On Tuesday, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing to examine the systemic and grave human rights abuses by the Syrian government, and the impact of those abuses on the Syrian people. Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) chaired the hearing. Congressman James McGovern (D-MA) and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) gave opening remarks. Panel one featured Ambassador Robert Ford as the witness, and Panel two featured Maria McFarland, deputy Washington ...

Amnesty International released (Arabic) its annual report charting the surge in executions carried out internationally in 2011. According to Foreign Policy, a surge in executions can be attributed to the Middle East, which saw a 50% in confirmed executions for the year 2011, bringing the total number to 558. Iraq saw an estimated 68 executions, Saudi realized 82 deaths, and Iran, the top-placer in the report, saw 360. The U.S. ...

Syria’s opposition factions are gathering today in Turkey in an effort to unite before the “Friends of Syria” summit takes place April 2. Internal bickering has shaken the Syrian National Council (SNC), which has seen an increasing amount of defections and criticism for its opaque handling of funds. Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy claims that the Syrian opposition, due to its sectarian diversity, doesn’t “tend ...

On Thursday, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University hosted the second panel of its two-day annual symposium “The People want the fall of the Regime: The Arab Uprisings and the future of Arab Politics.” The panel featured Mohammed Bamyeh, professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, and Asli Bali, professor of international law at the University of California Los Angeles. Osama Abi-Mershed of Georgetown University chaired ...

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council put aside its differences, agreeing on a draft resolution that demands Syria immediately implement Kofi Annan’s proposed six-point plan. The statement from the president, which carries less weight than an official resolution, gave a “veiled warning of future international action.” The Security Council statement urged the Syrian government and opposition to work in good faith with Annan towards a peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis and to implement ...

On Tuesday, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings hosted members of the U.N. Human Rights independent international Commission of Inquiry for Syria to discuss the findings of their recently released report. Paulo Pinhiero, the chairman of the commission, along with commissioners Yakin Erturk and Karen AbuZayd provided an overview of their investigation and described the current human rights situation in Syria. Senior Brookings Fellow Ted Piccone, deputy ...

On Tuesday, Russia announced its position supporting Kofi Annan’s proposal, announcing that the documents should be revealed and that Moscow stands ready to head back to the U.N. Security Council. Additionally, France circulated an additional draft statement for the Security Council “deploring the turmoil and backing peace efforts by U.N.-Arab League Envoy Annan.” "The Security Council should support them not as an ultimatum, but as a basis for the continuing efforts ...

On Monday, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings hosted a discussion on U.S. policy options in Syria. Panelists included Senior Fellow Daniel Byman, director of research for the Saban Center For Middle East Policy; Senior Fellow Michael Doran; Senior Fellow Kenneth Pollack; and Fellow Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center who appeared live from Doha Via video feed. Senior Fellow Tamara Cofman Wittes moderated the ...

On Thursday the Associated Foreign Press reported that twenty-three mutilated corpses were found outside the city of Idlib, showing blatant signs that the victims had been “blindfolded and handcuffed before being shot dead.” One year after protests in Daraa sparked a nationwide revolt against the Assad regime, protesters on both sides gathered to show their support diametrically opposed struggles. Human Rights Watch on Thursday demanded stage “to the ‘scorched earth methods’ ...

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon declared that Libyan authorities should investigate violations after U.N. report found both opposition and loyalist forces had committed war crimes during last years revolution. As the investigation was announced Ban Ki-Moon affirmed his support for the U.N. Support Mission of Libya to remain in the country as it deals with continued human rights abuses and a sensitive security situation. Reports of arbitrary arrests, vendetta attacks, and torture ...

The U.N. Human Rights Council released the "Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran." The document highlights the recent trends in the human rights situation in Iran, and though it does not cover all the violations entirely, "it provides a picture of the prevailing situation in that regard." The six recommendations the Rapporteur makes call on the government of Iran to reform ...

On Tuesday, Amnesty International released a report  that presents evidence of torture and gratuitous abuses committed systematically by the Syrian regime as part of state policy, therefore amounting to crimes against humanity. The report is part of a series of documents citing violent abuses committed by the Syrian regime, and confirms that Syrian state forces continue to systematically attack civilians. Testimonies recorded by Amnesty International show that people are “almost invariably ...

Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, after presenting a six-point peace plan to Assad, left Damascus for Ankara on Tuesday to meet with a delegation of the Syrian national council (SNC). Annan reported that a response to the six-point proposal is expected from Syrian authorities within the next day. “One I receive their answer we will know how to react,” he said. Annan was seeking an immediate ceasefire in order ...

Al-Jazeera reported that Israeli air strikes in the Gaza strip have killed a total number of 23 Palestinians since violence erupted in the Palestinian territory on Friday. Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group blamed for rocket fire into Israel, claimed that two of the dead were members. Israel justifies the attacks saying that it is “hitting back at scores of rocket attacks.” The violence erupted when the Israeli army carried out ...