Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews eISSN: 2395-6518, Vol 8, No 1, 2020, pp 456-463 https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2020.8157 456 |www.hssr.in © Alharbi et al. THE IMPACT OF THE POST ARAB SPRING ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS IN SYRIA Dakheelallah Alharbi 1* , Zarina Othman 2 , Sity Daud 3 1 PhD Candidate at Research Centre of History, Politics and International Affairs, Faculty of Humanitiesand Social Sciences, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia, 2 Professor and Chair, Research Centre of History, Politics and International Affairs, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia, 3 Associate Professor, Research Centre of History, Politics and International Affairs, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia. Email: 1* dakheelalah.alharbi@gmail.com, 2 zo@ukm.edu.my, 3 sitydaud@ukm.edu, my Article History: Received on 13 th November 2019, Revised on 28 th December 2019, Published on 30 th January 2020 Abstract Purpose: The purpose of the study is to give an analysis of the humanitarian situation and the case of human rights in Syria after the events of the Arab spring. Methodology: This is analytical-descriptive research that has been done through literature review, content analysis, and documentary and case study research. Result: our results suggest that the Syrian government made false concessions designed to end the revolts. The occurrence led to the formation of a rebel group, the Free Syrian Army whose main objective was to oust the authoritarian regime and stop the killing of civilians. This marked the beginning of the blatant violation of human rights as well as the civil war in Syria. The government not only ignited but also took the war to its own people killing, injuring and imprisoning thousands of people. Worse still, thousands of women and young girls still suffer sexual violence during the nightly raids conducted frequently on either opposing camps. Following the massive violations of human rights, almost all economic sectors of Syria have met rock-bottom. Applications: This research can be used for policymakers and the international community to take a further step to aid the Syrian civilians. Novelty/Originality: In our research, we try to target a very much debated topic in the Middle East. Although several articles written about the humanitarian and human rights situation in Syria studies on human rights after the Arab spring is still lacking. Keywords: Arab Spring, Syria, Civilians, Democracy, Human Rights, Conflict. INTRODUCTION Syria is one of the Arab states in the Middle East and Northern Africa that have yet to recover from the effects of the revolutionary wave that swept through the region towards the end of the last decade. The cause for the nation’s prevailing circumstances is “The Arab Spring” that started on 17th December 2010 when a vegetable hawker in Tunis, the capita l of Tunisia, set himself on fire outside a government building in protest of mistreatment by the state authorities ( Campante & Chor, 2012 ). The selfless act of sacrifice sparked a wave of intense mass outcry and protest across the nation, which culminated with the fleeing of the authoritarian ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Interestingly, the outcome of the Tunisian protest inspired similar occurrences in other states within the region including Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, and Syria (Anderson, 2011) . When the Tunisian authoritarian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali could not withstand the pressure and calls for his resignation, he fled to Saudi Arabia. Tunisia conducted its first democratic parliamentary elections in October 2011 almost a year after the beginning of the protests in Tunisia. The Arab Springs the result of a string of uprisings witnessed in the Arab region around springtime towards the end of the last decade 1 . On the other hand, stifled democracy and infringement of citizens’ rights perpetrated by authoritarian regimes were the main cause of the uprisings. History has shown that the second half of the 20 th century has seen the establishment of authoritarian regimes across the region including the ones of Hosni Mubarak (Egypt), Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Tunisia), Muammar Gaddafi (Libya), Bashar al Assad (Syria), Ali Abdullah Saleh (Yemen), and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (Bahrain). The biggest point of contention in the entire Arab Spring debacle is the uprising’s impact and achievement. While the revolts mainly aimed at injecting elements of democracy in the social and political spheres of the nations, the outcomes do not necessarily align with the objectives ( Campante & Chor, 2012 ). Apart from Tunisia – 1 Another explanation for the Arab Spring, point to its resemblance with a series of revolutions that occurred in Europe in the 19 th century. The year 1848 marked the beginning of a tumultuous era with several nations across Europe experiencing significant cases of revolts among the citizenry (Sperber, 2005 ). Similar to the Arab spring, the European revolution began from one nation, Sicily, and with time spread to others such as Germany, Austria, and France. The uprisings were the result of mass upheavals aimed at effecting change in the face of socioeconomic issues that had caused significant food shortages across the European continent ( Berger and Spoerer, 2001 )