Syria (Helimun) (0)

1. UN as a world organization
The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the UN Charter had been ratified by a majority of the original 51 Member States . The day is now celebrated each year around the world as United Nations Day.
The purpose of the United Nations is to bring all nations of the world together to work for peace and development , based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the well-being of all people. It affords the opportunity for countries to balance global interdependence and national interests when addressing international problems. There are currently 192 Members of the United Nations.
The Aims of the United Nations:
-To keep peace throughout the world.
-To develop friendly relations between nations.
-To work together to help people live better lives , to eliminate poverty , disease and illiteracy in the world, to stop environmental destruction and to encourage respect for each other 's rights and freedoms.
-To be a centre for helping nations achieve these aims.
The Principles of the United Nations:
-All Member States have sovereign equality .
-All Member States must obey the Charter.
-Countries must try to settle their differences by peaceful means .
-Countries must avoid using force or threatening to use force.
-The UN may not interfere in the domestic affairs of any country .
-Countries should try to assist the United Nations.
The basic structure of the United Nations is outlined in an organizational chart . What the structure does not show is that decision -making within the UN system is not as easy as in many other organizations . The UN is not an independent, homogeneous organization; it is made up of sovereign states, so actions by the UN depend on the will of Member States, to accept , fund or carry them out. Especially in matters of peace-keeping and international politics , it requires a complex, often slow , process of consensus- building that must take into account national sovereignty as well as global needs .
The organization won the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UN's effectiveness have been mixed. Some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased.
2. General knowledge on your delegation
COUNTRY: Syrian Arab Republic
POPULATION: Over 13 million
LANGUAGE : Arabic ( official ); French ; English
RELIGION : Islam , Christianity, Druze, Judaism , Baha 'i
Syrian Arab Republic, more commonly known as Syria. The fertile land of Syria lies at the crossroads of great trade routes between the East and West . It is also the site of many holy places in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Because of these advantages, it has been invaded, conquered, and occupied by many different peoples over its long history. These groups include the Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans , Arabs, European Crusaders, Mongols from Central Asia, Turks, British, and French. In 1946, the French gave up control over Syria, and the Syrian Arab Republic was created.
Syria is a country in the Middle East bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Neighboring countries include Iraq , Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey . The geography of Syria is primarily semiarid and desert plateau with a double mountain belt in the west. The government system is a republic under authoritarian regime . The chief of state is the President and the head of government is the Prime Minister. Syria has a mixed economy in which there is limited private freedom but the economy remains highly controlled by the government. Syria is a member of the Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU).
Two-thirds of Syria is desert; the other third is part of the Fertile Crescent along the Mediterranean coast. About 80 percent of the population lives in that fertile region . The total population of Syria is a little over 13 million. Half the people live in cities, 4 million in Damascus alone.
Arabic is the official language of the Syrian Arab Republic and the language is spoken by nearly all Syrians. French is the second-most-common language. However , it has started to be rivaled by English.
The majority religion in Syria is Islam: 85 percent of the population is Muslim . Other groups include Christians, Druze, Jews, Baha'is, and others.
Syria is not a wealthy country; most people have a mediocre standard of living at best . City dwellers live in apartments. Those who are wealthy enough build villas or large vacation homes in the mountains or on the sea coast.
3. Security policy and alliances
Syria is a founding member of the UN, having joined on 24 October 1945, and belongs to ESCWA and all the nonregional specialized agencies except WIPO. It is a charter member of the Arab League, set up in 1945 to foster cooperation in foreign and domestic affairs. Syria also belongs to G-77 and OAPEC.

Iran and Syria
- Since 1979, the alliance between Syria and Iran has had significant impact in both shaping Middle East politics and thwarting the regional goals of the United States, Israel and Iraq.
-Syria and Iran are the two parties most responsible for spoiling U.S.-backed peace efforts between the Arabs and Israel in order to promote their own Arab and Islamic interests. For the United States, they were also the most troublesome countries during the U.S. intervention in Iraq because they aided , abetted or armed insurgents.
-The two regimes share common traits. They are both authoritarian and defiantly independent, even at a political or economic cost . Iran is predominantly Shiite. Although Syria is predominantly Sunni Muslim, its ruling family is Alawite, a Shiite sect.
