London born and bred, Asma al-Assad, the first lady to the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, has announced she has leukemia. The announcement was made in Arabic and in English on her Instagram channel. Asma al-Assad was featured in a controversial paid Vogue article and has been regarded as one of the leaders of the Captagon drug trade coming out of Syria.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a rare cancer that affects one’s bone marrow and blood. It’s an aggressive cancer that, left untreated, may be life-threatening. AML typically affects people age 60 and older, but it can affect younger adults and children, according to Yale Medicine.
Here is her announcement on Youtube:
We do not wish ill health on anyone, but let’s take a look at the Assad’s family history.
Bashar al-Assad is labeled as a dictator due to his autocratic style of governance and the repressive measures his regime has employed to maintain power in Syria. Here are some key reasons why he is regarded as such:
- Consolidation of Power:
- Bashar al-Assad inherited the presidency from his father, Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria for three decades with an iron fist. Bashar’s ascension to power in 2000 was facilitated through constitutional changes, ensuring his unchallenged leadership. We visited Syria in 2018 and people were terrified about saying anything against Hafez al-Assad’s grip of power. His poster was plastered everywhere, even in small villages as an ever-watching eye.
- The Assad regime has systematically dismantled political opposition, rendering Syria effectively a one-party state dominated by the Ba’ath Party. Elections are widely viewed as neither free nor fair.
- Suppression of Dissent:
- The Syrian government has a long history of suppressing political dissent through surveillance, arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings. The security apparatus under Assad has targeted activists, journalists, and perceived opponents ruthlessly.
- The crackdown on the 2011 Arab Spring protests in Syria was particularly brutal. Peaceful demonstrations calling for democratic reforms were met with lethal force, leading to widespread violence and the eventual descent into civil war.
- Civil War and Human Rights Violations:
- Assad’s response to the uprising and subsequent civil war has involved significant human rights abuses. His regime has been accused of committing war crimes, including the use of chemical weapons against civilians, indiscriminate bombings, and sieges of rebel-held areas, resulting in massive civilian casualties.
- Reports by various human rights organizations and international bodies have documented widespread torture, mass detentions, and the targeting of medical facilities and aid workers.
- There is no freedom of press in Syria. Reporters Without Borders ranked Syria 179th out of 180 countries in the world on its 2024 Press Freedom Index.
- Control Over State Institutions:
- The Assad regime maintains tight control over the military, judiciary, and media. State institutions function to serve the interests of the ruling elite, with little regard for democratic norms or the rule of law.
- Independent media is virtually non-existent in Syria, and the regime controls the flow of information through censorship and propaganda.
- Cult of Personality:
- Similar to other dictatorial regimes, the Assad regime has cultivated a cult of personality around Bashar al-Assad. His image and propaganda portray him as the protector of the nation against foreign conspiracies and terrorism, reinforcing his grip on power.
- The 50th edition of Freedom in the World, the annual report published by Freedom House since 1973, designates Syria as “Worst of the Worst” among the “Not Free” countries.
Bashar al-Assad – who after more than a decade in hiding now travels freely to China and the United Arab Emirates is known as a dictator due to his authoritarian rule, suppression of political opposition, human rights abuses, and the centralization of power within his regime, all of which contribute to a lack of democratic governance in Syria.
