The US government unsealed an indictment Dec. 9 charging two former high-ranking officials of Syrian Air Force Intelligence with war crimes. The indictment accuses Jamil Hassan and Abdul Salam Mahmoud of cruel and inhuman treatment, including the torture of detainees, some of whom were US citizens, at the Mezzeh military airbase prison in Damascus. If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The charges brought against Hassan and Mahmoud in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois are based on 18 USC §§ 2441(a) and (d)(1)(B), which prohibit war crimes, including acts of torture and cruel treatment of detainees.

The indictment arises from actions carried out during the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 when an uprising against then-president Bashar al-Assad's regime escalated into an armed conflict. As part of the Syrian government's effort to suppress opposition, Hassan, who served as the director of Syrian Air Force Intelligence (SAFI), and Mahmoud, a brigadier general under Hassan's command, allegedly engaged in the systematic use of torture to intimidate, punish, and extract false confessions from individuals perceived to oppose the regime.

According to the charges, Hassan and Mahmoud oversaw a network of detention facilities, including Mezzeh Prison, which was notorious for its brutal treatment of detainees. The indictment accuses them of directing or being complicit in acts of torture that included beatings with hoses, cables, pipes and other instruments, electrocution, the removal of toenails, mental abuse, and other forms of cruel treatment. The victims, both Syrian nationals and foreign nationals, including US citizens, were reportedly subjected to these abuses in an attempt to intimidate perceived enemies of the regime, including political protesters, aid workers, journalists, and military defectors.

The indictment also describes the creation of an atmosphere of terror at Mezzeh Prison. Victims were allegedly forced to endure the suffering of other detainees, including seeing other prisoners beaten, hearing the screams of fellow detainees, and witnessing dead bodies in the prison cells. These actions were part of a broader pattern of human rights violations aimed at silencing opposition to the Assad regime during the civil war.

In addition to their direct involvement in torture, the indictment also alleges that the defendants played roles in concealing the crimes by misrepresenting or hiding the actions of SAFI personnel involved in these abuses. The indictment emphasizes that both defendants held significant authority over the detention and treatment of prisoners and were complicit in the systemic use of torture as part of the Syrian government’s effort to crush opposition.

From JURIST, Dec. 11. Used with permission.

Note: There are also efforts to bring war crimes charges against Bashar Assad.