Syrian Regime
investigation | cases supPorted | assistance to justice actors | analysis and case building | Public Reports | capacity building
CIJA arose from a critical need to secure evidence establishing individual criminal responsibility for violations of international criminal law in Syria. Active since the early days of the Syrian conflict, CIJA’s investigation has obtained voluminous evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out by the Syrian Regime in its brutal suppression of dissent.
investigation
CIJA investigators have collected and preserved over 1,100,000 internal documents generated by the Syrian regime, including security, intelligence and military documentation. This evidence clearly establishes the organised nature of the crimes and the identities of scores of key perpetrators. More than 2,900 witnesses, primarily defectors and victims, have been interviewed in Syria and neighbouring countries.
“It is the biggest and most incriminating cache of documents ever collected from a war still in progress.”
The Times, 23 September 2018
cases that cija has supported
CIJA’s ongoing cooperation with domestic law enforcement agencies has yielded significant results:
Colvin v. Syrian Arab Republic: CIJA´s evidence formed a critical component of the first case filed against the state of Syria in a U.S. District Court, which found that Syria was responsible for the extra-judicial killing of American journalist Marie Colvin in Homs, Syria in 2012.
Eyad Al. Gharib, convicted of 30 counts of crimes against humanity, upheld on appeal: CIJA’s documentary evidence, witness and expert testimony were instrumental in the conviction of Al. Gharib. He was convicted of 30 counts of crimes against humanity by the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany, in February 2021. The former Syrian secret service agent, from Subdivision 40 of Branch 251 of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate originally stood trial with Anwar R before his case was separated shortly before the judgment. In May of 2022, Al. Gharib’s conviction was upheld on appeal by the Bundesgerichtshof which confirmed the conviction and his criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity in the early months of the 2011 uprisings.
“The Senate [judicial chamber] attaches particular importance to the CCMC documents of April 2011 made available to it through the CIJA via the Federal Criminal Police Office.”
Higher Regional Court, Koblenz, Eyad A. Judgment
Anwar Ruslan, convicted of 52 counts of crimes against humanity: CIJA´s investigative, evidentiary and analytical support was critical for the Koblenz Higher Regional Court conviction of the Head of Investigations at Branch 251 of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate, in January 2022. Ruslan was found guilty of crimes against humanity of torture, murder, assault and several counts of rape and sexual assault. CIJA provided 600 documents linked to Branch 251 – including General Intelligence directives and interrogation reports, some bearing Ruslan’s signature – and 13 interviews with former Branch employees. The Commission’s Director of Operations and Investigations testified as an expert witness before the court, providing analysis of the Syrian Regimes security-intelligence apparatus and use of torture in detention. Ruslan is the highest-ranking Syrian regime official to be prosecuted under the principle of universal jurisdiction worldwide to be held accountable for his crimes.
Mustafa A., convicted for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity: On 22 January 2024, The Hague District Court in the Netherlands convicted Mustafa A., for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity of torture, inhumane treatment and illegal deprivation of liberty and sentenced him to 12 years imprisonment. This judgment marks the first conviction of a pro-Assad militia member for their role in perpetrating international crimes against civilians on behalf of the Regime, in this instance within the Al Nayrab Camp, near Aleppo, in 2012 or 2013. Notably, the judgement (google translate) remarks that:
“the suspect was a leader within Liwa al-Quds, a militia that was a loyal ally of the Syrian regime. Officials of Syria's infamous Air Force Intelligence Service (LID) maintained close ties with Liwa al-Quds, which arrested (alleged) opponents for the LID.”
The Hague District Court, Mustafa A. Judgment
CIJA actively supported Dutch authorities during their investigation into Mustafa A., locating, tracking and sharing a suspect tracking dossier with Dutch authorities in 2021, responding to three requests for assistance shortly thereafter with the transmission of 15 witness interviews, 5 redacted interviews and the sharing of 8 witness contacts.
