Germany arrests Syrian man accused of torturing IS-held captives

German investigators on Wednesday arrested a Syrian man accused of war crimes for allegedly torturing captives while he was with the Islamic State group in Syria in 2014.

Federal prosecutors said the man, identified only as Raed E. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in Berlin. He is suspected of membership in a foreign terrorist organisation, crimes against humanity, war crimes and bodily harm.

The suspect is accused of joining IS in the summer of 2014 and participating in an attack that August on the Shuweitat tribe in the Deir ez-Zor region of eastern Syria, prosecutors said. Activists believe the death toll from the massacre could be as high as 700.

Raed E. is accused of abusing and torturing three captives after that attack. Prosecutors say that he had a man who was looking for a 13-year old brother kidnapped by IS arrested and then tortured him at various prisons held by the group.

The suspect allegedly also ordered the 13-year-old suspended from a ceiling with his hands tied behind his back. He is accused of twice physically abusing a third captive during months in captivity.

Prosecutors said in a statement that, in addition to working in IS prisons, he handled transactions in which the freedom of Shuweitat captives was bought and manned two checkpoints for the extremist group.

They didn't say how or when he came to Germany.

IS committed a wide range of atrocities against religious and ethnic minorities, and perceived opponents, during their control of Syrian and Iraqi territories from 2014 to 2019.