Trial for Syria’s ‘Butcher of Hama’
Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s uncle is to be tried in Switzerland for war crimes and crimes against humanity from his time as a military commander in 1982.
Rifaat Assad, 86, has been charged with “ordering homicides, acts of torture, cruel treatment and illegal detentions” in February 1982 when he was in charge of regime troops in the western Syrian city of Hama, Switzerland’s attorney general’s office said on Tuesday.
Assad, a former vice president, was named the “Butcher of Hama” for crushing an insurrection in the city and killing up to 60,000 people, mostly civilians.
He lived in exile, mostly in France, from the mid 1980s, after he was accused of trying to topple his brother, Bashar’s father Hafez Assad, who was president at the time. He returned to Syria in 2021, escaping jail in France, where he was found guilty of acquiring millions of euros in property using funds diverted from the Syrian state. Switzerland initiated war crimes proceedings against Assad in December 2013 under the principle of universal jurisdiction and the absence of statutory limitations on war crimes.
The initial complaint was filed by TRIAL International, a rights group that works with victims and pushes Switzerland to prosecute alleged international criminals. “It’s another step for justice for the Syrian people,” TRIAL chief Philip Grant said. The trial would examine “the responsibility of the highest Syrian officials and shed light on crimes committed by the Assad clan against its own people,” he said. Assad is unlikely to appear in person, but Swiss law allows for trials in the absence of the accused.