Illinois Wisconsin THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York ANN WAGNER, Missouri ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York BRIAN J. MAST, Florida TED LIEU, California FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida BRIAN K.
    [Show full text]
  • Concept Note
    Draft 3 3 July 2018 Summer School REBUILDING SYRIA FROM WITHIN CONCEPT NOTE Guimarães, Portugal 18 JULY – 27 JULY 2018 Co-organized by the Global Platform for Syrian Students, the University of Minho (Portugal) and IUAV University (Italy), with the support of ESCWA-NAFS 1. Preliminary Remarks The idea of organizing a Summer School for and with our Syrian students on “Rebuilding Syria from Within” came up as a very natural next step in the emergency scholarship program that has been run by the Global Platform for Syrian Students (GP4YSYS) since 2014. This emergency scholarship program is underpinned by the pressing need to provide young Syrian people affected by war not only with quality higher education opportunities but also with some kind of broader framework that will allow them to think of the future of war-torn Syria and their own, as the next generation and as leaders of the future. The GP4SYS hopes that this 2018 Summer School will be the beginning of a new cycle of initiatives aimed at averting the loss of an entire generation by engaging talented young people in projects anchored in the future, strengthening social cohesion among young Syrians – regardless of where they are or of the diversity of their affiliations -, investing in peace building efforts and restoring hope for the future. The 2018 Summer School - which the University of Minho (Portugal) kindly accepted to host as well as being a co-organizer jointly with the GP4SYS and IUAV University (Italy) - owes a lot to talks held in Beirut with the UN Economic and Social Commission-National Agenda For Syria (ESCAW-NAFS) and to the strong support received by its team.
    [Show full text]
  • Tenth Quarterly Report Part 1 – Eastern Ghouta February
    Tenth Quarterly Report Part 1 – Eastern Ghouta February – April 2018 Colophon ISBN: 978-94-92487-29-2 NUR 689 PAX serial number: PAX/2018/05 Photo cover: “A raid killed my dream, and a raid killed my future, and a raid killed everything alive inside of me, while I was watching.” - Wael al-Tawil, Douma, 20 February 2018 About PAX PAX works with committed citizens and partners to protect civilians against acts of war, to end armed violence, and to build just peace. PAX operates independently of political interests. www.paxforpeace.nl / P.O. Box 19318 / 3501 DH Utrecht, The Netherlands / [email protected] This report was written by Valerie Szybala with support from the PAX team. It would not have been possible without the participation of Siege Watch’s voluntary network of reporting contacts on the ground. This past quarter, Siege Watch contacts from Eastern Ghouta continued to provide updates and information with the project during the darkest period of their lives. Thank you to everyone from Eastern Ghouta who communicated with the project team over the years, for your openness, generosity and patience. We have been inspired and humbled by your strength through adversity, and will continue to support your search for justice and peace. Siege Watch Tenth Quarterly Report Part 1 – Eastern Ghouta February – April 2018 PAX ! Siege Watch - Tenth Quarterly Report Part 1 – Eastern Ghouta 3 Table of Contents Executive Summary 06 Introduction 10 Eastern Ghouta 12 Background 12 Military Developments 14 Stages of the Final Offensive 18 Chemical Weapons
    [Show full text]