Rifaat al-Assad (social networking sites)
The Swiss Public Prosecutor announced on Tuesday that Rifaat al-Assad had been referred to court on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Hama massacre case in the 1980s.
Rifaat al-Assad, brother of the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and uncle of current President Bashar al-Assad.
The Public Prosecutor's Office explained in a statement that Rifaat al-Assad "is accused of ordering murder, torture, cruel treatment, and unlawful arrests in Syria in February 1982 in the context of the 'armed conflict' in the city of Hama during the era of President Hafez al-Assad."
This military campaign left about 40,000 dead, the names of about 10,000 of whom were documented, and 17,000 missing persons, the names of about 4,000 of whom were documented, in addition to the destruction of approximately 79 mosques and 3 churches, and the destruction of entire neighborhoods in the city, according to a report issued by the Syrian Network for Human Rights. The massacre in 2022.
The killing, torture, and displacement operations were carried out by the Defense Brigades forces, which were led by Rifaat al-Assad.
Two years after committing the Hama massacre, Rifaat al-Assad carried out a failed coup attempt against his brother, after which he moved to live in exile until 2021, when he returned to Syria for fear of being tried in many cases in European countries.
In addition to the Hama massacre, Rifaat al-Assad is being prosecuted in money laundering cases, and he has been sentenced to imprisonment and confiscated his property in Britain, France, and Spain.
Source: Al Jazeera + French