Who is Rifaat al-Assad, who will be tried by Switzerland on charges of committing war crimes?

Human rights groups are pressing Switzerland to prosecute alleged international criminals. But Rifaat al-Assad’s case is complicated by his return to Syria in 2021, after decades of living in exile in Europe.

Rifaat was born in 1937 in the town of Qardaha in the Syrian province of Latakia. He is the younger brother of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.

He received his basic education in his village, then studied political science at the University of Damascus, from which he obtained a doctorate in economics in 1977.

In 1952, he joined the Baath Party and then joined the Syrian army, where he rose through the ranks to become a senior officer.

He played a prominent role in the rise of the Baath Party in Syria, especially after the 1963 coup against President Nazim al-Qudsi, which was carried out by the “Military Committee” and Hafez al-Assad was one of its members.

Then he participated in the 1967 war that broke out between Egypt and Syria on one side and Israel on the other, in which he was responsible for the tank battalion on the Quneitra front.

In 1971, a year after Hafez al-Assad assumed the presidency of the country following a conflict within the Baath Party, the “Defense Brigades” were formed under the leadership of Rifaat, an irregular military force entrusted with the task of protecting the ruling authority. Rifaat was known at that time as the “second man” in the Baath rule and his brother’s right-hand man.

On charges of attempting to assassinate him, 15 people were executed in June 1979 in Damascus.

Rifaat also founded the “Higher Graduates Association,” which became a military student entity parallel to the “Defense Brigades,” and was later appointed head of the Office of Higher Education until 1980, coinciding with his appointment as head of the Constitutional Court.

In February 1982, as commander of the Defense Brigades, Rifaat led the forces that put down a Muslim Brotherhood rebellion in the city of Hama. These forces were approximately 20,000 soldiers strong.

According to the Swiss Public Prosecution, the Defense Companies are “most likely the main forces responsible for the repression.”

Rifaat al-Assad’s forces are believed to have bombed the city, killing thousands of its residents (reports of the total death toll range between 10,000 and 40,000), and destroying most parts of Hama, earning Rifaat the nickname “The Butcher of Hama.”

However, in a television interview with him in December 2011, Rifaat al-Assad denied his responsibility for the “Hama massacre,” and said that it was an accusation and a lie promoted by the “Syrian regime,” according to him, and accused President Hafez al-Assad of responsibility for what happened at the time.

In late 1983, Hafez al-Assad suffered from heart problems, and subsequently established a six-member committee to run the country consisting of Abdul Halim Khaddam, Abdullah al-Ahmar, Mustafa Tlass, Mustafa al-Shihabi, Abdul Raouf al-Qasim, and Zuhair Masharqa. The committee did not include Rifaat, around whom many senior officers began to rally, while others remained loyal to Hafez’s instructions.

In March 1984, Rifaat’s forces, which numbered more than 55 thousand, along with tanks, artillery, planes and helicopters, began to impose their control on Damascus.

A group of Rifaat tanks were stationed at the central roundabout of Kafr Sousse and on Mount Qasioun overlooking the city.

His forces also set up checkpoints and roadblocks, placed posters of him in state buildings, disarmed regular forces, arbitrarily arrested regular army soldiers, and occupied and seized police stations, intelligence buildings, and state buildings.

The Defense Companies quickly increased in number and took control of both the Special Forces and the Republican Guard.

Although Damascus was divided between two armies and seemed to be on the brink of war, Hafez and Rifaat’s meeting foiled the coup.

By mid-1984, Hafez al-Assad had recovered from his illness and returned to his duties, and most of the officers rallied around him.

At first, it appeared that Rifaat would be put on trial and even faced an interrogation that was broadcast on television. However, the Syrian President resorted to a compromise when he appointed Rifaat as his deputy responsible for security affairs, but the position remained a figurehead.

Command of the Defense Companies, which had been reduced to the size of an armored division, was then transferred to another officer, and eventually the entire unit was disbanded and absorbed into other units. Rifaat was then sent to the Soviet Union on an “open working visit.”

His closest supporters and others who failed to prove their loyalty to Hafez were excluded from the army and the Baath Party in the years that followed.

Upon his departure, Rifaat received US$300 million in public money, including a US$100 million loan from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. He spent the following years residing mainly between France and Spain.

After the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, Rifaat’s relationship with his nephew, Bashar al-Assad, was complicated.

While Rifaat initially supported Bashar’s rise to power, their relationship deteriorated over time due to disagreements over political and family matters.

Rifaat opposed Bashar’s leadership and criticized his handling of the Syrian civil war that began in 2011.

Rifaat continued his opposition to Bashar’s rule until he appeared in May 2021 at the Syrian embassy in Paris, casting his vote in the presidential elections, and later sent a congratulatory telegram to his nephew on the occasion of his re-election.

In 2020, the French Court of First Instance issued a ruling to imprison him for 4 years and confiscate the real estate he owns in France, valued at one hundred million dollars. The Paris Court of Appeal also convicted him of tax fraud and employing people illegally in 2021, and ordered his imprisonment and the confiscation of all his real estate, which he owned. It was considered that he obtained it by fraud.

In Britain, the British prosecution issued a decision to freeze assets worth millions of pounds sterling belonging to Rifaat al-Assad in Britain, and to prevent him from selling a house he owns in the Mayfair area worth 4.7 million pounds sterling.

The Spanish authorities also ordered the confiscation of the assets of Rifaat al-Assad’s family and the freezing of their bank accounts, as part of an investigation against him on charges related to money laundering.

In May 2023, the European Union issued sanctions related to drug trafficking and human rights violations on his son, Mudar, from his wife, Amira al-Assad.

It is noteworthy that Rifaat al-Assad returned to Syria in October 2021, and a family photo was taken of him with Bashar and the rest of the family days after his return to the country.