Peace and Justice in the Middle East: Balancing International and Local Solutions to the Crises in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine

• Author: Nadia Shamsi
• Position: Independent Scholar
• Pages: 315-368

e Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law

ISSN: 2338-7602; E-ISSN: 2338-770X

http://www.ijil.org

© 2014 e Institute for Migrant Rights Press

pEaCE and justiCE in thE middlE

East

BalanCing intErnational and loCal solutions to thE

CrisEs in syria, lEBanon, and palEstinE

Nadia Shamsi

Independent Scholar

E-mail: Nshamsi@luc.edu

Countries in the Middle East have experienced continuous political, social, and

economic turmoil in the last several decades. e populations of Syria, Leba-

non, and Palestine in particular have suered severe human rights violations.

In Syria, the focus has been on the major atrocities committed during the con-

icts since March 2011, where civilians have been subject to war crimes and

crimes against humanity, including unlawful detentions and torture, enforced

disappearances, and attacks involving chemical weapons. In Lebanon, on the

other hand, human rights issues stem from the conicts between Syria and Israel

since 1975, and mainly involve arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances,

and targeted assassinations during its periods of political instability. Finally,

the situation in Palestine involves a combination of human rights abuses and

long-term displacement. Furthermore, the recent conicts in Gaza and the West

Bank have worsened the situation for the Palestinian people. Investigations have

revealed war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by Hamas

militants and the Israeli Defense Forces. Nevertheless, several transitional justice

initiatives can help these countries move from systematic human rights viola-

tions to peace and reconciliation.

While these three nations have interconnecting issues, the local responses in

Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine vary greatly according to the magnitude of their

conicts. In order to remedy the human rights abuses in each territory, a per-

sonalized transitional justice approach must be taken to ensure that individual

issues are addressed. As the situation in Syria is ongoing, transitional justice

mechanisms should deal with both the country’s short-term and long-term

III Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law 315-68 (April 2016)

316

Shamsi

needs. Short-term emergency assistance should be coupled with measures that

focus on stabilizing and providing permanence for individuals who had to ee

their homes, in addition to medical, psychological, and social services measures

and other comprehensive support to victims.Vetting police, military, and judi-

cial ocers who were responsible for the atrocities must be the rst long-term

step towards reconciliation and ghting impunity, with the heavy support of the

international community in maintaining peace. is should eventually lead to

the establishment of a truth commission that would investigate such crimes and

recommend changes, and eventually focus a criminal tribunal’s eorts towards

prosecuting those accused of violating international human rights in Syria. In

Lebanon, on the other hand, eorts should provide a mixture of investigations,

prosecutorial initiatives, and reparations. In addition, there should be a focus

on establishing a national framework that works with the Special Tribunal for

Lebanon to investigate recent human rights abuses that did not fall within the

Court’s mandate. Particular attention should be paid to those domestic organi-

zations that failed the Lebanese population in the past; international oversight

can prevent mismanagement and restore faith in domestic organizations and

the Lebanese government. Finally, in Palestine, a mixture of interim programs

and long-term support is necessary to address the wide-ranging concerns that

Palestinian victims have, namely restitution and compensation for their dis-

placement. International intervention is necessary in Palestine’s case: speci-

cally, the creation of an inclusive international organization that addresses the

long-term needs of refugees that have been ignored for decades. is interna-

tional organization can ll the gaps le by both the UNCCP and the UNRWA’s

limited mandates. Additionally, international pressure is necessary to coerce Is-

rael to end its indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks against civilians, as

well as deal with the ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza

and the West Bank.

Keywords: Human Rights, Dispute Resolution, International Criminal Law, Interna-

tional Humanitarian Law, State Building.

317

Peace and Justice in the Middle East: Balancing International and Local Solutions

Shamsi

I. INTRODUCTION

For territories in the Middle East, the majority of the twentieth centu-

ry has been marked with political upheaval, economic instability, and

social conict. e partition of Mandatory Palestine in 1947 and the

subsequent creation of Israel accompanied a period of long-term vio-

lence among several nations, most notably Syria, Lebanon, and Pales-

tine. e civilian population in each territory endured a wide variety of

human rights violations, ranging from arbitrary arrests and enforced

disappearances to torture and the disproportionate use of force by gov-

ernments. Millions of victims from these territories continue to suer

severe consequences from the mass atrocities that stem from decades

ago.

ough their conicts are interrelated, and the human rights

abuses that occurred are similar, the circumstances in Syria, Lebanon,

and Palestine are specic to their own territories. e situation in Syria

is particularly sensitive as egregious human rights violations continue

to occur. An estimated 9 million Syrians have ed their homes since

the outbreak of civil war in March 2011.1 Civilians have been subject

to arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture, and unlawful

killings. e Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the

Syrian Arab Republic noted that both government and non-government

forces were responsible for committing war crimes and crimes against

humanity in this region.2 On the other hand, the human rights violations

that occurred in Lebanon are tied to its past tensions between Syria

and Israel. Since 1975, Lebanon’s political instability has led to arbitrary

detentions, enforced disappearances, and assassinations by Israeli and

Syrian forces. Most recently, bomb attacks and targeted assassinations

of political leaders, activists, and journalists have been prevalent

1. S R: A S   C—I  M E 

E, http://syrianrefugees.eu.

2. See I I C  I   S

A R, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/IICISyria/Pages/

IndependentInternationalCommission.aspx. “e Independent International

Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic was established on 22

August 2011 by the Human Rights Council through resolution S-17/1 adopted

at its 17th special session with a mandate to investigate all alleged violations of

international human rights law since March 2011 in the Syrian Arab Republic.”