A federal grand jury in Chicago has indicted two senior Syrian intelligence officers near the nation’s ousted president with warfare crimes in opposition to prisoners at an airport close to the capital Damascus, in accordance with an indictment unsealed Monday.
The indictment, filed final month after the grand jury made its November 2023 determination, accuses Abdul Salam Mahmoud and Jamil Hassan of “merciless and inhuman remedy” and creating “an environment of terror” for individuals detained within the jail of the Mezzeh army airport in Syria. The president of the nation, Bashar Assad fled to Russia after insurgent forces took management of Damascus following almost 14 years of civil warfare. Assad’s escape marks the end of almost 50 years of his household’s rule.
Hassan, 72, was the Syrian Air Force’s director of intelligence who oversaw detention services and prisons, and Mahmoud, 65, oversaw operations on the air base and jail, in accordance with the indictment. The two officers and different supporters of Assad’s authorities arrested individuals “who the Syrian regime thought of to be opponents” and allegedly subjected them to a litany of abuses whereas they have been held in Mezzeh jail.
The indictment alleges that between 2012 and 2019 the 2 officers have been concerned in “forcibly eradicating (detainees’) toenails, burning them with cigarettes, sizzling liquids and acid, and hanging them by their wrists. According to the indictment, the detainees have been predominantly Syrian but in addition included American residents, twin residents and international nationals.
Prisoners have been held in overcrowded, soiled cells, with out entry to meals and water or medical care, generally subsequent to useless our bodies, and have been often uncovered to the injuries and screams of different victims who have been abused, interrogated or threatened, the indictment alleges. .
Hassan, Mahmoud and others are additionally accused of threatening detainees’ households with imprisonment, sexual violence and demise to coerce prisoners into false confessions, and of mendacity to them about killing or arresting their relations.
Arrest warrants have been issued for each males, a information launch mentioned. The most penalty for a warfare crime conviction is life imprisonment.
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