Germany arrests Syrian accused of crimes under Assad
An alleged former Syrian prison guard has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of committing crimes against humanity under former president Bashar al-Assad, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The man, identified only as Fahad A., is accused of "acts of killing, torture and deprivation of liberty" while he worked in a Damascus facility run by Syrian intelligence in 2011 and 2012, during the Arab Spring protests.
German authorities have pursued several suspects for crimes committed in Syria's civil war under the principle of universal jurisdiction, even after Assad's ouster last December.
Prosecutors declined to give Fahad's age or the year he came to Germany but said he was arrested in the town of Pirmasens in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
During his time at the Al-Khatib detention centre, also known as Branch 251, Fahad A. allegedly "took part in well over 100 interrogations where prisoners were subjected to severe physical abuse, for instance electrocution or beatings with cables", they said.
"Following his superiors' orders, the suspect also harassed prisoners at night by, for example, hanging them from the ceiling, pouring cold water over them or forcing them to remain in uncomfortable positions," prosecutors allege.
At least 70 prisoners are thought to have died due to such abuse and the "catastrophic" prison conditions.
The alleged offences occurred in the years of the bloody repression of anti-Assad protests during the Arab Spring.
"The objective was to suppress the protest movement from early on and to intimidate the population," prosecutors said.
In 2022 former Syrian colonel Anwar Raslan was found guilty of overseeing the murders of 27 people and the torture of 4,000 others at the Al-Khatib centre in 2011 and 2012.
That was the first international trial over state-sponsored torture in Syrian prisons and was hailed as "historic" by human rights activists.
Europe's biggest economy, then ruled by chancellor Angela Merkel, granted safe haven to hundreds of thousands of Syrians during the 2015-16 refugee influx.
NGOs warned at the time of the danger that people accused of atrocities against civilians for Assad's government were arriving incognito in Europe and obtaining asylum.
An Islamist-led coalition toppled Assad in December after five decades of his family's iron-fisted rule and nearly 14 years of brutal war that killed more than half a million people and displaced millions more.
jsk/fz/giv
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Djokovic cruises into record 19th French Open quarter-final
Novak Djokovic secured his 100th win at the French Open as he beat Cameron Norrie (ALAIN JOCARD) Novak Djokovic eased into a record-breaking 19th Roland Garros quarter-final with a comfortable straight-sets victory over Cameron Norrie on Monday. The three-time French Open champion will renew his rivalry with third seed Alexander Zverev in the last eight on Wednesday after seeing off Norrie 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 on Court Philippe Chatrier. Advertisement His tally of 19 quarter-final appearances at Roland Garros is the record for a single Grand Slam tournament. "I feel good. I know I can play better. But 12 sets played, 12 sets won, it's been solid so far," said the 38-year-old after his 100th French Open win. "It's great, but victory number 101 would be better. I'm very honoured... But I need to continue now." Djokovic holds an 8-5 winning record in his head-to-head with German Zverev, but retired injured from their last meeting in the Australian Open semi-finals in January. "He's 10 years younger. He calls himself a veteran of the game. What should I call myself, then?," Djokovic said of his next opponent. Advertisement Britain's Norrie, a former top-10 player now ranked 81st, has lost all six of his career matches against Djokovic. The sixth-seeded Djokovic showed no ill-effects from a "complicated" trip back to his hotel on Sunday night after attending Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League title celebrations at the Parc des Princes. PSG forward Ousmane Dembele presented the trophy to the crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier ahead of Djokovic's match. "They (security) were suggesting us at one point not to go back at all, to maybe find a place to sleep somewhere around here for a night, because at that point it was already past midnight and some gas bombs and cars under fire and stuff happening on the street that was really dangerous," Djokovic said. Advertisement "In the end we talked. We waited for a bit, and then we decided to go. Then it was fine. In the end we reached the hotel all good, but it was quite noisy with a lot of things happening outside of the hotel... "At some point it was getting out of hand, but it's understandable that people are so excited." The Serb, hoping to set a new outright record of 25 Grand Slam titles this week, dominated against Norrie from the start. He broke serve three times in a one-sided opening set, before battling through a closer second, crucially saving a break point before holding for a 3-2 lead. Norrie, playing in the second week in Paris for the first time, mustered little resistance in the third set as Djokovic wrapped up victory on his first match point. jc/ea
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Black Americans being used as guinea pigs involved universities
In 1871, Henry D. Schmidt, a New Orleans doctor, 'gifted' the crania of 19 formerly enslaved African American and mixed-race individuals to Dr. Emil Ludwig Schmidt at the University of Leipzig to study the racist hypothesis that a person's morality or intelligence could be determined by crevices and bumps of their skull. A century and a half later, in a presumed act of higher consciousness, the German university no longer felt the need to house the ill-gotten skulls and, on Saturday, the remains of those 19 disregarded souls were given a proper burial in New Orleans. Saturday's event at Dillard University took place on the same week that Harvard University announced that it is relinquishing what are believed to be among the earliest photos of enslaved people in the United States. The 1850 images of a father and daughter known as Renty and Delia, who were photographed naked to the waist, were commissioned by Harvard biologist Louis Agassiz to support the theory of polygenism, the idea that human races evolved separately. Harvard would probably still be clutching those photos if Tamara Lanier, an author who says she's a descendant of the father and daughter pictured, hadn't fought a 15-year legal battle with the university. But the photos won't come to her. Renty and Delia's images will now be placed at the International African American Museum in South Carolina, the state where they were enslaved. As I sat through the three-hour service, which included a city acknowledgement by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, musical tributes and a riveting performance from Dillard University's Theatre Ensemble personifying the 19 human beings we were paying homage to, I couldn't help but think about the history of Black Americans being the guinea pigs for experimentation or examination or the subject of incomplete theories, under the guise of scientific advancement. Or the irony of racist individuals using 'inferior' Black specimens to interrogate complex ideas about human physiology, and still arriving at racist conclusions even with evidence in their possession that contradicts their hypotheses. We live in a moment where there is a persistent effort to erase all knowledge of these atrocities and pretend as if they were just figments of Black folks' imagination. But Eva Baham, who chaired the Cultural Repatriation Committee that brought the remains of the 19 New Orleanians home, said during Saturday's service that the purpose of studying history is 'to move forward. And when we keep our past hidden, we are starting over every day.' The memorial service for Adam Grant, Isaak Bell, Hiram Smith, William Pierson, Henry Williams, John Brown, Hiram Malone, William Roberts, Alice Brown, Prescilla Hatchet, Marie Louise, Mahala, Samuel Prince, John Tolman, Henry Allen, Moses Willis, Henry Anderson and two other unidentified souls was unlike any other I have witnessed. The decedents had transitioned over a century and a half ago; however, their departure from this realm could not have been considered peaceful before this weekend's ceremony. Roughly 200 community members filled the sanctuary of Dillard's Lawless Memorial Chapel to pay their respects to these ancestors who were so horribly disrespected after they died. 'It was emotionally draining because you're trying your best to make some connections and to search and find [that] there's hope,' Freddi Williams Evans, a member of the Cultural Repatriation Committee, told me. 'We could not verify any descendants. And so we have to step in and be their family.' Harvard is letting go not just of the photos of Renty and Delia, but also images of enslaved people known as Alfred, Delia, Drana, Fassena, Jack and Jem. Lanier, who says she's the great-great-great-granddaughter of 'Papa Renty,' said of the settlement with Harvard, 'This pilfered property, images taken without dignity or consent and used to promote a racist psychoscience will now be repatriated to a home where their stories can be told and their humanity can be restored.' As she spoke Wednesday she locked arms with Susanna Moore, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Agassiz, the Harvard biologist. Moore rightly called the work her forefather was doing with the photos 'a deeply racist project.' The combination of Harvard relinquishing its photos and Dillard receiving the remains of those wrongly shipped to a lab overseas means that even in 2025, we are still unpacking just how much dehumanization defined slavery and its aftermath in the United States. Dillard University President Monique Guillory told me it was important to honor the 19 in New Orleans because 'They walked the streets of New Orleans like we do.' Saturday's ceremony ended with African drumming and dancing, and then attendees were led out of the chapel by a jazz band and a traditional New Orleans second line en route to bury the remains of a tormented people, the right way. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
‘Horrifying': Mid-Michigan Jewish community reacts to Colorado attack
LANSING, (Mich.) WLNS — Jewish people across America continue to react to an in Colorado calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, which injured 12 people. This includes many in Mid-Michigan, who are concerned with what they call a pattern of antisemitic rhetoric. What we know about the man charged in the attack in Boulder, Colorado Matthew Zivian, a Jewish East Lansing resident and a recent Michigan State graduate, says attacks like this hit close to home. He described Jews across the country as 'one big connected community.' He said he's seen antisemitic slogans and phrasing right here in East Lansing, and worries that if an attack like this can happen in Colorado, it can happen here. Jews in Mid-Michigan want to see anti-Semitic phrases being publicly called out. Zivian worries that if anti-Semitic hate speech goes unchecked, it will lead to violence. 4 additional victims identified in Boulder attack, bringing number of injured to 12 'It's a trend that we've seen all throughout history. So when it happens here, it's horrifying, and terrible, and disgusting, but it's no shock,' says Zivian. 'You need to call out antisemitism when you see it and listen to your Jewish friends who are saying, 'what I am seeing is making me uncomfortable,'' said Zivian. Zivian said he has no choice but to stay optimistic that, in the future, these acts of violence against the Jewish community will stop. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
