No. 1 Omar al-Bashir
Sudan.
Age 63.
In power since 1989.
Last year’s rank: 1
Omar al-Bashir retains his position as the worst dictator because of his ongoing deadly human-rights abuses in the Darfur region of Sudan. Over the last four years, at least 200,000 people there have been killed by pro-Bashir forces. Nationwide, 5.3 million have been driven from their homes, and more than 700,000 have fled the country. But at the UN last September, Bashir blamed international aid groups for exaggerating the problems as a ploy to raise money for their organizations. And in November, he argued that war-related deaths in Darfur were less than 9,000. Despite agreeing to a 60-day ceasefire last month, he has been accused by his people of ordering troops to continue their attacks.
No.3 Sayyid Ali KhamEnei
Iran.
Age 67.
In power since 1989.
Last year’s rank: 9
Although it is Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has alarmed the world with threatening gestures, it is actually the Ayatollah Khamenei and the 12-man Guardian Council who control all decisions regarding Iran’s relations, its nuclear program and domestic freedoms. This regime has increasingly suppressed freedom of expression: Women can be stoned to death for adultery, and in November an Iranian man was publicly hanged for homosexuality.
No. 5 King Abdullah
Saudi Arabia.
Age 83.
In power since 1995.
Last year’s rank: 7
Because King Abdullah and the Saudi royal family control the world’s largest reserves of oil, the U.S. government has not acted to oppose the repressive and intolerant actions of their regime. In Saudi Arabia, it still is possible to be executed for witchcraft and flogged for being alone with an unrelated person of the opposite sex. It is illegal for a Saudi citizen to practice a religion other than Islam. According to a 2006 report by the Center for Religious Freedom, Saudi school textbooks continue to be virulently anti-Christian and anti-Semitic. Last year, the U.S. State
Department judged Saudi Arabia one of the top eight offenders of religious freedom.
No. 8 Islam Karimov
Uzbekistan.
Age 69.
In power since 1989.
Last year’s rank: 5
Islam Karimov was fortunate to be president of the Soviet republic of Uzbekistan when the USSR collapsed. Using the old-fashioned Soviet tactics of torture, media censorship and fake elections, he has remained in power ever since. He has banned the study of Arabic in this largely Sunni Muslim nation, shut down all billiard halls and ordered the massacre of hundreds of his citizens in the city of Andijan. The 9/11 terrorist attacks turned out to be a break for Karimov: The U.S., which previously had shunned him because of his human-rights abuses, suddenly found him to be a geographically well-placed ally. But when the Bush Administration condemned the 2005 Andijan killings, Karimov ordered American troops to leave the country.
No. 9 Muammar al-Qaddafi
Libya.
Age 64.
In power since 1969.
Last year’s rank: 11
Among our Top 10, Muammar al-Qaddafi has been in charge the longest—38 years. He was only 27 when he seized power and has spent decades being a conspicuous enemy of the U.S. For most of that time, the U.S. had included Libya on its list of state sponsors of terrorism. In 2006, Qaddafi went six months without funding terrorism; in June, as a reward for doing so, President Bush removed Libya from that list. Libya now stands to reap even more economic benefits from its large oil fields. Still, it is a place where political prisoners disappear and where women who have been raped or accused of having sex out of marriage can be kept in “rehabilitation” homes indefinitely.
No. 10 Bashar al-Assad
Syria.
Age 41.
In power since 2000.
Last year’s rank: 16
Bashar al-Assad gradually has assumed greater control of the military and intelligence services. Recently, his administration was implicated in assassinations in Lebanon. A UN report, due in June, will detail Syria’s role. Assad is perhaps the unlikeliest of dictators: He was doing postgraduate work in ophthalmology in London when his late father, Syrian dictator Hafiz al-Assad,
summoned him home in 1994 and began training him to run the country.
Sudan.
Age 63.
In power since 1989.
Last year’s rank: 1
Omar al-Bashir retains his position as the worst dictator because of his ongoing deadly human-rights abuses in the Darfur region of Sudan. Over the last four years, at least 200,000 people there have been killed by pro-Bashir forces. Nationwide, 5.3 million have been driven from their homes, and more than 700,000 have fled the country. But at the UN last September, Bashir blamed international aid groups for exaggerating the problems as a ploy to raise money for their organizations. And in November, he argued that war-related deaths in Darfur were less than 9,000. Despite agreeing to a 60-day ceasefire last month, he has been accused by his people of ordering troops to continue their attacks.
No.3 Sayyid Ali KhamEnei
Iran.
Age 67.
In power since 1989.
Last year’s rank: 9
Although it is Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has alarmed the world with threatening gestures, it is actually the Ayatollah Khamenei and the 12-man Guardian Council who control all decisions regarding Iran’s relations, its nuclear program and domestic freedoms. This regime has increasingly suppressed freedom of expression: Women can be stoned to death for adultery, and in November an Iranian man was publicly hanged for homosexuality.
No. 5 King Abdullah
Saudi Arabia.
Age 83.
In power since 1995.
Last year’s rank: 7
Because King Abdullah and the Saudi royal family control the world’s largest reserves of oil, the U.S. government has not acted to oppose the repressive and intolerant actions of their regime. In Saudi Arabia, it still is possible to be executed for witchcraft and flogged for being alone with an unrelated person of the opposite sex. It is illegal for a Saudi citizen to practice a religion other than Islam. According to a 2006 report by the Center for Religious Freedom, Saudi school textbooks continue to be virulently anti-Christian and anti-Semitic. Last year, the U.S. StateDepartment judged Saudi Arabia one of the top eight offenders of religious freedom.
No. 8 Islam Karimov
Uzbekistan.
Age 69.
In power since 1989.
Last year’s rank: 5
Islam Karimov was fortunate to be president of the Soviet republic of Uzbekistan when the USSR collapsed. Using the old-fashioned Soviet tactics of torture, media censorship and fake elections, he has remained in power ever since. He has banned the study of Arabic in this largely Sunni Muslim nation, shut down all billiard halls and ordered the massacre of hundreds of his citizens in the city of Andijan. The 9/11 terrorist attacks turned out to be a break for Karimov: The U.S., which previously had shunned him because of his human-rights abuses, suddenly found him to be a geographically well-placed ally. But when the Bush Administration condemned the 2005 Andijan killings, Karimov ordered American troops to leave the country.
No. 9 Muammar al-Qaddafi
Libya.
Age 64.
In power since 1969.
Last year’s rank: 11
Among our Top 10, Muammar al-Qaddafi has been in charge the longest—38 years. He was only 27 when he seized power and has spent decades being a conspicuous enemy of the U.S. For most of that time, the U.S. had included Libya on its list of state sponsors of terrorism. In 2006, Qaddafi went six months without funding terrorism; in June, as a reward for doing so, President Bush removed Libya from that list. Libya now stands to reap even more economic benefits from its large oil fields. Still, it is a place where political prisoners disappear and where women who have been raped or accused of having sex out of marriage can be kept in “rehabilitation” homes indefinitely.
No. 10 Bashar al-Assad
Syria.
Age 41.
In power since 2000.
Last year’s rank: 16
Bashar al-Assad gradually has assumed greater control of the military and intelligence services. Recently, his administration was implicated in assassinations in Lebanon. A UN report, due in June, will detail Syria’s role. Assad is perhaps the unlikeliest of dictators: He was doing postgraduate work in ophthalmology in London when his late father, Syrian dictator Hafiz al-Assad,summoned him home in 1994 and began training him to run the country.
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