State-sponsored terrorism undermining world peace

When political awakening across the Arab world in 2010, popularly known as the ‘Arab spring’, swept through several countries in North Africa and the Middle East, it was clear that people were uneasy with the old order and wanted change, in leadership and the way things were done in their countries. The social uprising and anti-government street protests and demonstrations brought regimes down in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Libya. The monarchies in the region too were shaken but weathered the storm.

Soon after, the consequences of the popular revolutions began to unravel. Old order wittingly reclaimed power in some countries under the guise of new order. Some fought back even after their leaders were killed by plunging their nations into full-blown civil war. National unity was thrown out as militias took over balkanised ethnic enclaves and battled with each other. Some monarchies rolled out goodies to their subjects while others used heavy-handed crackdown to silence dissent.

Five years later, what started as a democratic expression of dissent and regime change has snowballed into social upheavals and collapse of nations as leaders plunged their countries into battlefields in order to retain power. The international community has generally remained muted on the tragic turn of events in these countries; in some cases, they have covertly engineered the dismembering of these nations, or the return of the old guard. Endless, rudderless talks by the UN and others only served to extend the stalemate that has created failed states.

But none has been as ruthless as the Syrian conflict. The brutal dictatorship of Bashar al Assad has used every weapon in its arsenal, including biological warfare, to decimate the entire nation in order to cling to power. Nearly half a million have died, and over 11 million displaced as refugees outside the nation in the past three years. As this happened, the UN and the world powers prevaricated, driven by inertia and vested interests. Today, Russia is testing its latest smart weapons on the war-ravaged nation to send a message to all and sundry that Assad is there to stay!

Syrian government’s action of air and ground bombardment of its citizens is an example of the increasing use of air and ground bombardment by states to silence their citizens. Since the Arab spring, many of these countries have scorched their towns and villages into smithereens. The humble citizen’s uprising has been turned by the leaders into a terrorist war against the nation, and hence the license to decimate them. The

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan produced the Taliban, and al Qaeda. The US invasion of Iraq has generated ISIS. State-sponsored terrorism will likely breed extremist violence, and has not made the world any safer.

Human values, rights and lives have been sacrificed by nations in the fight against perceived opponents, dissidents and terrorist suspects as nations resort to bombs, murder, rape, torture and enforced disappearances. Last month, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights published a report titled The error of fighting terror with terror citing over 100 cases of extra-judicial killings and forced disappearances, and 120 cases of alleged torture and horrific abuses by our security forces in the country in the past few years. In fact, this indictment is a gross understatement of the problem.

State terrorism, however justified, is unlikely to yield peace. It is essential that national leaders seek collaborative approaches to challenges facing them rather than resort to violence. And the UN must redeem its lost glory as a voice for peace and stop governments from annihilating their own citizens.