A German court on Thursday convicted a former Syrian secret police officer of crimes against humanity to oversee the abuse of detainees at a prison near Damascus a decade ago.
Anwar Raslan is the highest-ranking Syrian official convicted of the charge so far. Those who were victims of abuse or lost relatives at the hands of President Bashar Assad’s government in Syria’s long-running conflict eagerly awaited the decision.
The Koblenz state court concluded that the defendant was in charge of interrogation at a facility in the Syrian city of Douma known as al-Khatib, or Branch 251, where suspected opposition protesters were detained.
The court sentenced the 58-year-old to life imprisonment. His lawyers last week asked judges to acquit his client, claiming he had never personally tortured anyone and that he defected in late 2012.
“The verdict today is important for all Syrians who have suffered and are still suffering from the crimes of the Assad regime,” said Branch 251 survivor Ruham Hawash, who testified at the trial.
“This verdict is only a start and we have a long way to go – but for those of us affected, this trial and today’s verdict is the first step towards freedom, dignity and justice,” she said.
German prosecutors alleged that Raslan oversaw the “systematic and brutal torture” of more than 4,000 prisoners between April 2011 and September 2012, resulting in the deaths of at least 58 people. The judges ruled that there was evidence to hold him responsible for the 27 deaths.
A junior officer, Iyad al-Gharieb, was convicted last year of crimes against humanity and sentenced to four and a half years in prison by a Koblenz court.
Both men were arrested in Germany in 2019 after years of seeking asylum in the country.
Victims and human rights groups have said they hope the verdict in the 19-month trial will be the first step toward justice for countless people who have been unable to file criminal complaints against authorities in Syria or before the International Criminal Court .
Experts say that since Russia and China have blocked efforts at the UN Security Council to refer cases to the Hague-based tribunal, countries such as Germany that apply the principle of universal jurisdiction to serious crimes , will become the site of such tests.
Balkis Jarrah, Associate International Justice Director, Human Rights Watch, said: “We are beginning to see the fruits of a determined effort by courageous survivors, activists and others to seek justice for the horrific atrocities in Syria’s network of prisons. “
“The verdict is a breakthrough in breaking down the wall of impunity for Syrian victims and the German justice system,” he said. “Other countries should follow Germany’s lead and actively try to prosecute serious crimes in Syria.”
The trial is the first of its kind worldwide and other courts can refer to the verdict and evidence heard in Koblenz, said Patrick Crocker, a lawyer for the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights. The group represented 14 victims who were able to participate in the proceedings as co-plaintiffs under German law.
“The goal is to bring Assad’s senior aides, such as former Air Force intelligence chief Jamil Hassan, to justice for their crimes,” Crocker said. Germany issued an international arrest warrant for Hassan in 2018, but bringing him and other senior Syrian officials to trial will be difficult, as the country does not extradite its citizens.
Nevertheless, Eurojust, the EU’s organization for judicial cooperation, said the ruling “will leave a lasting impression on international criminal justice.”
It was noted that photographs of alleged victims of trafficking from Syria by a former police officer, who goes by the surname of Caesar, were an important piece of evidence against Raslan.
Germany’s Justice Minister Marko Bushmann said after the verdict, “Great injustice has happened in the torture prisons of the Assad regime.” “The suffering of the victims and their relatives is more than imagined.”
He called on other countries to follow the “pioneer work” done by Germany’s legal system.
“Crime against humanity should not be spared. No matter where they are committed, no matter by whom,” Bushman said.
Human rights experts said it was important that the Koblenz court considered the allegations of sexual violence as one of the crimes against humanity in which Ruslan was convicted. However, the judges did not find him guilty of missing out, meaning he will be tried separately in future proceedings.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, conservative estimates put the number of detained or forced disappearances in Syria at 149,000, of whom more than 85% are in the hands of the Syrian government. Most disappeared or were taken into custody shortly after peaceful protests against Assad’s government began in March 2011, which responded to the rallies with brutal crackdown.
The Syrian government denies that it has held any political prisoners, labeling its opposition terrorists. Following the victory on the battlefield, it has negotiated limited prisoner exchanges with various armed groups, which the families say provide a partial solution for too few.
Syrians accused of committing war crimes against members of the Syrian armed forces have already faced several sentences in Europe.
Ruslan’s lawyers can appeal the decision.
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