Former officer accused of torture of the 4000 prisoners in Damascus
Thursday begins the first trial for a state to torture in Syria. The prime suspect is a former colonel.
Two suspected former intelligence officials stand accused of crimes against humanity, when the first case of state-orchestrated torture in Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria begins Thursday in Germany.
The prime suspect is 57-year-old Anwar Raslan, a suspected former colonel in the syrian sikkerhedsvæsen.
He must, according to the charges, have spearheaded the killing of 58 people and the torture of 4000 other in the prison of Al-Khatib in Damascus, the Syrian capital.
the Crimes to be happened in the period from 29. april 2011 to 7. september 2012.
The other defendants are Eyad al-Gharib. He is also accused of crimes against humanity to have helped with arrests of protesters and subsequently deliver them to the prison.
Like hundreds of other syrians fleeing the two men from the country and sought asylum in Germany. They were arrested in February 2019.
This trial is the first, where the victims speak out – not only publicly, but in front of a court – if it happened to them, and what is still happening in Syria, says Wolfgang Kaleck, founder of The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR).
It is expected the hearing of a witness from the victims, according to prosecutors survived the “inhuman and degrading” conditions in Al Khatib, before they fled to Europe.
Many were allegedly arrested for taking part in pro-democracy demonstrations during The Arab Spring. They were beaten with “fists, cables and whips” and “got a shock”, says some of the charges.
Prisoners were also kept awake for several days or “hung from the ceiling, so only the tips of their toes could reach the floor” in the charges.
the Aim would be to gain knowledge about the syrian opposition.
Sentenced the chief suspect, he stands to life. None of the defendants ‘ lawyers wanted to comment in advance on the case, which is expected to continue into august.
President Bashar al-Assad has, however, to the Russian, state-sponsored media RT defended Anwar Raslan.
– We have never believed that torture could improve the situation in a state, then it is very simple. We have not availed ourselves of it, Assad previously said.
According to The Syrian Observatory for human Rights (Sohr) is at least 60,000 people, however, have been killed under torture or poor conditions in Assad’s jails.
the court Proceedings are conducted according to the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows foreign countries to bring cases of crimes against humanity.
According to ECCHR, it is the only way to keep cases on state syrian crimes, since Russia and China general vetoes such cases at The International Criminal court (ICC).
Source: Former officer accused of torture of the 4000 prisoners in Damascus | The Global Domain News