geoff: Ukrainian president
zelenskyy's surprise visit to
the Arab league was not the only
focus of that gathering today.
There was another attendee,
whose presence sparked outrage
the world over.
Twelve years ago, the people of
Syria rose up against the regime
of bashar al-assad, as the Arab
spring uprisings swept the
Middle East.
Assad proceeded to kill, bomb,
starve, poison and brutalize his
people, and does still.
He became an international
pariah.
Now, he is being welcomed back
into the Arab league, a group
that suspended Syria from its
ranks in 2011.
Stephanie sy reports.
Stephanie: With a warm hug and
kiss, the Syrian president, and
accused war criminal behind
thousands of indiscriminate
killings of his own people,
strode back into the good graces
of the Arab league, hand-in-hand
with the Saudi crown prince.
Arab leaders posed with Assad,
signaling the end of over 12
years of isolation in the
region.
Assad called it a historic
opportunity.
>> We need to treat the >> That
have emerged on the Arab scene
in the past decade.
The Arab league should restore
them, not even them.
Stephanie: But Syrians and rebel
held territories have not
forgotten their wounds, and tens
of thousands dead all under the
direction of Assad.
They continue to protest and
fight.
12 years ago, pro-democracy
voices rose up against the
dictatorial Assad families rule.
>> My father was a businessman
but he was also very passionate
about politics.
He would express his mind and
say the current situation in
Syria is not good and needs to
change.
Stephanie: Her father is one of
hundreds of Syrians that have
been forcibly disappeared by the
Assad regime.
>> We don't know if he is alive
or not, we don't know what he is
accused of.
Where he is held or anything.
Stephanie: The family fled Syria
in 2013 and is split between
Germany and candidate.
>> No justice, no
accountability, no courthouses,
no lawyers.
No one can do anything.
Stephanie: Omar alshogre can
testify to that.
Now a human rights activist, he
was jailed in 2012, in the early
days of Assad's crackdown on
dissent.
Omar: They tortured me for
years.
I was forced to be imprisoned.
I was forced to look at my
fingernails when they were
pulling them out, I was forced
to see my cousin dying in my
arms.
I was forced to beat my cousin.
Otherwise we both will be
executed.
Stephanie: Documented torture,
chemical attacks, and
incalculable destruction are the
hallmarks of the Assad regime.
Omar: How would you feel if a
government kills your father?
Kills your brothers and destroys
your hometown, your school, the
places where you're supposed to
have very beautiful memories?
That's what the Assad regime did
to me.
When the Syrian regime is
welcomed back, it's safe in the
Arab league.
I feel like the entire world is
betraying me.
Stephanie: That sentiment
resounds across the Syrian
diaspora.
Mouaz: It only reminds me of,
like the worst moments in our
history.
I mean, imagine a time where
anyone was willing to normalize
with someone like hitler or
someone like Milosevic.
Stephanie: Mouaz mustafa is the
founder of the Syrian emergency
task force, an organization that
provides aid in northwest Syria,
which is rebel-held.
Some of these regional powers
that have decided to normalize,
including uae, including Saudi
Arabia, are U.S.
Allies.
Has how have you seen the U.S.
Use its leverage in any way in
these negotiations?
Mouaz: They have not been nearly
as vocal and not public in their
condemnation of any efforts at
normalization or reintegration
of the Assad regime.
Stephanie: Last week, U.S.
Secretary of state Antony
blinken said the administration
is against the re-admission of
Syria to the Arab league.
Sec. Blinken: They have to make
their own decisions.
Our position is clear -- we are
not going to be in the business
of normalizing relations with
Assad and with that regime.
Stephanie: But mustafa says the
Biden administration is guilty
of putting Syria on the
backburner, he is hopeful that
the U.S. Congress will act.
His group helped author the
Assad anti-normalization act,
which has bi-partisan support.
Mouaz: This legislation really
holds responsible, some of these
Arab countries and will hold
them accountable if they support
the Assad regime in its crimes
as they normalize relations with
them.
Stephanie: Mustafa's
organization runs "Tomorrow's
dawn," a women's center and
school for Syrians displaced by
the war.
Rasha: There is no family in the
liberated area -- or what used
to be the liberated area -- that
did not taste death or loss or
fear for their children.
Stephanie: Rasha alshahad is the
center's director.
She feels betrayed.
Rasha: They welcome him as
though nothing has happened.
The bigger blame is on the Arab
people who did not vehemently
disagree with what was
happening, allowing it to
happen.
Stephanie: For their part, Arab
leaders have been on the path to
normalization for years.
But Saudi Arabia was the key to
letting Assad through the door.
Randa slim of the Middle East
institute says --
Randa: The rapprochement with
Syria is very much a part of
their detente with Iran.
Stephanie: Saudi Arabia recently
restored ties with Iran after 7
years of estrangement, and slim
says Saudi Arabia needs regional
stability to meet its economic
aims.
The move is also an
acknowledgement that Assad is
not going anywhere and regional
actors need him to address
issues of refugees,
counter-terrorism, and a drug
trade sanctioned by Damascus.
Randa: The message from these
key Arab countries is that too
the American administration and
is also to Europe is you have
followed your strategy of
sanctions, of isolation of the
regime.
Well, it hasn't worked.
Let us try our way.
Let us try to see if we can
offer some carrots to Assad to
help on all these issues that
concern you.
Stephanie: But slim says Assad's
comeback is limited.
Not all Arab countries have
welcomed the move.
Rhonda: -- Randa: It's really
not significant.
You know, like having a seat in
the Arab league is really not
that powerful after all.
It's not a powerful
organization.
It's very much symbolic.
Stephanie: For others, including
wafa mustafa, the re-admittance
of Assad is significant.
She now worries even more about
her father's fate.
Wafa: Such a step will only make
things worse for Syrian refugees
in neighboring countries, but
also for Syrians inside Syria.
And most importantly, it's will
can any hope for people like me
that our loved ones might be
freed one day.
Stephanie: This July will mark
10 years since she last saw her
beloved father.
For the pbs newshour I am
Stephanie sy.
♪♪