Leen kurdi
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"Let us not accept violence as the way of peace. Let us instead begin by respecting true freedom: the resulting peace will be able to satisfy the world's expectations, for it will be a peace built on justice, a peace founded on the incomparable dignity of the free human being." - Pope John Paul II
The wave of Arab unrest that started with the Tunisian revolution of January 2011 reached Syria in mid-March, when residents of a small southern city took to the streets to protest the torture of the people.
Syria has been a dictatorship run by the Assad family since 1970. In the year 2000, Hafez al-Assad died, therefore his son, Bashar al-Assad, became President of Syria. Both Assads used terror and force to remain in power.
The 2011 Syrian uprising began in March as part of the "Arab Spring" rebellions throughout the Middle East; it rose to the level of an anti-government uprising resulting in at least hundreds of deaths.
It is an ongoing internal conflict occurring in Syria. The protest movement in Syria was at first modest, and took a while to gain power. It started on 26 January 2011, and escalated to an uprising by 15 March 2011. The uprising is influenced by protests in the region, and has been described as "abnormal." The demands of protesters include President Bashar al-Assad to step down, the ruling Baath Party which is -The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party- to allow other political parties to join, equal rights for Kurds, and broad political freedoms such as freedom of press, speech and assembly.
Like the revolutionary movements in Tunisia and Egypt, it has taken the form of protests of various types, including marches and hunger strikes. Some Islamic groups in north Syria have taken advantage of the protests and started attacking the government.
As protests continued, the Syrian government used tanks and snipers to force people off the streets. Water and electricity were shut off and security forces began confiscating flour and food in particular areas including Daraa, Douma, and Homs. During the course of the uprising, the Syrian Army has stormed the cities of Daraa, Douma, Baniyas, Hama, Homs, Talkalakh, Rastan, Jisr ash-Shughur, Deir ez-Zor, and Latakia, among other towns, and occupied parts of Damascus. The violence escalated, with the killing reaching its highest level in early August. More than 3,000 protesters have been killed, many more injured, and thousands arrested. Dozens of arrested people have reportedly been tortured and killed.
Since the beginning of the uprising, the Syrian government has made several adjustments, though they were widely considered not important by protesters, who were demanding more meaningful changes. On 21st of April, the government canceled an emergency law that had been in place since 1963. On 24th of July, a draft law was created, to be debated by the parliament to allow more political parties, under the conditions that they were not based on religious, ethnic beliefs, and does not discriminate against gender. Protesters have dismissed the law as superficial, as Article 8 of the Syrian Constitution, which grants the Baath party the role of the leaders of state and society, would need to be changed.
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