-At the same time, they are odd political bedfellows. Syria’s Baa’thist ideology is strictly secular and socialist. Iran’s ideology is rigidly religious and, in principle, opposed to atheist communism and its offshoots. Yet their common strategic goals have held the alliance together for three decades, despite repeated attempts to rend them apart.
Syrian American Alliance (SAA) aims to help people of Syria to live in dignity through programs of engagement, education, humanitarian and developmental projects.
SAA main mission is to support and help the Syrians inside the country as well as the displaced, throughout sustaining their survival throughout the humanitarian aid program that the organization is conducting.
SAA is part of the Coalition for a Democratic Syria, a coalition of Syrian American organizations which includes six organizations which are United for a Free Syria, Syrian Expatriates Organization, the Syrian Emergency Task Force, Christian Syrians for Democracy and Association of free Syrians.
4. Judicial system and its functionality
The Syrian legal system is based partly on French law and partly on Syrian statutes. Investigating magistrates determine whether a case should be sent to trial . Minor infringements are handled by peace courts, more serious cases go to courts of first instance . There are civil and criminal appeals courts, the highest being the Court of Cassation. Separate state security courts have jurisdiction over activities affecting the security of the government. In addition , Shari'ah courts apply Islamic law in cases involving personal status. The Druze and non-Muslim communities have their own religious courts.
A Supreme Constitutional Court investigates and rules on petitions submitted by the president or one- fourth of the members of the People's Assembly challenging the constitutionality of laws or legislative decrees. This court has no jurisdiction to hear appeals for cases from the civil or criminal courts.
The constitution provides for an independent judiciary. The regular court system is independent; however, the state security courts are not completely independent from the executive .
There are no jury trials. The regular courts respect constitutional provisions safeguarding due process. The Supreme State Security Court tries political and national security cases. The Economic Security Court tries cases involving financial crimes. Both courts operate under the state of emergency rules overriding constitutional defendants' rights.
Courts
Regular courts
-The first level includes:
A. Peace courts that resolves all minor criminal and civil issues .
B. Preliminary courts that consider the appeals from peace courts and are of two kinds. C. Criminal courts that are traditional courts related to criminal courts. They consider punishments of less than three years of imprisonment.
D. Children ’s court.
E. Customary court.
-The second level includes the courts of appeals that consider appeals from the first level courts and are divided into two kinds, criminal and civil. From among the 30 courts of appeals, 3 criminal and 4 civil ones are in Damascus. The decisions of these courts can only be revised by the court of cassation.
-The third level includes the court of cassation. It is in Damascus and comprises three boards of judges. The judges of this court have the capacity to deal with criminal, individual , commercial and civil issues.

5. Financial system and economic situation of the country
Syria is a middle- income , developing country with an economy based on agriculture , oil, industry, and tourism . However, Syria's economy began to face serious challenges and impediments to growth even prior to March 2011, including : a large and poorly performing public sector ; declining rates of oil production ; widening non-oil deficit; widescale corruption ; weak financial and capital markets; and high rates of unemployment tied to a high population growth rate. In addition, Syria has been subject to U.S. economic sanctions since 2004 under the Syria Accountability Act, which prohibits or restricts the export and re-export of most U.S. products to Syria.
As a result of an inefficient and corrupt centrally planned economy, Syria has both low rates of investment and low levels of industrial and agricultural productivity. Consumer unwillingness to spend money in turbulent times, a devastated tourism sector, customs spats with Turkey, pressure on the Syrian pound, and increasing unemployment and factory closings led the IMF to reduce estimates of economic growth in 2011 and to project negative real GDP growth in 2012. The two main pillars of the Syrian economy have been agriculture and oil.
The government hoped to attract new investment in the tourism, natural gas, and service sectors to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on oil and agriculture. Reform was slow and ad hoc as factions in the government struggled to agree on economic theory. The social market economy proposed by the regime generated argument over the balance between private sector growth and social protection . For ideological reasons, privatization of government enterprises is still not widespread, but it is in its initial stage for port operations, power generation, and air transport. Most sectors are now open for private investment, but neither domestic nor foreign investors are willing to commit funds in Syria at this time.
