On January 13, 2022, Syrian families, activists and survivors stood outside a Koblenz Higher Regional Court in Germany as Anwar Raslan, a former Syrian Colonel, was sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity. The judgement is a landmark in the criminal justice sphere for dealing with crimes against humanity committed by the Syrian Government. It is also ground-breaking given that Raslan is the first high-ranking Syrian official to face justice for his crimes.
Raslan was found guilty of directing and overseeing torture of at least 4,000 people and murder of at least 27 at the notorious Al-Khatib intelligence branch in Damascus aka Branch 251. The branch was infamous for detaining and torturing anti-government protestors ever since the uprising in March 2011. Raslan who was responsible for heading the investigations at the time, defected in September 2012 and joined the opposition then later successfully sought asylum in Germany.
In 2015, Germany opened its borders to Syrians and about 1 million Syrian refugees sought asylum in the country, many of whom carried with them horrific stories about what had happened to opposers under the Assad rule. Branch 251 also referred to as “Hell on earth” was repeatedly mentioned by those refugees of whom many had been detained and tortured there. On this basis, the criminal records of Anwar Raslan and his low-ranking colleague Eyad Al-Gharib were built. In 2019, Raslan was arrested in Germany and charged with killings, rape, sexual assault and torture of people held in Branch 251 between 2011 and 2012.
Mass torture in detention
Widespread torture and extrajudicial killing in government detention centres have extensively been reported ever since the start of the uprising and the outbreak of the Syrian armed conflict. Detainees who survived Syrian detention centres, tell egregious stories of torture. They reveal how they were raped, hung from sealing for hours, electrically shocked and beaten. Detainees also describe how they were starved, deprived of sleep, how their fingernails were torn out, and how they were left in rooms filled with dead bodies.
Needless to say that over the chronic Syrian conflict, the Syrian regime has committed a series of atrocities and heinous crimes. Yet, the most gruesome thing that came out of it was the Cezar Photos. The photos provide a raw account of bodies who have been detained in different Syrian detention facilities and who have been starved and tortured to death. It is evident from the photos that the detainees have suffered from cruel and inhumane treatment while in detention. These photos were displayed in Raslan’s trial and for the first time in a court of law to shed light on the systematic violence used in all detention centres across Syria. Raslan’s trial had special resonance because some of the victims depicted in the photos were from the Al-Khatib branch.
A milestone for Syrian accountability
While this conviction must be celebrated, it is important to acknowledge that an international tribunal is a more suitable venue to try the senior leaders of the Syrian Civil War
Human rights activists and the families of detainees have fought relentlessly for truth, accountability, and justice for their detained and missing loved ones for over a decade now. Therefore, this conviction is significant and a victory for thousands of Syrian torture survivors and victims of enforced disappearances. Yet, Raslan was just a small fish in Syria’s deep dark ocean of repression. It is therefore hard to talk about a comprehensive justice especially since thousands continue to be arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappeared and tortured on a mass scale in Syria, simply for peacefully expressing their opinions.
Germany along with many other European countries have been advancing international accountability by using the principle of universal jurisdiction to try individuals who have committed serious international crimes elsewhere. However, due to their domestic nature, these trials have significant legal and practical barriers that limit the rights of the victims.
While this conviction must be celebrated, it is important to acknowledge that an international tribunal is a more suitable venue to try the senior leaders of the Syrian Civil War. Therefore, to truly achieve justice and begin to repair the widespread harm done to Syrians, it is crucial that the UN Security Council refers the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court or establishes a tribunal of international character to allow for Bashar al-Assad and his collaborators to be prosecuted for war crimes.
It is to be hoped that this conviction will raise the voices of survivors and victims of the Assad regime in hope of creating systemic change and that it serves to pave the way for wider accountability for Syrian war crimes.
