The governments of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain withdraw their respective ambassadors from Syria this week. This move is coupled with a statement from King Abdulla of Saudi Arabia condemning the violence in strong terms.
We’re encouraged by this movement from regional powers against the Assad regime. Since the start of Ramadan, the Assad regime has stepped up the war it is waging on its own people. More towns were attacked this weekend, more tanks shelled homes – raining bombs and gunfire on innocents and killing dozens if not hundreds more each day. The regime is clearly feeling the pressure, and instead of responding in the ways Assad promised – reform and dialogue – he’s trying to slaughter his people into submission. From the newest assault on Deir al-Zour, the New York Times quoted one activist saying: “They are shooting at us to kill us, not to scare us off.”
Given this reality and the limited US and European leverage, HRF has called for regional pressure to be increased on Assad. The actions of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and with more action expected from Turkey, are exactly the sort regional pressure necessary. Once a regional consensus has been reached, Assad will be effectively isolated and it will be very difficult for the UN Security Council to justify inaction. As noted here, regional powers –especially Turkey – have far more leverage and credibility in Syria than the US, UK, or anyone in the West. The sooner a direct multilateral approach can pressure out Assad in favor of a legitimate, secure transition, the better for thousands of Syrians currently living in fear of their own government.
Nonetheless, the actions of these Gulf countries do smack with irony. The hypocrisy involved in the King of Bahrain withdrawing his ambassador to Syria, citing the bloody crackdown, or the King of Saudi Arabia calling for “quick and comprehensive reforms” is truly staggering. HRF has done extensive work covering the abuses against pro-democracy and human rights activists in Bahrain. (Fantastic AJE special here) Dozens of people were killed in Bahrain, hundreds injured from the crackdown on protestors backed by the GCC. In a massive performance, the government led national dialogue talks, which started as a sham and ended as a waste of time when the opposition pulled out early on. For years GCC countries have censored, paid off, and simply eliminated all forms of opposition or any calls for real democracy. No form of democracy exists in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE despite some undeniably democratic aspirations from within the population. While the criticism of Assad is welcomed and a positive step towards breaking the taboo of regional leaders denouncing their own, the hypocrisy on display here cannot be ignored.
The US government needs to be careful to avoid indulging this hypocrisy. While the United States was slow on responding to abuses in Syria, it was slower and less effective on the abuses in Bahrain. Traditionally, gulf countries have enjoyed a shield from US criticism on human rights abuses and anti-democratic crackdowns due to the entrenched oil trade and resulting partnerships. In contrast, the United States rarely pulls any punches on Iranian abuses (rightfully so). Imagine the US reaction to Iranians sending in hundreds of troops into Syria to aid the Assad regime – would it not be much harsher than when Saudi Arabia did the same in Bahrain? Fear of Iranian influence through the Shiite community is part of the reason the US is quiet on Bahrain, but by staying quiet it gives the Iranian regime opportunity to defend its actions with anti-American rhetoric. To build and maintain credibility in the region the United States needs to treat violence against Sunnis the same as violence against Shiites and abuses by allies the same as abuses by adversaries. That will mean consistent diplomacy in the field of human rights and as President Obama said: “speak honestly about the principles that we believe in, with friend and foe alike”.
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