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=Syria=

Government Coup U.S.A Motives For Military Intervention Neutrality U.S.A. Intervention Syria Peace Adib Shishakly

[[image:http://i.infoplease.com/images/msyria.gif align="right"]]**Summary 1956-1957:**
(Source: //Killing Hope,// William Blum, pp. 84-89).
 * Short-sighted nuetralist government provokes John Foster Dulles to overthrow it.
 * Syria refuses all U.S.A. economic or military assistance.
 * Danger Of Syria falling under left-wing control.
 * Syria shows serious signs of Communism and less peace, America considers intervening to keep peace so they can achieve their goals in the East.
 * British, Iraq, and U.S.A. consider toppleing Syria and ending their government.
 * A coup was scheduled for October 25, the Syrian government would be overthrown.
 * The coup was rescheduled to October 30, but that morning IIsreali's invaded Egypt. This showed to be a dangerous time for Syria to overthrow their government.
 * The coup was cancelled. But then upon hearing of The Syrian Government was now oriented to the left, a new "leftist coup" developed and was set for June.
 * Adib Shishakly was the beneficiary for the coup because he was a former right-wing dictator of Syria. He was to rule the new government after the overthrowing of the present goverment.
 * Then again, this coup was destroyed at Lieut. Col. Robert Molloy, CIA officer Francic Jeton, and Howard Stone, were discovered from Syrian army officers and turned in, they were all expelled from the country that August.
 * The coup ended but this showed America's involvment with other countries and how are trying to come in and take care of anything in any other country that bothers them, like Communisn or Leftist Governments.

Following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, France administered Syria until its independence in 1946. The country lacked political stability, however, and experienced a series of military coups during its first decades. Syria united with Egypt in February 1958 to form the United Arab Republic. In September 1961, the two entities separated, and the Syrian Arab Republic was reestablished. In November 1970, Hafiz al-ASAD, a member of the Socialist Ba'th Party and the minority Alawite sect, seized power in a bloodless coup and brought political stability to the country. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel. During the 1990s, Syria and Israel held occasional peace talks over its return. Following the death of President al-ASAD, his son, Bashar al-ASAD, was approved as president by popular referendum in July 2000. Syrian troops - stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role - were withdrawn in April 2005. During the July-August 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizballah, Syria placed its military forces on alert but did not intervene directly on behalf of its ally Hizballah.
 * Background Information:**

Vital Statistics

 * 1) //Infant morality rate is at a total of// 27.7 deaths/1,000 live births
 * 2) Life expectancy rates for men is 27.94 deaths/1,000 live births and for women its 27.44 deaths/1,000 live births
 * 3) GDP per capita is $4,100
 * 4) Population below the poverty line is at a country low of 11.9%

Transnational Issues
Disputes - international:

Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied with the almost 1,000-strong UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) patrolling a buffer zone since 1964; lacking a treaty or other documentation describing the boundary, portions of the Lebanon-Syria boundary are unclear with several sections in dispute; since 2000, Lebanon has claimed Shaba'a farms in the Golan Heights; 2004 Agreement and pending demarcation settles border dispute with Jordan; approximately two million Iraqis have fled the conflict in Iraq with the majority taking refuge in Syria and Jordan

Refugees and internally displaced persons refugees (country of origin): 700,000 - 1.2 million (Iraq), 434,896 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)) IDPs: 305,000 (most displaced from Golan Heights during 1967 Arab-Israeli War) (2006)

Trafficking in persons Current situation: Syria is a destination country for women from South and Southeast Asia and Africa for domestic servitude and from Eastern Europe and Iraq for sexual exploitation; women are recruited for work in Syria as domestic servants, but some face conditions of exploitation and involuntary servitude including long hours, non-payment of wages, withholding of passports and other restrictions on movement, and physical and sexual abuse; Eastern European women recruited for work in Syria as cabaret dancers are not permitted to leave their work premises without permission and have their passports withheld; some displaced Iraqi women and children are reportedly forced into sexual exploitation tier rating: Tier 3 - Syria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so.

Illicit drugs A transit point for opiates, hashish, and cocaine bound for regional and Western markets; weak anti-money-laundering controls and bank privatization may leave it vulnerable to money laundering.

(Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sy.html)

Human Rights Issues
Arrested in May 2006 over their involvement in the Beirut-Damascus Declaration, a petition signed by some 300 Syrian and Lebanese nationals calling for the normalization of relations between their two countries, five Syrian signatories are now on trial in Damascus. Three of them remain detained; the two others are in hiding and are being tried in their absence. Conditions of detention have been poor, with all of the 10 who were initially arrested being subjected to incommunicado detention, and at least two of them suffering beatings. They are facing unfair trials and are not permitted to meet freely with their lawyers.
 * People Having Unfair Trials and Bad Conditions of Detention**

For nearly 40 years the SSSC has been unfairly trying purported political and security suspects. Defendants before the court are routinely convicted of vaguely worded and widely interpreted offences, such as "weakening nationalist sentiments" or "inciting sectarian strife", which often relate solely to their peaceful expression of opinions that differ from those of the authorities. Defendants are routinely convicted with scant if any evidence being presented to the court to substantiate the charges against them.
 * Syrian Court System Flawed- Holding Unjust Courts and Violating Human Rights**

Amnesty International deplores the latest harsh sentence handed down against an advocate of peaceful reform in Syria, following this morning's verdict against Kamal al-Labwani.
 * Syria Unfairly Sentences Man for Seeking Peaceful Reform**

The Damascus Criminal Court declared medical doctor Kamal al-Labwani guilty of "scheming with a foreign country, or communicating with one with the aim of causing it to attack Syria," under Article 264 of the Syrian Penal Code. The charge relates to Kamal al-Labwani's visit to Europe and the USA in 2005 where he met human rights organisations and government officials and called for a process of peaceful democratic reform in Syria.

Amnesty International is greatly concerned by the imprisonment of seven peaceful advocates of political reform in Syria who were sentenced to prison terms on 17 June 2007 after an unfair trial in Damascus. All seven were tried before the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC), whose procedures fail to satisfy international fair trial standards and from which there is no right of appeal. (Source: http://www.amnestyusa.org/By_Country/Syria/page.do?id=1011249&n1=3&n2=30&n3=999)
 * Another Unfair Trial By Syrian SSSC Denies Rights and Sends People To Prison**