Syrian revolution

The Syrian revolution, also known as the Syrian Revolution of Dignity, was the series of mass protests and uprisings– with subsequent violent reaction by the Syrian Arab Republic – lasting from March 2011 to June 2012, as part of the wider Arab Spring in the Arab world. The revolution, which demanded the end of the decades-long rule of Assad family, began as minor demonstrations during January 2011 and transformed into nation-wide mass protests in March. The uprising was marked by large-scale protests against the Ba'athist dictatorship of president Bashar al-Assad, meeting with police and military violence, massive arrests and a brutal crackdown, resulting in thousands of deaths and tens of thousands wounded.

Despite Bashar al-Assad's attempts to crush the protests with violent crackdowns, censorship and concessions, the mass protests had become a full-blown revolution by the end of April. Ba'athist government deployed its ground troops and airforce, ordering them to liquidate the protestors. The regime's deployment of large-scale violence against protestors and civilians led to international condemnation of Assad government and support for the protesters. Discontent among soldiers led to massive defections from the Syrian Army and people began to form opposition militias across the country, gradually transforming the revolution from a civil uprising to an armed rebellion, and later a full-scale civil war. The Free Syrian Army was formed on 29 July 2011, marking the beginning of an armed insurgency.

As the Syrian insurgency progressed in October–December 2011, protests against the government simultaneously strengthened across northern, southern and western Syria. The uprisings were crushed by massive crackdowns, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of casualties, which angered more protesters across the country. The regime also deployed sectarian Shabiha death squads to attack the protestors. Protests and revolutionary activities by students and the youth continued despite aggressive suppression. As opposition militias began capturing vast swathes of territory throughout 2012, UN officially declared the clashes in Syria as a civil war in June 2012.

The unprecedented violence led to a global backlash, with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) convening an emergency session on 29 April and tasking a fact-finding mission to investigate the scale of atrocities in Syria. The investigation by the commission concluded that the Syrian Arab army, secret police and Ba'athist paramilitaries engaged in massacres, forced disappearances, summary executions, show-trials, torture, assassinations, persecution and abductions of suspects from hospitals, etc. with an official "shoot-to-kill" policy from the government. UNHRC report published in 18 August stated that the atrocities amounted to "crimes against humanity" and High Commissioner Navi Pillai urged Security Council members to prosecute Bashar al-Assad in International Criminal Court. A second emergency session convened by UNHRC on 22 August condemned Assad government's atrocities and called for an immediate cessation of all military operations and engagement in Syrian-led political process; with numerous countries demanding Bashar al-Assad's resignation.