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Anwar Raslan

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Anwar Raslan
أنور رسلان
Born (1963-02-03) 3 February 1963 (age 61)
Taldou, Syria
Allegiance Syria
Conviction(s)Crime against humanity
27 counts of Mord, 25 counts of dangerous bodily harm
2 counts of especially serious rape, sexual coercion
14 counts of deprivation of liberty for more than one week
2 counts of hostage-taking
3 counts of sexual abuse of prisoners
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment
Imprisoned atGermany

Anwar Raslan (Arabic: أنور رسلان, romanized: ‘Anwār Raslān; born 3 February 1963) is a Syrian former colonel who led a unit within Syria's General Intelligence Directorate.[1][2][3] In January 2022, a German Higher Regional Court convicted him of crimes against humanity under universal jurisdiction.[2] The specific charges against him were 4,000 counts of torture, 58 counts of murder, rape, and sexual coercion.[4] His trial marked the first international war crimes case against a member of the Syrian government during the presidency of Bashar al-Assad.[5]

Early life and career

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Anwar Raslan was born in 1963 in Taldou in the Homs governorate, Syria. After completing a degree in law, he served as a security service officer in Damascus. In 2006, Raslan was responsible for the detention of Syrian lawyer and human rights defender Anwar al-Bunni. In 2008, he became colonel, and head of the intelligence department of Branch 251 (internal branch), also known as branch al-Khatib, part of the General Intelligence Directorate. Raslan was tasked with the internal safety of Al-Khatib prison, located in Damascus. In July 2012, Raslan moved to branch 285 of the state security forces. Branch 285 mostly dealt with high value prisoners, such as political detainees.[6]

According to German journalist Christoph Reuter, who interviewed Anwar Raslan in Jordan, Raslan defected because he was ashamed of his employer. He had intended to investigate a January 2012 attack in Damascus, but the government declined because the Syrian secret service had orchestrated the attack.[7] Reuter noted that many Syrian exiles believe Raslan’s defection from the Assad regime, where he was a key figure, was motivated by opportunism rather than conviction.[7]

Arrest and conviction

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Raslan defected from the Assad government and was smuggled with his family to Jordan in December 2012.[8] He travelled to Germany in 2014 and was granted asylum there in the same year.[9] He was arrested in February 2019[10] and charged in March 2020. The trial began in April 2020 in the city of Koblenz[4] and was held until 13 January 2022.[5] The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre and the podcast 'Branch 251'[11] have documented the trial.[12] The prosecution is part of a larger trend in universal jurisdiction to investigate and hold accountable individuals who committed crimes during the Syrian civil war. On 2 December 2021, the German federal prosecutor's office called for the life sentence against Anwar Raslan, in the first trial in the world for abuses committed by the Bashar al-Assad government.[citation needed]

On 13 January 2022, Raslan was sentenced by the state court in Koblenz to imprisonment for life[13][14] "for a crime against humanity in the form of killing, torture, severe deprivation of liberty, rape and sexual coercion in unity of action with 27 counts of Mord ('severe' murder in the German penal code), 25 counts of dangerous bodily harm, two counts of especially serious rape, sexual coercion, 14 counts of deprivation of liberty for more than one week, two counts of hostage-taking and three counts of sexual abuse of prisoners."[a][15]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ wegen eines Verbrechens gegen die Menschlichkeit in Form von Tötung, Folter, schwerwiegender Freiheitsberaubung, Vergewaltigung und sexueller Nötigung in Tateinheit mit Mord in 27 Fällen, gefährlicher Körperverletzung in 25 Fällen, besonders schwerer Vergewaltigung, sexueller Nötigung in zwei Fällen, über eine Woche dauernder Freiheitsberaubung in 14 Fällen, Geiselnahme in zwei Fällen und sexuellen Missbrauchs von Gefangenen in drei Fällen

References

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  1. ^ "Inside the Anwar Raslan trial: the first four days". Syria Justice & Accountability Centre. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b Cornish, Chloe; Solomon, Erika (23 April 2020). "High-profile Syrian war crimes trial begins in Germany. Intelligence official charged with overseeing 4,000 counts of torture and 58 murders". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  3. ^ "من مخابرات الأسد إلى المنفى.. مسار سوريّين يحاكمان في ألمانيا | DW | 25.04.2020". Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com) (in Arabic). Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Anklage gegen zwei mutmaßliche Mitarbeiter des syrischen Geheimdienstes wegen der Begehung von Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit u.a. zugelassen". rlp.de (in German). Archived from the original on 14 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Laws to catch human-rights abusers are growing teeth". The Economist. 2 January 2021. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 3 January 2021. Mr Raslan was arrested in 2019. His trial began in Koblenz in April 2020 and may last for more than a year. (...) The Koblenz case is the first where a member of the Syrian regime, albeit of middle rank, is facing justice in court.
  6. ^ "À la recherche d'Anwar Raslan, tortionnaire syrien". Les Jours (in French). 8 April 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Le colonel Raslan, déserteur mais faux repenti". Les Jours (in French). 18 April 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  8. ^ SPIEGEL, Fidelius Schmid, Christoph Reuter, DER (23 April 2020). "Koblenz: Prozess gegen Anwar Raslan aus Syrien - DER SPIEGEL - Politik". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 3 January 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ NDR. "Asyl für syrischen Folterchef?". daserste.ndr.de (in German). Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Germany charges two Syrians with crimes against humanity". the Guardian. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  11. ^ "75 Podcasts | Branch 251". 75podcasts.org. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  12. ^ "A Drop in the Ocean: A Preliminary Assessment of the Koblenz Trial on Syrian Torture". Just Security. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  13. ^ "German court finds Syrian colonel guilty of crimes against humanity". BBC News. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  14. ^ German court jails former Syrian intelligence officer for life The Guardian. 2022.
  15. ^ Oberlandesgericht Koblenz (13 January 2022). "Lebenslange Haft u.a. wegen Verbrechens gegen die Menschlichkeit und wegen Mordes – Urteil gegen einen mutmaßlichen Mitarbeiter des syrischen Geheimdienstes". rlp.de (in German).
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