In a landmark case, a German court convicts an ex-Syrian officer of torture

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In a landmark¹ case, a German court convicts an ex-Syrian officer of torture

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Defendant³ Anwar Raslan (right) and others involved in his trial stand in the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany, at the start of a trial session last month. Raslan was put on trial in April 2020 in a landmark case in Germany.

Thomas Frey/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

KOBLENZ, Germany — The world's first criminal trial over torture in Syria's prisons ended Thursday with a guilty verdict and life sentence for a former Syrian intelligence officer.

The ruling came in a German case against Anwar Raslan, who was accused of more than 30 counts of murder, 4,000 counts of torture and charges of sexual assault from when he oversaw⁴ a notorious prison in Damascus in 2011 and 2012.

The landmark trial marked the first time a high-ranking former Syrian official has faced Syrians in open court in a war crimes case.

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Raslan, a 58-year-old former colonel, was stoic⁵ as the five judges strode into a silent courtroom. The judges remained standing⁶ to deliver the verdict and sentence. They then read out the names of Syrian torture survivors⁸ who were in the courtroom.

Witnesses and the lawyers who worked on their behalf deemed it a rare success in prosecuting⁹ a war crimes case in which the crimes were committed under a government that remains¹⁰ in power — the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"This is the first step in a very long way to achieve justice," says Wassim Mukdad, a Syrian torture survivor⁷ and co-plaintiff who now lives in Germany. "To experience the verdict against a former colonel in the intelligence forces, it's history being written in front of our eyes."

Mounting Syrian War Crime Cases Raise Hopes For Justice Against A Brutal¹¹ Regime

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Mounting Syrian War Crime Cases Raise Hopes For Justice Against A Brutal Regime

In more than 100 court sessions from April 2020 to this month, five federal judges heard over 100 witnesses, including 50 torture survivors, to examine state-sponsored torture in Assad's Syria. German authorities arrested Raslan in February 2019, four years after after he defected from the Syrian government and fled to Germany.

The courtroom was packed with Syrian lawyers and activists¹² who had worked for this moment for years. The harrowing testimony¹³ was noted¹⁴ by the judges. The brutality¹⁵ of Syria's Assad regime was also on trial.

German prosecutors¹⁶ launched the criminal case under the principle of universal jurisdiction¹⁷, which means a country can prosecute¹⁸ alleged¹⁹ crimes against humanity committed elsewhere.

The trial is a blueprint²⁰ for future war crimes prosecutions²¹

Mukdad testified in August 2020, a few months after the trial began. He also gave a statement in the trial's closing days about the atrocities²² committed in Syria.

The verdict sends a message of accountability to the Syrian regime, he says, after more than 100,000 people were disappeared and thousands were systematically²³ tortured, accelerating in 2011 after a civil uprising against the regime touched off Syria's war.

Syrians Have Stared Down Threats To Testify Against Assad's Regime In A Landmark Trial

"We feel that we achieved something. Our pain and our suffering is not in vain," Mukdad says.

Nuran al-Ghamian, one of the few female torture survivors to testify, said she collapsed²⁴ in court after seeing Raslan for the first time since 2012, when she was released from prison in Damascus.

"It was hard for me to take," she recounts about her day in court, but her testimony was a relief, she said. In a closing statement this month, she hailed the German judges for adding sexual violence as a crime against humanity.

The trial is a blueprint for future prosecutions, says Patrick Kroker, a senior legal adviser²⁵ with the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights. Kroker represented some of the Syrian torture survivors.

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Syrian witnesses' testimony was key to the case, he says, and the bravery they showed was "very, very inspiring and a very powerful moment." The torture survivors delivered their remarks to the German judges but aimed them mostly at the defendant, who appeared visibly discomfited²⁶, according to those in the courtroom.

Raslan said that torture took place in Syria but denied personally taking part in it. The Assad regime has consistently denied there is torture in Syrian prisons, despite evidence to the contrary.

Some Syrian exiles have criticized the trial

Despite Thursday's verdict, not everyone in Germany's 800,000-strong Syrian community was happy with the trial. Raslan was too low-level, some complained — and serving officials of the Assad regime remain free. The trial, held far from where most of the Syrian community lives in Berlin, was largely inaccessible²⁷ to the community. The court provided no transcript of proceedings²⁸.

Judges rejected a petition to allow audio recordings²⁹ of the trial and had to be forced by another court — following a lawsuit³⁰ by Arabic-speaking journalists and human rights organizations — to provide Arabic translations of the German proceedings. There was no witness protection, even as the Assad regime was threatening the families of witnesses back home.

In a closing statement, attorney Anna Oehmichen, who represented four Syrian plaintiffs, praised the judges for their objectivity. But she also criticized the court for a "failure to inform those actually affected," referring to the Syrian exile community in Germany as well as those who remain in Syria.

Oehmichen warned that ''an information vacuum creates ideal conditions for misunderstandings" that could undermine the Syrian exile community's trust in the German legal system. "It plays right into the hands of those who should actually be brought to justice," she said, referring to Syrian regime officials who can twist their own version of the trial's outcome.

The German decision to hold the trial came at a time when international tribunals have been politically blocked in the United Nations by China and Russia, allies of the Damascus regime. Germany was the first to bring charges in a national court. There are now cases pending³¹ against Syrian officials and loyalists across Europe.

Ideally, this case should have been tried in Syria, says ECCHR general secretary Wolfgang Kaleck, but that was impossible.

"Those who criticized the Koblenz trial, fair enough," says Kaleck. "The decision [to hold a trial in Germany] was nothing or this. And, you know, it was a promising³² start with more to come."

1 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

4 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

5 stoic   

n.坚忍克己之人，禁欲主义者

参考例句：

• A stoic person responds to hardship with imperturbation.坚忍克己之人经受苦难仍能泰然自若。
• On Rajiv's death a stoic journey began for Mrs Gandhi,supported by her husband's friends.拉吉夫死后，索尼亚在丈夫友人的支持下开始了一段坚忍的历程。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

8 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

9 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

12 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

16 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

17 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

18 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

19 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

20 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

21 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

22 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

23 systematically   

adv.有系统地

参考例句：

• This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
• The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。

24 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

25 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

26 discomfited   

v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词)；使狼狈；使挫折；挫败

参考例句：

• He was discomfited by the unexpected questions. 意料不到的问题使得他十分尴尬。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He will be particularly discomfited by the minister's dismissal of his plan. 部长对他计划的不理会将使他特别尴尬。 来自辞典例句

27 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

28 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

29 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

30 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

31 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

32 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。