Dutch police arrest Assad official suspected of torture
On the 8th of December, a Syrian man living in the Netherlands was arrested for heading a military torture center in Syria, the Dutch public prosecution service said.
The man is believed to have led the interrogation department of the Syrian National Defence Forces, aligned with the government of President Bashar Al Assad, in the western Syrian city of Salamiyah, from 2013 to 2014, the service said in a statement, without identifying the man.
“The suspicion is that from this position, the man committed acts of torture and sexual violence against civilians,” it said.
READ: Assad in Haguefor torture trial
He arrived in the Netherlands in July 2021, after which he received a temporary asylum permit.
This is the first time the Dutch authorities charged a suspect for sexual violence as a crime against humanity, The National reported.
However, The Netherlands is not the only country in Europe prosecuting people who committed crimes in Syria.
In November, France issued an international arrest warrant for the Syrian president for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity over chemical attacks in 2013 in Ghouta, a judicial source told The National.
The National also reported other cases of Syrian citizens’ trials in Western countries.
The Netherlands and Canada have taken Syria to the top UN court, accusing Al Assad’s government of perpetrating institutionalized torture against its people for decades.
Three months before that, France issued arrest warrants for three important Syrian intelligence officers accused of complicity in crimes against humanity, specifically a case regarding a father and son who disappeared 10 years ago.
The National, Reuters, Syria Justice and Accountability Center
