THERE are about fifty five Muslim countries in the world today and unfortunately all of them are devoid of a democratic system of governance. Most Muslim countries are absolute monarchies, dictatorships, military regimes or dynastic family groups. After the Arab Spring of 2011 dictators across the Middle East were swept away like leaves in wintry weather.
The world witnessed the fall and tragic end of long ruling dictators like Ben Ali of Tunisia, Hosnie Mubarak of Egypt, Qaddafi of Libya and the latest to fall is Bashar Al Assad of Syria. Among all the dictators of the Muslim world like Saddam Hussein of Iraq or Qaddafi of Libya Bashar did not at all look like a ruthless tyrannical dictator. He was lovingly called Duck by his British wife Asma and some even called him giraffe because of his long neck. He was rather awkward and gangly like a young teenager and was a well-qualified Ophthalmologist employed as an eye doctor by the National Health Service of the UK in the Western Eye Hospital in London.
It was in 2000 that he was hurriedly recalled to Syria when his aging father Hafiz Al Assad was on his death bed after a rule of over 39 years. Hafiz Assad like any absolute monarch handed over the reins of government to his son and the dynastic rule continued in the country. Looks can be deceptive and this certainly was true in the case of the Syrian dictator.
In spite of his unassuming demeanor and innocent looks he displayed all the ugly traits of worst of the dictators of modern times. His despotic rule of over 23 years resulted in the death of over half a million people and there is no denying the fact that he was an epitome of evil. Diplomatic help to prop up his game in the world some regional countries sided with him and provided material and diplomatic help to prop up his decaying regime.
His powerful friends did manage to delay his fall but in the end he had to bite the dust and fly from Damascus to seek refuge in Russia where he has been graciously granted political asylum by his Russian benefactors headed by Vladimir Putin.
Bashar Al Assad fortunately was spared the ugly end of some other dictators like Qaddafi and managed to fly out of the country with his entire family. On his departure Russia was the only country willing to take him and they welcomed him quietly at Moscow airport and announced a political asylum for the entire family on humanitarian grounds. Most dictators like Raza Shah Pehalvi have managed to run away with their billions of dollars fortune packed in suit cases and it is being said that Bashar Al Assad is no exception. The only confirmation that Bashar was no longer in power came from Moscow who were no doubt infuriated and disappointed in their feckless protégé in which they had invested so much without any returns to speak of. Russia is the only country in the world where the Syrian dictator will find safe refuge to end his life in exile. It is the only country that will never hand him over to the new Syrian govt. or to the international court of Justice to face trial for human rights violations.
It has been reported that his British wife suffering from Leukemia arrived in Moscow with her three children a few days before Bashar Al Assad.As the Arab Spring spread through the Middle East in early 2011, Syria initially remained quiet until one night in February a group of children in the southern town of Deraa daubed graffiti on a wall. “It’s your turn next, doctor,” they wrote, taunting Assad, an ophthalmologist.The goad infuriated the Assad clan. The local security chief, a cousin of the president, had his men round up and torture the children.Crowds gathered to demand their release. Assad’s generals, and quite possibly Asma herself, begged him to comply, apologize and defuse the crisis.Instead, the president gave the order to open fire on the protesters, triggering the 13-year uprising that eventually saw him dumped so unceremoniously from office.
After the first street demonstrations against his rule Bashar Al Assad become more vicious cruel and bloody minded. He managed to slaughter hundreds of thousands of his countrymen, torture countless others to death and was responsible for the greatest refugee crisis the world has ever seen with more than half of the entire Syrian population seeking refuge in neighboring countries. He was not meant to become president at all. His older brother, Bassel, was the one earmarked to succeed their father Hafez, who had seized power in a coup in 1971 to mark the beginning of half a century of Assad rule.
Bassel, with his fondness for fast cars and faster women, was the opposite of his gauche younger brother, who preferred to sit quietly at home, studying, listening to Phil Collins and drinking green tea. But then, in 1994, Bassel was killed racing his Mercedes through the streets of Damascus and Bashar found himself the heir apparent and just six years later, the president. The exact net worth of the Bashar Al Assad family is shrouded in secrecy but according to Syrian experts and insiders the estimated net worth of the family runs into billions of dollars.
In 2020 the President’s uncle Rifaat Al Assad was charged with money laundering by a French Court.During the trial, which resulted in a four-year prison sentence, it was disclosed that Rifaat owned two vast houses in Paris, one of which was 32,000 sq ft, along with a stud farm, a chateau and more than 500 properties in Spain. Such was the wealth of a single member of the Assad clan.
During 54 years of Assad family rule, the Syrian economy stagnated and then collapsed entirely, shrinking by more than half, as the country’s president sacrificed half a million lives to cling to power.According to the United Nations, 90 per cent of Syrians live in poverty. The Assad family were not among them.
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad.
