Syrian families file criminal complaint against regime leaders in Germany

Syrian families of victims of the Assad regime have filed a criminal complaint in Germany, accusing high-ranking officials of murder, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture in four specific cases, it was announced on Monday. 

The complaint, backed by the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), was filed to the Federal Public Prosecutor General in the German city of Karlsruhe.

It was aimed at senior figures including Jamil Hassan, the former head of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Service, and Ali Mamlouk, a former intelligence chief. 

This legal action, which was also supported by Berlin-based Syrian rights organisation Caesar Families Association (CFA) alongside ECCHR, comes after the groups reported that relatives identified their loved ones through the "Caesar" photos.  

These images, taken by a former Syrian military police defector known as "Caesar" between 2011 and 2013, provided harrowing evidence of systematic torture and abuse, depicting thousands of corpses from Syrian detention centres. 

'Step towards justice'

"This complaint is not just for our loved ones. It is a step towards justice for all Syrians and a new path to exposing the systematic and cruel methods of the Syrian regime," Yasmen Almashan, a founding member of the CFA and complainant, was quoted as saying in the ECCHR report.  

"The crimes against our loved ones have happened and continue to happen to tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Syrians.

"Therefore, we urge the German public prosecutor to accept this case as a continuation of its legal journey in uncovering the systematic crimes of the regime, as seen in the Koblenz and Frankfurt trials," Almashan continued.

ECCHR noted in the report that the four victims in the complaint were detained by Syrian regime forces in 2012 and 2013 and held in secret service torture prisons.  

The organisation added that despite numerous attempts by relatives to obtain information about their whereabouts or challenge their detention, they received no answers.  

The Caesar photos ultimately confirmed that their loved ones had been killed. 

Helena Krüger, legal advisor at ECCHR, said in a statement, "the four complainants have yet to receive justice for their murdered relatives. The investigations must continue, and further arrest warrants must be issued for the perpetrators." 

In recent years, efforts to investigate human rights abuses in Syria have been advancing slowly on the international stage.  

In May, three senior Syrian regime officials, including Jamil Hassan, Ali Mamlouk, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud, were sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia by a Paris court.  

However, several rights groups have called for urgent action after a majority of crimes committed by the Syrian regime remain unpunished. 

Demands for justice

Demands for justice intensified after a Swedish court acquitted Brigadier General Mohammed Hamo in June, citing a lack of evidence for his involvement in war crimes during the Syrian conflict.  

Meanwhile, Swiss prosecutors have charged Rifaat al-Assad, an uncle of President Bashar al-Assad, with war crimes, and France issued international arrest warrants for Bashar al-Assad and other senior figures in connection with chemical attacks in 2013. 

One of the most significant legal milestones was the 2022 sentencing of former Syrian colonel Anwar Raslan by a German court to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, marking the first international trial addressing state-sponsored torture in Syria.

For advocacy groups, the push for accountability continues as the international community slowly pieces together the evidence of atrocities committed during the conflict. 

"All criminal complaints seeking accountability for the Syrian regime’s crimes against humanity are hugely important for victims and their families, who have been tirelessly calling for justice," Ranim Ahmed, communications director of human rights group The Syria Campaign, tells The New Arab.

"European courts have affirmed the regime’s guilt for some of the worst crimes committed in the 21st century. "

Ahmad continued: "It was due to courageous efforts of Syria’s survivors and families demanding justice for atrocities committed in Syria that such cases against high ranking regime officials, including Assad, continue to be brought to International and European courts."

The war, which began in 2011 following the government's violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests, has resulted in over 500,000 deaths, displaced millions, and devastated Syria’s economy and infrastructure.