Rifaat al-Assad, the notorious uncle of former Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, has died at the age of 88 after a brief illness. Known as the “Butcher of Hama” for his brutal role in suppressing an Islamist uprising in 1982, Rifaat was a central figure in the Assad family’s dynastic rule over Syria.
Rifaat’s death was confirmed by two sources close to the family, with one former officer in the Assad-era Syrian army stating that he had moved to the United Arab Emirates after his nephew’s government was toppled by rebels in 2024. The exact circumstances of his passing remain unclear, with one source indicating he died after suffering from influenza for around a week.
Rifaat’s infamy stems from his role in commanding the Syrian army’s crackdown on an armed revolt by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood group in February 1982. Under his leadership, government forces carried out a 27-day campaign of violence that resulted in a death toll estimated to range from 10,000 to 40,000 civilians. This earned him the chilling moniker of the “Butcher of Hama.”
Swiss prosecutors had previously accused Rifaat of a litany of crimes, including ordering “murders, acts of torture, inhumane treatment and illegal detentions” while serving as an officer in the Syrian army. He also briefly served as vice-president under his brother, the late President Hafez al-Assad, before going into exile in 1984 after a failed attempt to overthrow him.
Despite his notorious past, Rifaat attempted to present himself as an opponent of his nephew Bashar’s rule in later years. In 2021, he returned to Syria from France, where he had been living to avoid a four-year prison sentence for money laundering and misappropriation of Syrian public funds. Just two years later, he was photographed alongside Bashar, his wife Asma, and other relatives, shortly before the younger Assad’s government was toppled by rebel forces.
Following the collapse of Bashar’s regime in 2024, Rifaat is reported to have crossed into Lebanon and then flown out of Beirut airport, though his final destination remains unknown. His death marks the end of a brutal chapter in Syria’s turbulent history, one that will forever be associated with the Assad family’s iron-fisted rule.
