Front Burner - A landmark conviction for Syrian war crimes

Episode Date: January 17, 2022

On Thursday, a former Syrian colonel in Bashar al-Assad’s forces was convicted in a court in Germany for crimes against humanity. Anwar Raslan was sentenced to life in prison for overseeing the murder of at least 27 people and the torture of at least 4000 in a Damascus prison. The case marks the world’s first criminal prosecution of state-sponsored torture in Syria. Today, we hear from Wafa Mustafa, the daughter of one man believed to be forcibly disappeared by the Syrian regime, and Sara Kayyali, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch who has been investigating human rights abuses in Syria, who says while this conviction is important, “justice doesn’t start and end in European courts.”

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Angela Starrett, filling in for Jamie Poisson. Hi, I'm Angela Starrett, filling in for Jamie Poisson. My dad was, my dad is, I hope, is this very strict, yet very passionate, very dedicated man. He actually was very courageous. He spoke his mind. He was not scared of anything.

He taught us that we should not accept anything less freedom and justice and democracy and dignity. Wafa Mustafa thinks about her father, Ali, every day. He loved music. I think this is important to say. And today, music is one thing that helps me, I guess, reduce my pain, or at least try to deal with my pain, because it somehow brings me closer to him. He was a small business owner who ran a fruit and vegetable stand

in Damascus and an outspoken critic of the Bashar al-Assad regime. My dad was this person who loved life and who lived life in all its forms and ways. But at the same time, he was very willing to sacrifice his life for what he believed in. Inside Syria, a pro-democracy revolution that started in 2011 was still raging. The scenes are unprecedented, day after day of protest. Syrians now demanding what Tunisians and Egyptians have just won, and Libyans are currently fighting for, wholesale political reform. This is Banias on the northeastern coast, all calling for the regime to

fall. The picture that's been emerging on the internet from within Syria tells the story of mass protests, shootings and killings. On the 2nd of July 2013, my dad, Ali Mustafa, was... vanished. I don't know. I mean, he just vanished. You know, I mean, he was forcibly disappeared by the Assad regime. The family had been living apart

because of the political turmoil. As the streets filled with hopeful protesters, no one could escape the eyes and ears of the secret police. President Assad's vast security machine orchestrated a violent crackdown. My dad was in our family house in Damascus while my mom and sister lived in another city called Masyaf, western Syria. My mom decided to go and visit him in Damascus. And, you know, they said we will spend some time together alone and stuff. And 15 minutes before she arrived, she called my dad and she said, I'll be there in

15. And he told her that everything is perfect, that he's cleaned the house and he's just waiting for her. And those were the last words we heard from him. They would learn through the neighbors that a group of armed men attacked the home and dragged her father away with one of his friends. Most have been taken from the streets by government security agents, and they're known as the disappeared. Kidnappings and arrests by government forces have become commonplace in Syria. Tens of thousands of people have disappeared and are rumored to have ended up in prisons controlled by the Syrian government.

For decades, one of the signatures of the Assad regime has been a vast network of prisons and detention centers, places where torture is rumored routine. It's been more than 3,000 days since Wafa Mustafa's father disappeared, and his fate is still unknown. When someone gets detained and forcibly disappeared in Syria, this means that we cannot call them. We cannot see them. We know nothing about them. No letters, no phone calls, no presence, nothing. Since then, Wafa's life has been consumed by her search for answers. It just feels like this life is not mine.

I mean, I am occupied by the search for my father. I am occupied by the question if he's still alive or not. I am occupied by the question of whether everything I do is pointless. I am occupied by the question of what else can I do to save my dad from that hell. Of all the potential prisons her father could be in, one of the most notorious and feared is a facility called Branch 251, once overseen by one of Assad's high-ranking officials, Anwar Raslan. We start in Germany, where a former colonel from President Assad's regime in Syria has been found guilty of crimes against humanity.