Mohammed Hamo, acquitted for aiding and abetting serious crimes against international law: on 20 June 2024, the Stockholm District Court acquitted the former Brigadier General of the Syrian Army for aiding and abetting serious crimes against international law for his role in Syrian Army attacks in Homs and Ar Rastan.
Ali Mamlouk (head of the National Security Bureau), Jamal Hassan (head of Air Force Intelligence) and Abdul Salam Mahmoud (Head of the Air Force Intelligence Branch at Mezzeh), convicted in-absentia for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes: On 24 May 2024, the Paris High Court sentenced three senior intelligence officials to life imprisonment for their role in the imprisonment, torture, enforced disappearance and murder of Patrick and Mazzen Dabbagh following their arrest and detention in Air Force Intelligence’s Al Mezzeh Detention Centre, Damascus, in November 2013. They were also found guilty for the war crime of confiscation of property. CIJA provided extensive documentary evidence and structural analysis of the Regime´s security intelligence apparatus to the French authorities. These included 20 interviews with security officials who defected from the Regime, 70 documents including documents signed by the Heads of the National Security Bureau and Air Force Intelligence, national detention policies, as well as diagrams of the chains of command of the Syrian Regime Security Apparatus and the Central Crisis Management Cell.
Canada and the Netherlands v. Syrian Arab Republic, on 11 November 2018, The Gambia initiated proceedings before the International Court of Justice regarding widespread and systematic conduct of torture by the Syrian Regime since 2011 in violation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Alaa M., on trial for crimes against humanity: On 19 January 2022, the trial against Alaa M, a former medical professional for the Syrian Military Intelligence began in Frankfurt, Germany, where he stands charged for his role in crimes against humanity committed in Military Hospital 608 in Homs, Syria. CIJA has supported the case since 2019 with documentary, victim and insider witness evidence. Drawing on its extensive investigative and analytical resources concerning conflict-related sexual violence, CIJA played a key role in the successful inclusion of sexual offences to the list of charges against Alaa M.. CIJA continued to assist German authorities during the pre-trial preparation, responding to five requests for assistance.
Ahmad H., on trial for crimes against humanity and war crimes: on 17 May 2024, the trial against Ahmad H. began in Bremen, Germany, where he was charged with 21 counts of crimes against humanity committed as a member of the Regime-controlled paramilitary group, the National Defence Force, in Tadamon, Damascus between 2012 – 2015.CIJA supported the investigation into the suspect by sharing evidence and analysis to the German authorities.
Hossin A., indicted for crimes against humanity and war crimes: on 24 January 2024, Belgium authorities indicted Hossin A., for crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder and torture carried out in his role as a senior leader of the Regime-controlled paramilitary group, the National Defence Force, carried out in Salamiyah, Hama. CIJA identified and located the suspect, sharing a suspect dossier with the Belgian authorities which catalysed the authority's investigation.
Anon., arrested for crimes against humanity including sexual violence and torture: on 12 December 2023 Dutch authorities arrested the unnamed suspect in Druten, for acts he is alleged to have acted as the Head of the NDF's Interrogation Department in Salamiyah, Hama, between 2013 - 2014. CIJA supported the investigation by sending 12 records of interview relating to the criminality in question, as well as extensive contextual analysis on the NDF's operations in Salamiyah.
Samir Ousman al-Sheikh, in pre-trial detention for falsely describing if he had killed or persecuted: in July 2024, al-Sheikh was arrested in Los Angeles before he attempted to flee the USA. CIJA has assisted US in their investigation into Samir Ousman al-Sheikh since 2021, providing analysis, regime documents and witness interviews on his role as Head of Adra Prison between 2005 2008, Governor of Deir ez-Zour and Head of the Deir ez-Zour Security Committee in 2011.
