10 Worst Dictators In Power Today
3. Bashar Al-Assad (Syria)
Bashar Hafez al-Assad has been the President of Syria following the death of his father, the previous president, in 2000. While he was "elected" into office, it was more of a referendum and there was no possibility he wouldn't take the job. A subsequent referendum in 2007 indicated he garnered 97.6% support, which was down from his initial vote of 99.7%.
Initially, it was believed Assad would be a reformer, but following his severe crackdown against protesters during the Arab Spring in 2010, his nation began a bloody and brutal civil war. The actions of Assad and his regime during the Syrian Civil War have led to indictments of war crimes by the United Nations. In 2014, a list of indictments of government officials (including Assad) as well as some rebels were handed to the International Criminal Court.
Among the indictments were accusations of "crimes against humanity" for the use of Sarin gas and other chemical weapons against civilians and rebels throughout the country. Thousands of people have been taken prisoner with few ever returning home.
Accusations of torture are widespread and the complete list of atrocities are reminiscent ofthose committed by Serbia's Slobodan Milošević or Liberia's Charles Taylor from the previous century.