The World Briefly
March 14, 2024Unburying the Past
Syria
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Swiss prosecutors this week indicted the uncle of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Rifaat Assad, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over his alleged role in a massacre in western Syria in the early 1980s, Voice of America reported.
On Tuesday, Switzerland’s attorney general office said the former Syrian vice president is accused of “ordering homicides, acts of torture, cruel treatments and illegal detentions” when he led troops in the city of Hama in 1982.
At the time, Assad was sent to the city to suppress an Islamist insurgency, a campaign that resulted in the deaths of as many as 60,000 people – mostly civilians – according to Swiss authorities.
Prosecutors added that he can still be held accountable because the charges have no statute of limitations. But even if convicted, it’s unclear whether he will serve time in Switzerland.
Rifaat Assad – who later became known as the “Butcher of Hama” – has denied the charges.
The war crimes probe against him began in 2013, while he was living in France: Assad had been living in exile for more than 30 years following a coup attempt on his brother, then-President Hafez Assad.
In 2021, he was allowed to return to Syria by his nephew, Bashar, shortly after a French court sentenced him to four years in prison for illegally using Syrian state funds.
Despite the low chances of the former vice president appearing on trial, human rights groups hailed the Swiss indictment as “a victory for all the victims” of the regime.
A date for the trial has not yet been confirmed.
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