Rifaat al-Assad, the uncle of the deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, has been charged in Switzerland with war crimes related to the violent suppression of a rebellion in 1982. Recently, he traveled from Beirut to Dubai, as reported by two Lebanese security officials on Friday.
According to the officials, numerous members of the Assad family have made the journey to Dubai from Beirut, while others have remained in Lebanon since the ousting of Bashar al-Assad on December 8. They noted that Lebanese authorities had not received any Interpol requests for the arrest of Rifaat or other family members.
The UAE foreign ministry has not yet responded to an email inquiry for comment. The Lebanese officials indicated uncertainty regarding whether Rifaat or the other Assad family members planned to remain in Dubai or continue to another destination.
Rifaat, now in his late 80s, is the brother of the late Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, and commanded elite forces that violently suppressed a Muslim Brotherhood uprising in Hama in 1982, resulting in the deaths of over 10,000 individuals. The independent Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported in 2022 that civilian casualties in Hama may have ranged from 30,000 to 40,000.
Switzerland’s Attorney General’s Office has initiated proceedings against Rifaat al-Assad for war crimes and crimes against humanity, citing the principle of universal jurisdiction for such offenses. He has denied any wrongdoing.
This month, Swiss judicial authorities indicated that they had proposed postponing the trial due to concerns regarding his health.
The 1982 assault on Hama is frequently regarded as a precursor to Bashar al-Assad’s subsequent response to the uprising that began in 2011, which ultimately led to his removal this month. When rebels took control of Hama on December 6, their leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, referenced this historical event, expressing a desire to “cleanse that wound that has persisted in Syria for 40 years.”
Rifat al-Assad played a significant role in assisting Hafez al-Assad in the 1970 coup that brought him to power and subsequently held the position of vice president. However, he later attempted to usurp his brother’s authority, which led to his exile.
He has resided in Switzerland, Spain, and France, where he was convicted in 2020 for acquiring properties worth millions of euros through funds misappropriated from the Syrian government. In 2021, he made his return to Syria.
Lebanese officials reported that the wife of his son Duraid and their daughter were detained while attempting to depart from Beirut airport on Friday with expired and altered passports.
Earlier this month, Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi indicated that Bouthaina Shaaban, a senior advisor to Assad, had legally entered Lebanon before departing from Beirut. In an interview with Al Arabiya, Mawlawi mentioned that other Syrian officials had entered Lebanon unlawfully and were currently being sought after.
On Monday, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced that Lebanon would comply with an Interpol request to apprehend former Syrian intelligence officer Jamil Hassan, who is accused by U.S. authorities of committing war crimes under Assad’s regime.
