Two former high-ranking Syrian soldiers who played a key role in the now deposed regime of President Bashar al-Assad have been indicted in the United States for war crimes and accused of torturing American citizens.
Jamil Hassan, 72, and Abdul Salam Mahmoud, 65, both former Syrian Air Force intelligence officers, were charged in connection with what prosecutors alleged was “a conspiracy to commit war crimes by inflicting cruel and inhumane treatment on prisoners under their control. including American citizens.”
The Justice Department’s indictment accuses them of “cruel and unusual treatment” of civilian detainees at the Mezzeh military airport near Damascus.
Syrians have been scouring prisons for loved ones in the wake of Assad’s overthrow, while thousands of prisoners have been released from facilities notorious for their use of torture.
An arrest warrant has been issued for the two former intelligence officers on charges of conspiracy to commit the war crime of cruel and inhuman treatment. If found guilty, they could face life in prison.
Prosecutors said they remain “at large” but did not indicate the two men’s whereabouts now or even whether authorities know where they are.
The grand jury indictment was filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago in November but was unsealed on Tuesday, following the rebel victory in Damascus and the fall of Assad on Sunday.
Syrians gather in Damascus’ Umayyad Square on Monday to celebrate the collapse of 61 years of Baath Party rule.
The US is the latest country to issue an arrest warrant for Mahmoud and Hassan, after Germany in 2018. The US has imposed sanctions on Assad and his inner circle – including Hassan – since 2012.
“The perpetrators of the Assad regime’s atrocities against American citizens and other civilians during the Syrian Civil War must be held accountable for their heinous crimes,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.
The indictment details the torture allegedly carried out at the behest of Hassan and Mahmoud. The two Syrians “whipped, kicked, electrocuted and burned their victims, hung them by their wrists for extended periods of time, threatened them with rape and death, and falsely told them that their relatives had been killed,” Garland said.
“Hassan and Mahmoud are alleged to have overseen the systematic use of torture and brutality against alleged enemies of the Syrian regime, including U.S. citizens,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said.
According to the indictment, Hassan was director of the Syrian Air Force’s intelligence service and oversaw a network of prisons, including Mezzeh Prison in Damascus, where suspected regime opponents were held and tortured; Mahmoud was a brigadier general who led operations in Mezzeh.
The pair are specifically accused of human rights abuses between 2012 and 2019, including torturing and killing people suspected of aiding or supporting anti-Assad groups in Syria’s long and bloody civil war.
“Detainees in the custody of the defendants, including U.S. citizens, were mercilessly beaten, electrocuted, and had their toenails removed. Detainees were also allegedly hung from the ceiling by their wrists and burned with acid,” the complaint said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
