In Germany began to try ex-security officials in Assad’s torture in Syria

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In the city of Koblenz in Germany, a trial began against two Syrian nationals who may have committed crimes against humanity in his homeland, as the officers of the Syrian intelligence service. This was announced on Thursday the British broadcasting Corporation BBC.

According to her, the accused 57-year-old Anwar and R. 43-year-old Eyad A. left Syria in the midst of civil war and filed for asylum in Germany, where he was arrested in 2019. In Syria they were employees of the Main intelligence Directorate. This Agency played a major role in the violent suppression of protests that erupted in March 2011 against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. This was followed by years of bloody civil war, has not ended to this day.

Anwar R. was a senior officer responsible for a prison for political prisoners, “al-Khatib” in Damascus. He is suspected of involvement in the torture of at least 4 thousand people in 2011-12. He was charged on 58 counts, including murder, rape and violent actions of a sexual nature. Eyad was a follower of Anwar and is implicated in 30 episodes of torture.

The Anwar faces life term of imprisonment, and his former subordinate to 15 years in prison.

The main evidence in the case there were tens of thousands of photos transmitted by the defector under the pseudonym Caesar, who fled from Syria in 2013.

Anwar moved to Germany in July 2014, and Eyad – in April 2018.

It is believed that the process in Koblenz is the first trial, which investigated the torture of officials of state structures in Syria.

The representative of non-governmental human rights organization Human Rights Watch Balkis Jarrah called the trial a “tipping point”, reports “Interfax”.

“Today’s hearing should serve as a reminder that you want more (of action. – Approx. “Interfax”) to accountability for the worst atrocities committed during the (military. – Approx. “Interfax”) the conflict,” the statement said Jarrah.

According to the report of UN experts on human rights, published in 2018, the Syrian government detained and subjected to “severe torture” tens of thousands of people. The Syrian government and President Bashar al-Assad repeatedly denied the fact of torture.

According to the BBC, the German authorities investigate dozens of former Syrian officials using the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows any country to prosecute persons accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

According to the German Association of judges, it also conducts investigations in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Mali and other countries. “War criminals do not get asylum in Germany,” – said the head of the Association Sven Baby.

Evidence of torture

In 2017, a British human rights activists made a report, containing the stories of the Syrians about the mass rape and torture in Syrian prisons. For example, a lawyer Basim from the city of Latakia said that he had been arrested by security forces and imprisoned. On the day of her 37th birthday woman was taken out of the camera. One of the jailers said “with pleasure” put her to the torture. Basia hung by the hair, tied her to the pipe, held along the wall. Then the guards tied ropes to the feet of the women and threw them to the side. After that Basia raped.

A woman was also forced to stand on one leg for hours and then handcuffed. When Basim had lost consciousness, the guards decided that she was dead. Later the victim was taken to the hospital.

According to Besimi, she was arrested on charges of terrorism. The reason for this was that the woman was trained citizens to provide first aid. However, she shared the skills acquired during the period of volunteer work in the international humanitarian movement red cross and red Crescent societies.

Basim says she spent two months in solitary confinement without light and beds. Every day she was taken out from the chamber and subjected to torture. On one of interrogations the torturers brought a friend Basima and said to her in his presence: “We’re gonna rape you if you don’t give grateful evidences”. Jailers also threatened to send soldiers for 73-year-old mother Basima and rape a pensioner.

According to the victim, Stripping and rape are standard “procedures” in Syrian prisons, which are under pressure on suspects. Sometimes the jailers violate the sexual integrity of women in the presence of their male relatives.

Basim said that other women were subjected to even more terrible tortures.

According to human rights activists, prison authorities, in essence, a “legalized” rape. The jailers just wanted to prevent that the victim was pregnant. They handed out birth control pills. Thus, in order to get into the prison, the slightest suspicion. The reason for accusations of terrorism became even a picture with the flag of the opposition, stored in your mobile phone.

In the same year, Amnesty International was told about the mass executions of prisoners in the military prison Saydnaya, located 30 km North of the capital Damascus. The report covered the period from September 2011 to December 2015. According to the organization during this period Saydnaya was executed between 5 thousand to 13 thousand people.

All executions were carried out almost without trial in strict secrecy. The prisoners were brought before “military-field Tribunal”, which was the sentencing for one to three minutes. Then the prisoners were taken away to the place of execution, where he hung. So in a week were killed from 20 to 50 people. Dead bodies on trucks were brought to military camps and buried in mass graves. The relatives of the prisoners said nothing about their fate.

Many prisoners before death cruelly tortured, beating and depriving them of food and water. Most of the victims were civilians – journalists, doctors, students, advocates, activists.

Amnesty International report was based on the testimony of 84 witnesses from among former prison inmates, guards, judges.