In her speech at the Warwick Economics Summit in Coventry, England, Karman addressed current issues in the Middle East, including the fall of the Asad regime in Syria, the conflict in Sudan and the ceasefire deal in Gaza. She talked about these issues in the light of her experiences from the Yemeni revolution, and as a lifelong advocate of freedom of expression, she also revealed what individuals can do against disinformation.
Human rights activist, journalist, and Nobel-peace prize laureate Tawakkul Karman is a committed freedom fighter who is active in addressing human rights violations and injustice, especially in the Middle East. Her organisation, ‘Women Journalists Without Chains’ advocates for the freedom of the press . Her message is timely amidst turmoil in the Middle East.
In her speech at the 2025 Warwick Economics Summit, she focused on three issues in the Middle East: Syria and the fall of the regime of Bashar Al-Asad, the conflict in Sudan between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), as well as the peace agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Syria, the home of 14 million refugees
Besides celebrating the fall of the Al-Asad regime, Karman expressed worry over economic sanctions still being in place against the country.
With the Arab Spring in 2011, peaceful demonstrations against the regime started in Syria. She addressed this movement with fond expressions:
“The people of Syria went to the street for freedom, justice and democracy. But they faced violence by the Asad regime.”
Indeed, after the first demonstrations, protestors were met with brutal violence from the regime, and many were killed. This led to protests and turmoil nationwide and eventually, a bloody civil war. Many militant groups were involved, including Free Syrian Army (FSA), Kurdish Rebel Fighters, the ISIS and Hezbollah. International players engaged in the conflict quickly: Iran and Russia on the side of the Al-Asad regime, while Türkiye, France, Qatar and the United States on the side of the opposition.
As a result of the fights, civilians were caught in a constant threat of their lives. This has turned Syria into the biggest refugee crisis in the world, forcing over 14 million people to leave their home, according to UNHCR statistics. With the recent fall of the Asad regime, the rebuilding of the country started and a transitional government was set up. Some concerns in the country are whether the new government will keep to a democratic path, protection against Iranian power-projection and Russian involvement in domestic affairs, especially through disinformation.
Economic sanctions against Syria
Ms Karman claimed that people of Syria did not only face betrayal from the Al-Asad family but called attention to the responsibility of regional powers: Iran and its militia Hezbollah, Russia and also Western powers, who let Syrian people alone by not providing more effective support. Her message: if Western countries really want stability and democracy in the Middle East, sanctions should be lifted.
The people of Syria can only build a free and democratic country, if the economy is normalised. She firmly believes that what the people of Syria need in their fight for freedom, justice and democracy is the removal of economic sanctions against the country. She claimed that the sanctions make it immensely difficult for people to rebuild the country. As the sanctions were implemented against Bashar Al-Asad, they no longer fulfil their role and the best way for the international community to assist democracy would be to re-start trade with Syria. In her words:
“If Western countries really support human rights, economic sanctions should be removed immediately. The real solution for peace and stability in the region is giving the people of Syria the opportunity for self-determination.”
Arab Spring in Sudan
In 2011 the Republic of the Sudan faced both civil unrest and the secession of one of its regions, today known as South Sudan. This redrawing of the map has come with significant economic drawback for Sudan, as the region possessed oil revenues worth billions of dollars.
Parallel to the wave of demonstrations in other Arab countries, known as the Arab Spring, a peaceful revolution began against the regime of Omar Al-Bashir, who seized power after overthrowing the elected government in a military coup in 1989. Omar Al-Bashir imposed Islamic law in the country and turned Sudan into a single-party state from 1990 to 1999. The protests against his rule lasted till 2013. The president repeatedly promised that he would not run for re-election, a promise that was not kept later.
Military Coup Against Al-Bashir
In 2019 a new wave of pro-democracy protests broke out, demanding the removal of Omar Al-Bashir. Al-Bashir was overthrown by the army in April of the same year. The transitional government set up was a mix between civil and military rule. This transitional period was set out to last until 2021, but before the country could enter proper democratic rule with elected leaders, another military coup took place, after which General Burhan seized power.
Unofficial military forces in the country
RSF, a military group formed in 2013 represented significant military power outside the country’s army, and as such, caused instability. The RSF also intervened in other conflicts in the region, on Yemeni and Libyan soil. Even before the conflict in Sudan broke out, the RSF has been accused of mass human rights violations, including the massacre of 120 protestors in 2019. Ms Karman compared the role of the RSF to that of the Houthi militia in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon (and Syria before the end of the civil war).
Breakout of the war
The conflict between the RSF and the national army of Sudan became violent in April 2023 and numerous cases of rape, murder and other war crimes committed by the RSF have been reported. Child recruitment is common in the region.
There are even acts of genocide suspected in Darfur region, as many survivors claim they have been targeted by fighters based on their non-Arab ethnicity. The conflict was followed by famine which caused the death of many. With the collapse of the healthcare system and hardships accessing clean water, mass deaths have been caused by preventable diseases, notably Cholera.
Karman expressed her support for the pro-democracy movement in Sudan and condemned the RSF as the committer of war crimes. Until this conflict is not resolved, there is little hope for stability in North Africa.
The Way to Permanent Peace in Gaza:
Perhaps the most addressed issue in the Middle East nowadays is the conflict in Gaza. The situation in the region has changed recently with the ceasefire deal finally agreed upon by both Israel and Hamas. The ceasefire was announced on the 15th of January and is hoped to bring an end to violence after 15 months of war. Ms Karman addressed it by stating that even before the October 7th attack and the escalation of violence that followed, people in Gaza suffered from injustice and occupation.
She called attention to addressing the root causes of the conflict: a real and lasting solution in her eyes can only be reached by addressing the issue of Palestinian independence.
“The real solution (…) is giving Palestinian people their right for self-determination. This is the real route to peace and stability in the region.”
She also called for the persecution of war criminals guilty of atrocities committed in Gaza. In her view, the International Criminal Court should start investigating the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the conflict as soon as possible.
Lessons for the International Community
She draws one important conclusion from these conflicts: the importance of self-determination. She emphasises the importance of always focusing on that when providing international support for a country. In her words:
“The international community should always follow the will of the people, listen to what kind of support the people of that country are calling for. And in the Middle East, we are calling for them not to support dictatorships. Not military interventions.”
She also underlined that disinformation by governments, as well as companies is a concern in the region. As a journalist, she values freedom of press greatly. Besides fighting authoritarian regimes that spread disinformation, individuals can always do something to stop fake news, which is being critical:
“The first step is to know how to protect ourselves from disinformation, to be critical about what we read – this is your responsibility not to believe anything you read but rather question it and research it.”
She asked students and young people especially to be active in demanding the protection of human rights, no matter where they are. She continually underlined the role of young people: their activism for the respect of human rights in Gaza was an important factor in reaching the ceasefire, so she called on students at the summit to also stand up against other injustices.
She closed her speech by a special message, emphasising the ability of ordinary people in causing a change:
“Never ever doubt your ability to make a change. (…) Don’t doubt that your voice is strong enough. Don’t wait for someone else to do it for you. This was my secret. I did not wait for anyone to lead this change.”
Resources recommended for further reading:
- Guide to sanctions against Syria by Global Sanctions
- Policy Centre: “The Ongoing War in Sudan and Its Implications for The Security and Stability of The Horn of Africa and Beyond”
- The International Crisis Group’s summary of the events in Sudan, one year into the war