Last Thursday, Anwar Raslan was convicted in a court in Germany for carrying out mass torture, murder and abuse. It was the world's first criminal prosecution of state-sponsored torture in Syria. And the first time a high-ranking member of Assad's regime has been held to account. Today, we're speaking with Sada Kayali, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch who has been investigating human rights abuses in Syria, to ask her about what this trial has taught us about the inner workings of the Assad machine and what, if anything, can be done about it.

about it. Hello, Sara. Hi, Angie. How are you? I'm well. Thank you so much for being with us today. And I'm wondering to start, if you could tell me about Anwar Raslan. Who was he and what was his role within the Assad regime? So Anwar Raslan is a former Syrian intelligence officer. He is the highest ranking official to have ever been charged in a European court for crimes against humanity that he had committed or was responsible for committing in Syria. He was an intelligence officer for his entire career. He ended it in 2012 when he defected. But at the time, he was the head of the investigations branch of Branch 251, which is one of the Syrian government's most notorious intelligence branches where people were arbitrarily detained and tortured even before the uprising, but certainly following the 2011 uprising in Syria. So he was able to get to Germany with no problem at first? get to Germany with no problem at first? Exactly. I mean, what we understand is that Anwar Aslan was able to seek refuge in Germany after he defected in 2012. He lived his life

normally until one day, one of his victims, actually, one of the people that he had detained and tortured, was able to identify him and try to build a case against him with the support of German lawyers and other Syrians in Germany. And you brought up Branch 251. Can you tell me a bit more about the prison that he ran? What happened there? Yeah, absolutely. So Branch 251 was one of the branches in what we call Syria's torture archipelago. So the Syrian government runs this network of underground detention facilities that it uses to repress the civilian population. And so Branch 251 is one of those branches. It is under the General Directorate, which is one of the four main intelligence services that operate within the Syrian government.

The branch, to be honest, based on our research, is one of the most notorious intelligence prisons. Thousands of people have been tortured. Anwar Aslan himself was accused of being responsible for the torture of 4,000 people in a 16-month period. And Asad is denying these torture allegations. Yes, I mean, both President Bashar al-Assad and actually Anwar Aslan in court also denied that he had tortured anyone despite the accumulation of evidence against him. German lawyers fought hard for this trial, prompted by Syrian survivors who'd fled to Germany. They told terrible stories, torturers using special tools, electric shocks, rape,imes so serious they could be tried outside Syria in a German court. So one of the pieces of evidence that were used by prosecutors in this trial

were photographs from someone named Caesar. Who is he? What did he do? So Caesar is the code name of a military photographer who defected. We can't tell you his name. It's too dangerous to show his face. But we can show you these. Almost 55,000 photos he risked his life to bring out of Syria. I would work for hours taking photographs, loading the photographs, and I would have to hide my emotions. I would have to pray that a tear does

not come down my face because if they saw one tear, if they saw one expression on my face that showed sympathy, then I would be killed as would my family. And around 27,000 of those photos were photos of people who had been arbitrarily detained by the Syrian government and who died within these detention facilities. They died both of torture and starvation due to the horrific humanitarian conditions in the detention facilities. And so what we call the Caesar photos are really the first visual evidence of the widespread and systematic torture of detainees inside the Syrian government's prisons. At the time when they were released in 2013 and 2014, they were really irrefutable evidence of things that human rights activists

and lawyers have been saying for years, but that weren't quite visualized. So it was sort of a message to everyone who didn't believe that the Syrian government was doing this, that this was truly happening inside the Syrian government detention facilities. So these photos were actually used in court to prove that torture is happening inside Branch 251 specifically as well. Some of the people who are shown in the photographs were detained in Branch 251. From all you're saying, I can't imagine how intense this trial must have been. What kind of things were revealed in the trial? You know, from the witnesses who were detained there, what was their experiences?

So the trial was actually the first of its kind in terms of tackling state-sponsored torture. You had around 50 witnesses who had survived and who were willing to testify in court. Some were unable to due to concerns about their own safety. Those who testified described their treatment in branch 251. Wasim Moukdad testified at the trial having been tortured by Raslan in that detention centre. I was detained with two other friends from the streets of Douma, a city next to Damascus, just because we were searching for a demonstration. And from the very first moment, they covered our eyes and started hitting us. I got also hit by a rifle on my left chest

and a couple of ribs were broken. How when they arrived in the branch, they would be introduced to treatment there through this thing, through a sort of what they call a welcome party. Which is to hit the detainees on our way from the buses into the building from the members of security forces. Where a group of guards would come and welcome them with beatings, with fists and sticks and metal pipes.

