Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad has leukemia, presidency says

1. Consolidation of Power:
   • Bashar al-Assad inherited the presidency from his father, Hafez al-Assad, who dominated Syria for 3 a long time with an iron fist. Bashar’s ascension to energy in 2000 was facilitated via constitutional adjustments, making certain his unchallenged management. We visited Syria in 2018 and folks have been terrified about saying something towards Hafez al-Assad’s grip of energy. His poster was plastered in every single place, even in small villages as an ever-watching eye.
   • The Assad regime has systematically dismantled political opposition, rendering Syria successfully a one-party state dominated by the Ba’ath Party. Elections are extensively considered as neither free nor truthful.
2. Suppression of Dissent:
   • The Syrian authorities has an extended historical past of suppressing political dissent via surveillance, arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings. The safety equipment underneath Assad has focused activists, journalists, and perceived opponents ruthlessly.
   • The crackdown on the 2011 Arab Spring protests in Syria was significantly brutal. Peaceful demonstrations calling for democratic reforms have been met with deadly pressure, resulting in widespread violence and the eventual descent into civil warfare.
3. Civil War and Human Rights Violations:
   • Assad’s response to the rebellion and subsequent civil warfare has concerned vital human rights abuses. His regime has been accused of committing war crimes, together with using chemical weapons towards civilians, indiscriminate bombings, and sieges of rebel-held areas, leading to huge civilian casualties.
   • Reports by varied human rights organizations and worldwide our bodies have documented widespread torture, mass detentions, and the focusing on of medical amenities and assist staff.
   • There is not any freedom of press in Syria. Reporters Without Borders ranked Syria 179th out of 180 international locations on this planet on its 2024 Press Freedom Index.
4. Control Over State Institutions:
   • The Assad regime maintains tight management over the army, judiciary, and media. State establishments operate to serve the pursuits of the ruling elite, with little regard for democratic norms or the rule of regulation.
   • Independent media is nearly non-existent in Syria, and the regime controls the move of data via censorship and propaganda.
5. Cult of Personality:
   • Similar to different dictatorial regimes, the Assad regime has cultivated a cult of character round Bashar al-Assad. His picture and propaganda painting him because the protector of the nation towards international conspiracies and terrorism, reinforcing his grip on energy.
   • The fiftieth version of Freedom within the World, the annual report revealed by Freedom House since 1973, designates Syria as “Worst of the Worst” among the many “Not Free” international locations.

Bashar al-Assad – who after greater than a decade in hiding now travels freely to China and the United Arab Emirates is named a dictator because of his authoritarian rule, suppression of political opposition, human rights abuses, and the centralization of energy inside his regime, all of which contribute to an absence of democratic governance in Syria.