Germany: Trial Begins for 5 Individuals Accused of War Crimes in Syria

SadaNews - Today, Wednesday, the trial of five men begins at the Higher Regional Court in the German city of Koblenz, facing charges of murder, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Syria.

The German news agency reported that the defendants "are stateless Syrian Palestinians aged between 42 and 56" who were members of militias loyal to the ousted President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian military intelligence between 2012 and 2014.

The five face accusations of killing at least six individuals, including a 14-year-old boy, during the suppression of a demonstration on July 13, 2012.

The five defendants were arrested on July 3 of last year and are still in pre-trial detention, according to court records.

Universal Jurisdiction

This type of trial is held in Germany based on what is known as the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows for the prosecution of serious crimes in Germany regardless of where they were committed.

Last June, a German court sentenced a Syrian doctor to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, including the torture of detainees in military hospitals in Syria, in a historic trial following the collapse of the Assad regime.

The court in Stuttgart, in the southwest of the country, convicted the 33-year-old doctor of offenses including murder, torture, and kidnapping between 2012 and 2014.

According to the court, this group actively collaborated with the ousted Assad regime "through carrying out numerous attacks and terrorizing local civilians deemed opponents of the regime" to force them to flee the city.

Other trials are still ongoing in the country; in Frankfurt, a former Syrian doctor has been on trial since 2022 on charges of torturing and killing civilians while working in military hospitals affiliated with the ousted regime.

Trials concerning crimes committed in Syria are also taking place in other parts of Europe, particularly in France and Sweden.

While many Syrians in Germany have reported suspects in recent years to the courts for crimes committed in their homeland, the fall of Assad has allayed the fears of some who were worried about endangering their loved ones in Syria, according to human rights organizations.

The conflict in Syria, which ignited with peaceful protests violently suppressed by the ousted regime in 2011, has resulted in the deaths of more than half a million people, the displacement of millions, and the destruction of the country's economy and infrastructure.