It's really, I mean, some of the testimony is really some of the most horrifying stories that you could ever imagine. And the fact that these witnesses were willing to go through this for the sake of this trial is actually incredibly powerful. In one cell, we were 87 people in a cell of 22 square meters. The hygiene circumstances was a catastrophe. There was no contact with the outside world, no legal representation. We didn't know what will happen to us. Also, the food they provided us was so little. I lost 17 kilos in my detention. I remember people dying of preventable diseases, being mistreated by doctors who were supposed to quote unquote help them, stress positions, sleep deprivation. All of these tactics were used in Branch 251. Oh my goodness, it just sounds absolutely horrific.

I'm curious who exactly is being held here? What kinds of people are they arresting or forcibly disappearing? people who participated in peaceful uprisings in 2011 and 2012 being detained. There's one individual who remembers Anwar Raslan coming to the protests and coming to funerals of anti-government people and looking around and sort of taking note of who was there, who was attending these protests, and then instructing them to be arbitrarily detained and tortured inside these facilities. So really, and this is why we say the sort of the use of arbitrary detention and torture is widespread and systematic. It's because it can happen to anyone, from someone who's crossing the street and annoys a soldier at a checkpoint, to people who participate

in the protests demanding dignity, to journalists and activists who document these abuses. All of these people had been detained or disappeared and then mistreated in these detention facilities. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization. Empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years.

I've talked to millions of people and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income. That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. I mean, it's hard to believe that this conflict has entered its 11th year and is still ongoing. If you were to boil it down for me, what's at stake in this conflict today? So the Syrian government has actually regained the majority of the territory within Syria. There are two areas that are not held by the Syrian government.

There are two areas that are not held by the Syrian government. But despite that decrease in active hostilities in the terms of airstrikes and shellings, we still see an incredible amount of abuse being leveled on the civilian population, from arbitrary detention to torture to extrajudicial executions, really the same abuses that this trial is talking about, we're seeing in Syria today committed by the Syrian authorities. And that's something that's really devastating to consider that after a decade of the conflict, of the uprising, that the behavior of the Syrian security apparatus remains the same. As I mentioned, there are two other areas that are not under the control of the Syrian security apparatus remains the same. As I mentioned, there are two other areas that are not under the control of the Syrian government. One is the northwest, which is under the control of a sanctioned entity, a former al-Qaeda affiliate called Ha'ir Tahrir al-Sham. But it's also home to over 4 million people, half of whom had been displaced from other areas in Syria. And that area, in addition to the abuses that the civilians are experiencing at the hands of HTS, they're also at significant

risk from the Syrian government and the Russian military alliance, who have conducted airstrikes and who continue to indiscriminately attack civilians in order to force surrender in that area. And then finally, you have the northeast of Syria, which was formerly held by ISIS, but is now under the control of Kurdish-led authorities. And now what really remains is the need to stabilize this region, to ensure that humanitarian aid is there, and to ensure that there's a sort of democratic rights-respecting transition happening in that area. There's been some significant human rights violations on all sides of this conflict.

Can you tell me a bit about that? I can honestly say, I mean, what we've seen in the last decade in terms of human rights abuses has been unparalleled. We've seen the Syrian government, as I mentioned, arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappear, I mentioned, arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappear, tens of thousands of individuals conduct extrajudicial executions, indiscriminate attacks on all sides, the use of shelling, the use of chemical weapons with devastating consequences. Similarly, ISIS had used sulfur. They had committed extrajudicial executions. We've all seen and been horrified by the beheadings conducted by ISIS while they were in power. Anti-government groups have also sort of cracked down on people that have dissented. They've manipulated aid and taken it away from people who need it.

