Facts
Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Syrian intelligence services have reportedly been systematically arresting, torturing and killing opposition activists. In September 2011, the German Federal Public Prosecutor opened a structural investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the governmental institutions. Other person-specific investigations targeted Eyad al-Gharib and Anwar Raslan.
Al-Gharib was a member of a sub-unit of the investigative division tasked with conducting identity checks and arresting demonstrators, deserters and other suspicious persons. He was indicted for aiding and abetting the torture and illegal detention of at least 30 persons. In the autumn of 2011, after an anti-government demonstration in the city of Douma had been violently dispersed by security forces, al-Gharib and other General Intelligence Services (GIS) officials pursued and arrested fleeing demonstrators and transported them to the al-Khatib detention center. According to the charges, al-Gharib had full knowledge of the system of torture and mistreatment that detainees were being subjected to.
Procedure
In September 2011, the German Federal Public Prosecutor opened a structural investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Syrian governmental institutions.
On 12 February 2019, German authorities arrested Raslan and al-Gharib in Rhineland-Palatinate and in Berlin, respectively, as a result of person-specific investigations. On the same day, French authorities arrested another former intelligence service official in Paris (Abdulhamid Chaban). The arrests were coordinated by the joint French-German investigative unit.
On 22 October 2019, the German Federal Public Prosecutor formally indicted al-Gharib before the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz.
On 23 April 2020, the trial against al-Gharib and Raslan began at the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz.
Numerous survivors and witnesses of the crimes, as well as expert witnesses, testified throughout the trial, including forensic analyst Professor Markus Rothschild, who analyzed the 26’938 photographs provided by the defected military photographer Caesar and confirmed that survivors’ testimonies were largely consistent with his findings.
Several insider witnesses who formerly worked in or with Syrian intelligence agencies also gave their testimony, including an anonymous witness who gave a detailed account on the mass burial of deceased detainees of the intelligence services. The witness reported on his work in cemeteries in the province of Damascus and his assistance to intelligence officers in transporting and burying the bodies of detainees from detention facilities of the intelligence services, including the GIS’s al-Khatib detention center and the Saydnaya military prison. Trucks carried several hundred corpses per week. The corpses were marked with numbers and symbols on their foreheads or chests, which corresponds with the images provided by Caesar.
Originally, the Court had refused to make an Arabic translation available to the audience. However, on 18 August 2020, the German Constitutional Court granted a preliminary injunction to provide Arabic translation to all accredited journalists following the trial.
On 18 November 2020, the Court severed the trial of al-Gharib and announced it would soon rule on his case.
On 24 February 2021, al-Gharib was found guilty of aiding and abetting a crime against humanity in 30 cases of torture and aggravated deprivation of liberty and sentenced to four and a half years in prison. He appealed the verdict.
On 20 April 2022, the Federal Court of Justice upheld the conviction of al-Gharib and his sentence to four and a half years’ imprisonment, making the conviction and sentence final.