Syrian President wins prize for “obtuseness”

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has won the inaugral Notorious Belligerent (Nob) Prize.

The Prize serves as a “gentle way of mocking the Nobel Peace Prize,” according to Birte Vogal, a PhD candidate at the University of Manchester’s Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute.

“He deserves the Nob Prize for his spectacular obtuseness and refusal to put anything or anyone before his personalised rule,” said Vogal.

The Nob Prize, awarded by the Peacebuilding Journal, was launched for the first time in 2013, where nominations for various candidates were received via social media.  The winning candidate was decided through the collaborative efforts of peace and conflict scholars.

Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, received a “dishonourable” mention.

Vogal added, “President Assad is embroiled in a bloody civil war that is of his own making. As part of a ruling dynasty, he has placed his own power before the lives of his citizens. In July 2013, the United Nations estimated that the war had cost over 100,000 lives, while up to six million people are thought to have been displaced.

“There are also persistent reports of arrests, torture, and disappearances carried out by state forces. The destruction caused by Assad’s regime has been enormous, with many urban areas razed to the ground by the indiscriminate use of weapons.

“President Assad has runs a political system that only he can lead. He has created a situation in which there can be no legitimate political opposition to his rule. As a result, when people began to protest against his autocratic rule, his first instinct was to have a security-led crack-down on opposition. This has escalated into a full-scale civil war that has caused instability and suffering across the region.”