Sanctions must be used against President Assad for the murderous acts of the state over which he presides
Editorial
The Observer, Sunday 8 May 2011
".....The entire policy looks dangerously dependent on wishful thinking. Authoritarian regimes habitually deploy the promise of "liberalisation" and "reform" to prolong their existence in tandem with repression. Most of the states which have faced uprisings in the Arab Spring have tried this tactic. Mr Assad's liberalisation has been so modest as to be invisible in the police state he has overseen. His father's Ba'athist ideology has been effectively replaced by an emerging crony capitalism as he has moved slowly to open up Syria's economy – his sole significant reform.
In these circumstances, and with so little to show for the years of attempted engagement with him, it seems only right to judge him for the murderous acts of the state over which he presides – unless he meaningfully distances himself from that violence. Until then, as the head of a corrupt state, guilty of terrible human rights abuses, he should be held responsible and face sanctions [Haul his ass to The Hague!], alongside other members of the regime, for the horrors unfolding in Syria. The international community, through its inaction, is increasingly complicit."
Editorial
The Observer, Sunday 8 May 2011
".....The entire policy looks dangerously dependent on wishful thinking. Authoritarian regimes habitually deploy the promise of "liberalisation" and "reform" to prolong their existence in tandem with repression. Most of the states which have faced uprisings in the Arab Spring have tried this tactic. Mr Assad's liberalisation has been so modest as to be invisible in the police state he has overseen. His father's Ba'athist ideology has been effectively replaced by an emerging crony capitalism as he has moved slowly to open up Syria's economy – his sole significant reform.
In these circumstances, and with so little to show for the years of attempted engagement with him, it seems only right to judge him for the murderous acts of the state over which he presides – unless he meaningfully distances himself from that violence. Until then, as the head of a corrupt state, guilty of terrible human rights abuses, he should be held responsible and face sanctions [Haul his ass to The Hague!], alongside other members of the regime, for the horrors unfolding in Syria. The international community, through its inaction, is increasingly complicit."
No comments:
Post a Comment