Really, we've seen the full spectrum of human rights abuses happen in the Syrian conflict. And, you know, as we're here talking about these prisons and these forcible disappearances allegedly under the control of the Assad regime, and despite the evidence that Human Rights Watch and the trial have revealed, I guess there's also this kind of normalization of Assad's leadership happening right now. What do you think about that? The normalization that's happening by neighboring states with the Syrian government really seems to ignore the fact that these abuses are ongoing and that these atrocities are continuing to this day with a view to sort of pretending that the conflict never happened and that they want to

turn the page and forcibly return refugees. And that's incredibly problematic on a number of levels and actually quite disappointing because these governments know what the Syrian government has done and continues to do. And they know that without addressing the serious human rights crises that is happening in the country, there will be no stable Syria and there will be no permanent or sustainable refugee return. We've seen, I mean, we've seen Jordan, among others, really try to normalize and approach the Syrian government in a diplomatic way. And that's really backfired on them thus far, because there hasn't been any kind of conditionality on the normalization, any kind of change in terms of what's happening with the Syrian government, any kind of reform.

It's disappointing to see that these countries are willing to sort of pretend that the last decade hasn't happened. And I think that there are going to be extremely negative consequences in the near future for this kind of approach. I want to tell you about something we heard from Wafa Mustafa, who we heard from earlier. She told our producer about how she has mixed feelings about the outcome of the Anwar Roslin trial. mixed feelings about the outcome of the Anwar Roslin trial. The first thing I had in mind after the verdict was out was, what about my father? What about all Syrians disappeared?

What about those who actually still live in Syria and under the rule of Assad? What about those whom we lost? When will the international community actually find a comprehensive solution to our tragedy? When will they provide something that is not empty words? What do you think about

what she had to say here? I think the message that Wafa was trying to communicate is incredibly powerful, because I think to many Syrians and to Human Rights Watch as well, justice doesn't start and end in European courts. and really true comprehensive justice, the kind of justice that we want to see in Syria, happens only when the atrocities that are being committed today in Syria end, not just the historical ones, but also the future ones. When people who have been detained are released, when families know where their loved ones who had been disappeared are, when they are provided with restitution. And I think while the trial is incredibly important, I think that we need to keep in mind that it's only one piece of the puzzle and that we need to be working towards

more cases like this, but also to better the human rights situation in Syria itself. And that's, also to better the human rights situation in Syria itself. And that's, it's not going to be easy. It's a challenge, but it's something that we need to keep an eye out for. And in the end, what do you think this trial has achieved, you know, beyond just holding one man accountable for his crimes? And what do you think the ripple effect of this will have on the way the world understands what's going on in Syria? I mean, as I said, I think the trial and the verdict is momentous in sort of for the international justice movement. It's the

first case of its kind. It shows that the use of principles like the principle of universal jurisdiction can be used to achieve results on the ground. It tells the international community that you can prosecute someone fully, that you can collect all of this evidence and take the law to sort of to the end of its path. But I also think, and that's a powerful message because it's been incredibly difficult to make these kinds of gains in the Syrian context. But I also think, and this is sort of on a more personal note, I think it gives people hope. Many of the survivors that I spoke to who testified in this trial, for them, the last 10 years have been filled with unimaginable suffering, unimaginable loss. And for them to have the

opportunity to face their jailer, their torture in court, and to have that jailer be punished for the crimes that he committed, brings them a sense of relief, a sense of hope in the middle of what's been a very, very dark decade. And it helps remind people that the Syrian conflict started because people like you and me wanted to live in dignity and wanted their rights. And they have been punished for that in ways that are unimaginable. But it's a reminder of the core of what the Syrian uprisings were really about, and that's justice. Sada, thank you so much for this and for all your work on this incredibly difficult story. I really appreciate your time today. No, of course. My pleasure.

No, of course. My pleasure. Before we go today, a quick update on a story we brought you last week. Tennis star Novak Djokovic was deported from Australia over the weekend. Djokovic is not vaccinated against COVID-19, which is a requirement for foreigners entering the country. Djokovic expressed extreme disappointment over the ruling, as it means he will not be able to compete in the Australian Open. That's it for today. I'm Angela Starrett, in for Jamie Boisson. Thanks for listening to FrontBurner. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.