Inside the Raslan Trial: The Raslan Verdict in Detail

TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 58 Hearing Date: January 13, 2022 CAUTION: Some testimony includes descriptions of torture. Summaries/Highlights:[1] Day 110 – January 13, 2022 This was the last day of the Trial of Anwar Raslan at the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz. The Judges held that […]

After the Raslan Verdict: “Why is no one celebrating?”

    On Thursday, January 13, 2021, the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany, sentenced former Syrian intelligence Colonel Anwar Raslan to life imprisonment for being accomplice in crimes against humanity in relation to 4,000 cases of torture and severe deprivation of liberty, 27 cases of murder, and 3 cases of sexual violence. Leaving the […]

Inside the Raslan Trial: ‘Vengeance is not our goal, nor do we seek merely just retribution’

TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 54 Hearing Dates: December 1 & 2, 2021   CAUTION: Some testimony includes descriptions of torture. Summaries/Highlights:[1] Day 105 – December 1, 2021 P58, a 33-year-old Syrian testified about his detention at Branch 251, as well as Raslan’s sympathy towards the Syrian […]

Inside the Raslan Trial: An unexpected witness, a missing witness, and a rejected witnesses

TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 53 Hearing Dates: November 17 & 18, 2021   CAUTION: Some testimony includes descriptions of torture. Summaries/Highlights:[1] Day 103 – November 17, 2021 P57, a 40-year-old Syrian, testified about his detention at Branch 251 where he was interrogated three times. He told […]

Inside the Raslan Trial: “”There are spies everywhere!”

TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 52 Hearing Date: November 11, 2021   CAUTION: Some testimony includes descriptions of torture. Summaries/Highlights:[1] Day 102 – November 11, 2021 Dr. Kamal Al-Labwani, a former Syrian doctor and a member of the opposition testified about his work with the opposition through […]

France is not a safe haven for human rights abusers – despite high court opinion

  A longer version of this article first appeared in Just Security   A bombshell opinion from France’s highest court has raised doubts about the ability of universal jurisdiction cases, in France and elsewhere, to hold accountable perpetrators of human rights abuses in States that do not respect international law. The French cour de cassation […]

Inside the Raslan Trial: I know we defected relatively late, but…

TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 51 Hearing Date: November 4, 2021 A full PDF of this report is available, here. All reports and witness lists are available, here. CAUTION: Some testimony includes descriptions of torture. Summaries/Highlights:[1] Day 101 – November 4, 2021 P56, a former colonel at the Syrian […]

What Syrians can expect from the new German government

  With the new German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, being sworn in on Wednesday this week, Germany will be governed by a coalition of the Social Democrats (SDP), the Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), and the Liberals (FDP) for the next four years. Two months after federal elections were held on September 26, 2021, the three coalition […]

A Toxic Legacy – Chemical Weapons and Birth Defects in Syria

  Since 2012, chemical weapon attacks by the Assad government have killed and injured thousands of Syrians. Such attacks are not only deadly but also psychologically terrorizing for victims. However, emerging evidence suggests that these weapons may have a further, long-term impact that has been under-examined and rarely documented. In early 2021, a doctor in […]