Interviews with Radwan Ziadeh

But gradually I became involved in politics, especially after the death of the former Syrian president, Hafez al-Assad, and his son [Bashar Assad] became president. That period was called the Damascus Spring, where many activists, many politicians start to sign and petition and ask for more freedom, more liberty. I was among the first of those who participated. We form democratic for a which have opened debate about the political reform in Syria, the freedom of press, freedom of assembly and all of that. I think it’s two things, the first one, actually, the death of the son of the former president [Hafez Assad]. He has older son called Bassel Assad.

He died in a car accident in 1994. And after that, the whole country was in fear because of what the dictator Hafez Assad will do for the whole society. And I saw the fear for the first time as an actual – you can touch the fear in the eyes of the Syrians at that time. Where we were in the university, we have to go every day in the morning having flags, pictures of the dictator Hafez Assad and his son waving on his behalf and saying that we are all the sons of the dictator Hafez Assad. And we have to repeat that every day. All schools been closed for 40 years. There are no weddings. There is no – any kind of activities because the whole country should be in sadness because of the death of the son of Hafez Assad. At that time, as I said, I touched the fear.

I understand the meanings of the fear. Then I decided actually to read more and more and more in politics and became gradually involved in politics after this event. And I discovered in the human rights as a very interesting concept, and I thought that it’s very important to implement the human rights points and concepts to have an actual implementation or for all of those words to the ground. And you cannot do that without NGOs, without the human rights organization, without the human rights movements. And this pushed me to work with others to establish the human rights organization I work for.

Radwan Ziadeh is a Syrian dissident and democracy activist. He grew up in a middle class family in Damascus and became politically active after the death of President Hafez Assad in 2000. Remembering the struggles of his own family growing up, Ziadeh wanted to live in a free country and helped establish the Syrian Human Rights Association, a group dedicated to promoting human rights, in 2001.

Four years later, Ziadeh founded his own organization called the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies. Through his center, Ziadeh acted as an international lobbyist for the cause of Syrian freedom. Speaking at venues like the United Nations Human Rights Council, Ziadeh raised awareness about the human rights abuses being committed by the Assad regime in Damascus. As Ziadeh intensified the spotlight on Syria, the government retaliated by placing a travel ban on his family, effectively imprisoning them in Syria, or stranding those traveling abroad in third countries. In 2007, Ziadeh fled Syria for the United States as the Assad government issued a warrant for his arrest.

Beginning in March 2011, the Syrian people revolted against President Bashar Assad, who had succeeded his father, challenging the government’s control over the country and resulting in a tense standoff between the remnants of the regime and diverse opposition forces. In 2012, Ziadeh seized the opportunity afforded him by the revolution and visited his homeland for the first time in five years. He continues to reside in the United States where he works through organizations like the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies and the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies to rebuild Syria into a free and democratic society.

Twitter: @radwanziadeh