For the first time worldwide, suspected agents of Syrian state torture are sitting on a dock. The federal prosecutor's office in Koblenz lists an almost infinite number of atrocities. The process should attract attention far beyond Germany.
Koblenz (dpa) - The contrast could hardly be greater: Outside, the beautiful spring sun shines, inside, two accusers are accused of torture after another, for three quarters of an hour.
Under strict security precautions and in the name of the highly contagious corona virus, a process with historical dimensions has begun before the Koblenz Higher Regional Court.
The federal prosecutor speaks of "the world's first criminal proceedings against members of the Assad regime for crimes against humanity" (file number 1 StE 9/19). The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is said to be responsible for a cruel machinery of torture in his country of civil war. The Federal Prosecutor's Office bases its 104-page indictment on testimony from two dozen suspected victims of torture.
Only every third seat in the audience area of the largest courtroom in Koblenz may be occupied due to the corona pandemic. Many process participants wear face masks. The main defendant Anwar R. (57) explains through his lawyer that he will not give written comments on the allegations until the third day of the trial (April 27). The second defendant Eyad A. (43) wants to remain silent.
The two Syrians were recognized by alleged victims after their escape in Germany and were arrested in February 2019 in Berlin and in the Palatinate town of Zweibrücken. The charges accuse Anwar R. of crimes against humanity in 2011 and 2012. She accuses him of 58 times murder, rape and serious sexual assault in Syria. Eyad A. is accused of aiding and abetting a crime against humanity in 2011.
Anwar R. was said to have been responsible for the brutal torture of at least 4,000 people in a prison run by the General Secret Service in the Syrian capital Damascus. At least 58 prisoners died as a result. Eyad A., who was arrested in Zweibrücken, is accused of bringing at least 30 demonstrators to the torture prison.
The indictment speaks of brutal ill-treatment of opposition figures following the crushing of the Arab Spring in Syria. The regime was concerned with intimidation, confessions and the betrayal of the names of other demonstrators. The federal prosecutor lists more torture practices than most viewers have ever thought of. The accused seem to listen unmoved. According to the federal prosecutor's office, they are said to have turned away from the Assad regime.
Several of the alleged torture victims who testified testified also participated as co-plaintiffs in the trial, which initially had 24 trial days scheduled until August 13. The lawyer Patrick Kroker, who represents some of them, said after the trial began that the statements made by 24 victims' witnesses in the indictment also stood for today's prisoners in Syrian torture prisons. "The responsibility extends to the highest government circles," added Kroker with a view to al-Assad.
On the sidelines of the trial, Chief Prosecutor Jasper Klinge from the Federal Prosecutor's Office emphasized: "We owe it to the victims, some of whom live here in the country, but also to our historical responsibility that those responsible for such acts are held accountable if this happens because then in our possibilities. "
Federal Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht (SPD) also refers to the historical dimension of the criminal proceedings against suspected Syrian war criminals: "For the first time, thousands of horrific tortures and ill-treatment are being prosecuted before an independent court in Germany. This sends the clear message that war criminals must not feel safe anywhere." With his persistent and systematic investigations, the Attorney General set standards worldwide: "The principle of world law in international criminal law makes this possible."
This means that possible crimes committed by foreigners in distant other countries can be prosecuted in Germany. From the ranks of the co-plaintiffs in the Koblenz trial, it is said that the International Criminal Court in The Hague, on the other hand, does not fundamentally deal with alleged Syrian state torture because Russia and China prevented this from happening in the World Security Council.
The human rights organization Amnesty International describes the Koblenz trial as a "milestone in the fight against impunity for the most serious human rights violations in Syria". Stephan Thomae, FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag, thinks it is good that the German judiciary is involved in the further development of international criminal law, "which began 75 years ago with the Nuremberg war crimes trials".