2 yıl önce

Syria torture victims hope for justice ahead of German court ruling

A German court is scheduled to deliver its ruling on Thursday in the trial of Anwar Raslan, a former Syrian secret police officer who is accused of crimes against humanity.

Reuters

A key part of the evidence against Raslan were the photographs of alleged torture victims smuggled out of Syria by a former police officer, who goes by the alias of Caesar.

Victims of torture in Syria and human rights activists have said they hope the upcoming verdict in a landmark trial will be a first step toward justice for countless Syrians who suffered abuse at the hands of Bashar Assad’s regime in the country’s long-running conflict.

A German court in Koblenz city will deliver its ruling on Thursday in the trial of Anwar Raslan, a former Syrian secret police officer who is accused of overseeing the abuse of detainees at a jail near Damascus a decade ago.

Speaking this week before the verdict, one of those who testified against Raslan said that whatever the outcome, the court proceedings in Germany would send an important message that those responsible for crimes in Syria can be held to account.

“As Syrians who suffered a lot, especially after the beginning of the revolution, (the trials shows) those sufferings are not in vain," said Wassim Mukdad, a torture survivor and co-plaintiff who — like the defendant — now lives in Germany.

Mukdad was among dozens of witnesses who testified against Raslan and a second defendant, Eyad al Gharib, who was convicted last year of accessory to crimes against humanity and sentenced by the Koblenz state court to 4½ years in prison.

The court concluded that Gharib was part of a unit which detained anti-regime protesters and took them to a facility in the Syrian city of Douma known as Al Khatib, or Branch 251, where they were tortured.

Systematic torture

Federal prosecutors allege that Raslan was the senior officer in charge of the jail and supervised 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 court heard evidence implicating Raslan in 30 of those deaths, said Patrick Kroker, a lawyer with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights who represented several survivors at the trial.

Instances of sexual violence are also being considered as part of the charge, he said.

Raslan could face life in prison if convicted. His lawyers asked the court last week to acquit their client, claiming that he never personally tortured anybody and that he defected in late 2012.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies