World’s first: Convicted for crimes against humanity

Special Desk

In a first such act, a German court has convicted a former Syrian regime officer for crimes against humanity. This is first-ever trial of people linked to the government in Damascus.

Former intelligence officer Eyad al-Gharib, 44, was sentenced to four-and-a-half-years in prison by the court in Koblenz city for aiding crimes against humanity. Gharib was convicted of accompanying the transportation of 30 detained demonstrators, despite knowing about the systematic torture in the prison the detainees were being sent to, according to the prosecutors.

Human rights group Amnesty International urged more countries to follow Germany’s suit.

The former junior regime officer was arrested in Berlin alongside former senior regime officer Col. Anwar Raslan in February 2019 under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which gives a national court jurisdiction over grave crimes against international law, even when they were not committed on the country’s territory. Both Raslan and Gharib defected from the regime in late 2012.

Raslan, a high-ranking former intelligence officer, is still standing trial. He is accused of overseeing the torture of at least 4,000 prisoners during Syria’s uprising. At least 58 of the prisoners died. Rape and sexual assault allegedly occurred in at least one case.

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Syrian officials have repeatedly denied the allegations, insisting they target terrorists and not peaceful protesters.Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), investigators who provided documentary evidence used by the prosecution, called the verdict as historic.

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