Bashar al-Assad, issuance of an arrest warrant for crimes against humanity and war crimes: in June 2024 the French Appeal Court upheld warrants of arrest issued by French authorities in November 2023 for alleged complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes relating to the chemical attacks in Douma and Eastern Ghouta in August 2013. CIJA shared a detailed analytical report with French authorities as part of the investigation, drawing upon its extensive evidentiary collection detailing the structure and crimes committed by the Regime as a whole.
assistance to justice actors
Many national jurisdictions are investigating the crimes under the principle of ‘universal jurisdiction’ and to date, CIJA has provided evidence, analytical support, and briefings to the law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities of 16 States conducting numerous criminal investigations into former regime officials.
CIJA also closely cooperates with international bodies such as the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria (IIIM), who has received a copy of CIJA’s Syrian regime evidence archive.
analysis and case building
The determination of CIJA’s investigators enabled experienced analysts and lawyers to complete case briefs and reports implicating dozens of high-ranking suspects from senior leadership, security agencies, ministry of interior, military and security committees, joint investigation committees, governorate-level security branches and general command of the army and armed forces. These cases relate to crimes in detention facilities and against civilians in the course of the conduct of hostilities, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
CIJA has also developed at 15 pro-active suspect dossiers of former Syrian regime members currently suspected to reside in or be transiting in European jurisdictions, and submitted them to relevant law enforcement agencies, leading to the initiation of investigations in several instances.
Evidence-Based PUBLIC REPORTS
Behind the Curtain: Unravelling the Bureaucracy of Syria’s Machinery of Death, December 2023
Torture. Mass arrests. Murders. Enforced disappearance. The Syrian Regime’s justified its use of force against civilians including many children, as a means to protect national security from what they characterised as “armed terrorist groups.” But the Regime’s own documents paint a different picture. This report reveals how the Regime formulated and then implemented policies to forcefully suppress opposition activity from early 2011. Through their own documents, it portrays a narrative of unhinged power, an intricate web of orders, instructions, circulars, reports and studies that flowed through the chains of command laying bare the extreme measures to which the Regime would resort to maintain its iron grip on the nation.
READ THE REPORT: ONLINE | DOWNLOAD | تنزيل التقرير | قراءة التقرير
The Strangulation of Homs, September 2023
This is the story of the Syrian Regime’s strangulation of Homs, a city that gave birth to the revolution and to many of its fallen heroes, including CIJA’s deputy chief of investigations Mustafa. Told through a small selection of the Regime’s own documents, secured by CIJA’s investigators, this report reveals the premeditated manner in which the Syrian Regime quashed the Homsis’ hopes of democracy, from the first days of protest through to the siege of Baba Amro.
READ THE REPORT: ONLINE | DOWNLOAD | تنزيل التقرير | قراءة التقرير
Assad’s Ghosts Unmasked, July 2023
For years, the crimes committed by the Shabbiha were ascribed to shadowy paramilitary gangs whose affiliation to official Syrian Regime structures could not be ascertained. But CIJA evidence shows a clear linkage between these militia groups and the Regime’s chain of command, demonstrating the state’s incremental reliance on these brutal gangs to enforce the governments’ crackdown on peaceful protesters and later, to attack the civilian population.
READ THE REPORT: ONLINE | DOWNLOAD | تنزيل التقرير | قراءة التقرير[EH1]
capacity building of syrian investigators
Since 2012, CIJA’s investigators have benefited from extensive capacity-building efforts through an ongoing training and mentoring programme led by multi-disciplinary international experts. Over 55 men and women have been working within Syria since the early stages of the conflict gathering evidence and conducting interviews, and as a result of their continued learning and experience, they are capable of leading investigations on the ground, further empowering them to play a key role in current and future justice initiatives in the region.
Many of CIJA’s former investigators, analysts and lawyers have gone on to support other justice and accountability initiatives, including the European Agency for Asylum, the International Criminal Court, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, UN Independent and Impartial Investigative Mechanism for Syria, UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL (UNITAD), national investigative agencies, as well as Syrian, Iraqi and international NGOs.