Germany charges former Syrian prison guard over abuses during Assad's rule
The German public prosecutor has charged a former Syrian prison guard with crimes against humanity, accusing him of torturing dozens of detainees in a prison run by the intelligence agency in Damascus during the rule of former President Bashar al-Assad.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office reported that the accused, identified as Fahd A, participated in more than 100 interrogation sessions between 2011 and 2012, during which detainees were subjected to severe forms of physical violence while in custody of the Syrian intelligence services.
According to the indictment, the abuses included electric shocks, beatings with cables, forcing detainees into painful physical positions, and suspending them from the ceiling. Authorities confirmed that this cruel treatment and inhumane prison conditions led to the deaths of at least 70 detainees, which forms the basis for additional murder charges.
The accused was arrested on May 27, and the formal charges were brought against him on December 10. He is still being held in pre-trial detention in Germany until the judicial proceedings are completed.
The case is being considered under the principle of universal jurisdiction in Germany, which allows national courts to prosecute crimes against humanity regardless of where they were committed. German authorities have used this principle to pursue several cases related to the Syrian conflict.
Germany, home to around one million Syrians, is a central arena for such trials. In June, a court in Frankfurt sentenced Syrian doctor Alaa Mousa to life imprisonment after convicting him of torturing detainees in military hospitals in Damascus and Homs.
Witnesses in the case provided shocking testimonies about brutal practices, including setting fire to the wounds of detainees and injecting them with lethal substances. Judge Christoph Kohler stated that the ruling highlights the extreme brutality of the dictatorial and unjust Assad regime.
Demands for justice have increased since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, following a swift attack by opposition forces that ended nearly 14 years of civil war, characterized by widespread allegations of torture, enforced disappearances, and serious human rights violations.