For more than a half-century, the Assad family brutalized the Syrian people. With the passing of Hafez al-Assad, after thirty years of rule, power was then passed to the son, Bashar al-Assad. As in other countries in the MENA region, the Arab Spring opened the people to the possibility of reform and after seeing change in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, hope for the same in Syria began to grow. However, Bashar al-Assad used his power to brutally suppress the people.
The amount of human suffering in Syria was compounded by more than a decade of forced displacement, indiscriminate attacks on civilians, chlorine barrel bombs, sarin gas attacks, unlawful imprisonment, besiegement, starvation, beatings, torture, extrajudicial killings, sexual abuse, mass executions, and forced disappearances. And all of this lies at Bashar al-Assad’s feet.
The fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, allowed the people of Syria a step toward freedom for the first time in more than five decades, but the cost was great. More than 600,000 people are dead, 200,000 people are still missing and disappeared, more than 14 million people are displaced, and at least 21 million require humanitarian assistance.
Assad’s Syria by Lara Kajs
is the account of tyrannical rule during more than thirteen years of brutal conflict under Assad, and the atrocities committed. Kajs writes from a humanitarian perspective and the experience of someone who spent time in Syria during the Assad regime, increasingly engaging the reader with her clear and impassioned account. She offers insight into how the country can heal and recover in a post-Assad world and addresses the issues of accountability and justice for the people.
For the people of Syria.
Assad’s Syria by Lara Kajs is available in E-books and Paperback at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, and Independent Booksellers worldwide. Distributed by Ingram Publishers.