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The Syrian civil war,[1][2][3][4] also referred to as the Syrian uprising,[5][6] is an ongoing internal armed political conflict in Syria. The conflict began on 15 March 2011 with public demonstrations as part of the wider Arab Spring and developed into a nationwide uprising, and a civil war in 2012. Protesters have demanded the end to nearly five decades of Ba’ath Party rule, as well as the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad.

In the spring of 2011, the Syrian government deployed the Syrian Army to quell the uprising. Several cities have been besieged,[7][8] and soldiers were reportedly ordered to open fire on civilians.[9] According to witnesses, soldiers who refused to open fire on civilians were summarily executed by the Syrian Army.[10] Civilians and army defectors began forming fighting units, and unified under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, fighting in an increasingly organized fashion; however, the civilian component of the armed opposition lacks an organized leadership. The Syrian government characterizes the insurgency as "armed terrorist groups".[11]

According to various sources, including the United Nations, up to 21,050–28,795 people have been killed, of which about half were civilians, but also including 10,800 armed combatants consisting of both the Syrian army and rebel forces[12][13][14][15] and up to 1,790 opposition protesters.[16][17] According to the UN, between 500,000 and 1 million Syrians have been displaced within the country.[citation needed] To escape the violence, tens of thousands of Syrian refugees have fled the country to neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan,[18] Jordan,[19] Lebanon and Turkey.[20][21] Iraq has closed its border to Syrian refugees, while no Syrian refugees have yet arrived at the Israeli border.[22] In addition, tens of thousands of protesters have been imprisoned, and there have been reports of widespread torture in the government's prisons.[23][24] International organizations have also accused the government and Shabiha of using civilians as human shields,[25][26] of intentionally targeting civilians and of adopting a scorched earth policy.[27] Anti-government rebels have been accused of human rights abuses as well, including torture, kidnapping, unlawful detention and execution of civilians, Shabiha, and soldiers. HRW also expressed concern at the kidnapping of Iranian nationals.[28][29] The UN Commission of Inquiry has also documented abuses of this nature, and also has documentation that indicates rebel forces have been responsible for displacement of civilians.[30]

The Arab League, United States, European Union, GCC states, and other countries have condemned the use of violence against the protesters. China and Russia have opposed attempts to agree to a UN resolution condemning Assad's actions,[31] and advised against sanctions, saying that such methods could escalate into foreign intervention.[32] The Arab League suspended Syria's membership over the government's response to the crisis,[33] but sent an observer mission in December 2011, as part of its proposal for peaceful resolution of the crisis. A further attempt to resolve the crisis has been made through the appointment of Kofi Annan as a special envoy. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had repeatedly stated that the Syrian conflict could emerge into an "all-out civil war".[34]

On 15 July 2012 the International Committee of the Red Cross assessed the Syrian conflict as a "non-international armed conflict" (the ICRC's legal term for civil war), thus applying the international humanitarian law under the Geneva Conventions in Syria.[35][36]

  1. ^ "Syria: France calls for UN to enforce Annan plan". BBC News. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  2. ^ "UN peacekeeping chief calls Syria conflict a civil war". Fox News. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  3. ^ "UN: Syria now in state of civil war, death toll at more than 4,000". Haaretz. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Exclusive: Syria now an "internal armed conflict" – Red Cross". Reuters. 15 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  5. ^ "Timeline: Syrian uprising". Globalnews. 23 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Syria's uprising: From rocks to RPGs". CNN. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  7. ^ "Syrian army tanks 'moving towards Hama'". BBC News. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  8. ^ "'Dozens killed' in Syrian border town". Al Jazeera. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  9. ^ "'Defected Syria security agent' speaks out". Al Jazeera. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  10. ^ "'Defected Syria security agent' speaks out". Al Jazeera. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  11. ^ By the CNN Wire Staff (7 April 2012). "Opposition: 127 Dead As Syrian Forces Target Civilians". Thedenverchannel.com. Retrieved 8 July 2012. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  12. ^ "Syrian Observatory for Human Rights". Syriahr.com. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  13. ^ "Arab League delegates head to Syria over 'bloodbath'". USA Today. 22 December 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  14. ^ "Number as a civil / military". Syrian Martyrs. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  15. ^ Enders, David (19 April 2012). "Syria's Farouq rebels battle to hold onto Qusayr, last outpost near Lebanese border". Myrtlebeachonline.com. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  16. ^ "Syria: Opposition, almost 11,500 civilians killed". Ansamed.ansa.it. 3 January 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  17. ^ 843 Martyrs, may God's mercy be on them all
  18. ^ 30 Syrian soldiers flees to Iraq's Kurdish region: official
  19. ^ "Syria: Refugees brace for more bloodshed". News24. 12 March 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  20. ^ "Syrian Refugees May Be Wearing Out Turks' Welcome". NPR. 11 March 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  21. ^ "Syria crisis: Turkey refugee surge amid escalation fear". BBC News. 6 April 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  22. ^ "Israel will stop any flood of Syrian refugees: Barak". Reuters. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  23. ^ "UNICEF says 400 children killed in Syria". The Courier-Mail. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  24. ^ Peralta, Eyder (3 February 2012). "Rights Group Says Syrian Security Forces Detained, Tortured Children: The Two-Way". NPR. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  25. ^ "Syria: Local Residents Used as Human Shields". Huffington Post. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  26. ^ "UN report accuses Syrian troops of torturing and executing children, and of using children as "human shields"". Blogs.aljazeera.net. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  27. ^ "Syria accused of war crimes by Amnesty International". BBC News. 14 June 2012.
  28. ^ "Syria: Armed Opposition Groups Committing Abuses". Human Rights Watch. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  29. ^ "Syria conflict: Aleppo shootings by rebels condemned". BBC News. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  30. ^ "Open Letter to the Leaders of the Syrian Opposition Regarding Human Rights Abuses by Armed Opposition Members". Human Rights Watch. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  31. ^ Syria's leadership making mistakes, says Russia, BBC, 20 March 2012
  32. ^ Russia and China: Sabotaging U.N. with vetoes, CNN, 8 February 2012
  33. ^ MacFarquhar, Neil (12 November 2011). "Arab League Votes to Suspend Syria". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  34. ^ U.N. worried about Syria's effect on neighboring Lebanon, civil war risk Reuters, Reuters, 21 May 2012
  35. ^ "Syria in civil war, Red Cross says". BBC. 15 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  36. ^ "Red Cross: Syrian conflict now a civil war". The Guardian. London. 15 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
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