Germany: historic verdict for crimes attributed to the Syrian regime
Anwar Raslan arrives at the Koblenz court on April 23, 2020. AFP - THOMAS LOHNES
Text by: Pascal Thibaut Follow
3 min
The first trial against members of the Syrian regime accused of crimes against humanity ends on January 13 in Germany with the delivery of the verdict.
Beyond the case of the accused, it is the Assad system practicing systematic torture against its opponents which appears on the dock.
German justice has demanded life imprisonment against the accused, a former colonel of the Syrian intelligence services.
Advertising
Read more
From our correspondent in Berlin,
The accused, Anwar Raslan, now 58, had a career in the Syrian intelligence services where he is ultimately responsible for the security of Damascus and the region.
He was operating in a prison known to regularly practice torture.
Those who were transported had little hope of getting out alive.
The number of abuses increased with the rebellion against the regime at the start of the last decade.
Anwar Raslan is accused of at least thirty murders and 4,000 cases of torture committed in this Damascus prison between the spring of 2011 and the fall of 2012.
The Syrian army colonel then fled the country, not out of remorse for the acts committed but because he felt that the prosecution of civilians who had nothing to do with the opposition did not make sense.
Ironically, he later moved to Germany and obtained political asylum there.
Questioned by the German police in another file as a witness, he speaks frankly about his career in Syrian intelligence.
He will end up being arrested as well as another compatriot, a subordinate, sentenced him last year to four and a half years in prison for complicity in crimes against humanity.
► See also:
Syria: gathering of families of the disappeared and prisoners of the regime
What conclusions can we draw from the trial?
The
trial, which began in April 2020
, has, during the 100 days of the hearing, presented an overview of the repressive apparatus of the Syrian regime. To achieve this, the Koblenz court used
the Caesar file
, these 55,000 photos of tortured and executed bodies, transmitted by a member of the Syrian military police who defected. More than sixty witnesses, including victims of this repressive apparatus, testified during the trial. The presence in Germany of many Syrians constituted aid for justice as well as the support of NGOs active in these cases. Refugees in Germany sometimes recognized their former torturers, where they probably did not expect them.
Despite everything, such a trial constitutes a serious challenge for German justice.
Unlike other files concerning a disappeared regime, no access to the archives on the spot and no collaboration from Damascus is of course possible.
► See also:
Syria: Human Rights Watch identifies victims of photos of "Caesar"
The principle of universal jurisdiction
German justice is particularly active on these files.
This is explained by the universal jurisdiction which allows magistrates to initiate proceedings when essential principles of international criminal law, such as crimes against humanity, are in question.
And this even if the Germans in this case are not concerned and although the facts took place in another state.
Germany has opted for a wider application than other countries of the principle of universal jurisdiction.
In absolute terms, such prosecutions should fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague in the Netherlands, but Syria did not adhere to the treaty which founded the court.
And the United Nations, which could intervene, could not do so because of Russian and Chinese vetoes.
This principle of universal jurisdiction - other Syrians are being pursued in Germany - remains despite everything a stopgap and cannot replace a procedure judging all the actions of a regime.
A regime still in power in Damascus.
An NGO estimated last year that in ten years, nearly 15,000 people have died under torture in Syria.
Testimony of Patrick Kroker, lawyer for some of the plaintiffs
"
One of the most important points is the participation of 24 plaintiffs in this trial,
" he explains at the microphone of
Oriane Verdier.
We heard from close to 100 witnesses. Anwar Raslan was in charge of the investigation section of the detention center. From our point of view this is proof that he is the main perpetrator of murders, torture, rape and sexual assault as crimes against humanity. The resulting penalty is life imprisonment. We all agree that this should only be the first step. There are international arrest warrants against even more senior members of the regime. We demand that they be prosecuted. Everything that will be said in this verdict on the contextual elements concerning a vast and systematic attack carried out by the government of Bashar al-Assad, we will surely find it in other legal contexts after this trial.
"
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Syria
Germany
International justice
Human rights
Bashar al-Assad
our selection