To attract investment and to ease access to credit , the government allowed investors in 2007 to receive loans and other credit instruments from foreign banks , and to repay the loans and any accrued interest through local banks using project proceeds. In February 2008, the government permitted investors to receive loans in foreign currencies from local private banks to finance capital investment. The government passed a law in 2006 which permits the operation of private money exchange companies , which have been subject to an unpredictable regulatory context. A small black market for foreign currency is active but practitioners have been subject to arrest.
Syria made progress in easing its foreign debt burden through bilateral rescheduling deals with its key creditors in Europe , most importantly Russia , Germany, and France . Syria also settled its debt with Iran and the World Bank.
6. Foreign trade
According to International Monetary Fund sources , because of the discovery of large oil fields, Syria's foreign trade volume has immensely increased over the last 3 decades. During this period , exports have grown from US$203 million in 1970 to US$4.8 billion in 2000, while imports have risen from US$360 million in 1970 to US$3.5 billion in 2000. Syria's foreign trade is highly dependent on its oil revenues and oil prices on the international markets. For the year 2000, the EIU reported that increasing oil prices have continued to boost export revenue and Syria recorded a surplus of more than US$1 billion for the first time since the Gulf War.
Syria's chief exports are petroleum , textiles, food, live animals , and manufactured goods which are exported to Germany (which received 21 percent of exports in 1999), Italy (12 percent), France (10 percent), Saudi Arabia (9 percent), and Turkey (8 percent). Syria's main import products are machinery, food and live animals, transport equipment, and chemicals . The country's main import partners include France (which purchased 11 percent of imports in 1999), Italy (8 percent), Germany (7 percent), Turkey (5 percent), and China (4 percent). Additionally, a large amount of trade (nearly US $200 million) with Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq goes unrecorded. It is estimated that these invisible flows favor Syria, as evidenced by the use of its military and political influence on Lebanon to create a common market between the 2 countries, from which Syria will benefit.
As of 2001, there were about 200 state-owned trading companies that enjoyed prohibitive tariff protection, overvalued exchange rates, and restrictions on private-sector competition. These state-run companies regulated most of Syria's exports. According to the Syrian Ministry of Economic and Foreign Trade statistics, in 1998 72 percent of exports were made by the public sector.
Trade (expressed in billions of US$): Syria
Exports
Imports
1975
.930
1.685
1980
2.108
4.124
1985
1.637
3.967
1990
4.212
2.400
1995
3.563
4.709
1998
2.890
3.895
7. Form of government, democracy and realization of human rights in your country
Government
The Syrian constitution vests the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party with leadership functions in the state and society and provides broad powers to the president. The president, approved by referendum for a 7-year term , is also Secretary General of the Ba'ath Party and leader of the National Progressive Front , which is a coalition of 10 political parties authorized by the regime. The president has the right to appoint ministers, to declare war and states of emergency, to issue laws (which, except in the case of emergency, require ratification by the People's Council), to declare amnesty, to amend the constitution, and to appoint civil servants and military personnel. The Emergency Law, which effectively suspends most constitutional protections for Syrians, was formally in effect through a declared State of Emergency from 1963 until 2011 and remains the de facto standard for security operations.
The National Progressive Front also acts as a forum in which economic policies are debated and the country's political orientation is determined. However, because of Ba'ath Party dominance, the National Progressive Front has traditionally exercised little independent power, and most decisions come from the Ba’ath Party Regional Command.
The Syrian constitution of 1973 requires that the president be Muslim but does not make Islam the state religion. Islamic jurisprudence, however, is a main source of legislation. The judicial system in Syria is an amalgam of Ottoman, French, and Islamic laws, with three levels of courts: courts of first instance, courts of appeals, and the constitutional court, the highest tribunal. In addition, Muslim and Christian religious courts handle questions of personal and family law for their respective communities.
Syria is divided administratively into 14 provinces, one of which is the city of Damascus. A governor for each province is appointed by the president. The governor is assisted by an elected provincial council.

Human rights
The situation for human rights in Syria is considered exceptionally poor among international observers.
Children have been severely affected by the violence in Syria. The UN COI recorded more than 125 children killed since January, and more than 10 children were killed in a mortar strike on a school in Damascus in November. Children as young as 10 have been held in detention facilities with adults, breaching the Syrian Government’s obligations under the Convention of the Rights of the Child .
Sources:
Nations Encyclopedia
BBC
CIA World Factbook
U.S. Dept . of State Country Background Notes
Syria: BBC - Country Profile