Inside the Raslan Trial: Eyewitness Declares 90% Certainty That Raslan Beat Him

TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN and EYAD AL GHARIB Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 19 Hearing dates of November 25 and 26, 2020 A full PDF is available here.   CAUTION: Some testimony includes descriptions of torture. Summary / Highlights:[1] Trial Day 46 – November 25, 2020 P20, a former detainee at […]

Reflections on the Eyad Al-Gharib Judgment

  On February 24, 2021, the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz found Eyad Al-Gharib guilty of aiding and abetting torture and forced imprisonment as crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to 4.5 years imprisonment. The defense will likely appeal the judgment. The judges’ reasoning shows two important aspects that should have been considered in determining […]

Coverage of the ISIS Beatles Trial Should Avoid Sensationalism and Center Victims

  A recent New York Times scandal has renewed discussions on media coverage of ISIS, specifically the danger of sensationalism distorting realities on the ground through shaping public discourse and adversely affecting policy. Sensationalist coverage threatens to impede truth-seeking and reconciliation efforts in Syria, while also discouraging the repatriation and resettlement of former ISIS fighters […]

Blackmailing Syrians: Confiscating the Properties of Draft Evaders

Statements made several days ago by Brigadier-General Elias al-Bitar, head of the army’s Exemption and Reserve branch, have sown chaos and confusion among Syrians. Syrian men living outside the country and above the age of conscription have been threatened with the seizure of their property, as well as the property of their relatives, if they […]

Inside the Raslan Trial: A Forensic Analysis of the Caesar Photos

TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN and EYAD AL GHARIB Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 17 Hearing Dates: November 3 & 4, 2020 A full PDF of this report is available here.   CAUTION: Some testimony includes descriptions of torture. Summaries/Highlights:[1] Trial Day 41 – November 3, 2020 Prof. Dr. Rothschild, a 58-year […]

Building Pressure Against EU Treatment of Refugees and Migrants

  Over the last decade, EU treatment of Syrian refugees has been ambivalent. On the one hand, some states have shown generosity by accepting and supporting large numbers of Syrians fleeing conflict. For example, Germany has accepted 1.5 million Syrians, providing support to many. On the other hand, as domestic political pressures have mounted, there […]

ISIS and Cycles of Violence: Attaining Security by Protecting Rights in Syria and Iraq

  The continued failure to obtain justice in the Syrian conflict is contributing to cyclical violence beyond the country’s borders in neighboring Iraq. Both the January 21 suicide bombings in Baghdad—part of a wider resurgence of ISIS in both Iraq and Syria—and the Iraqi government’s subsequent decision to summarily execute hundreds of prisoners on terrorism […]

Inside the Raslan Trial: A Note on the Delayed Translation of SJAC Trial Reports

A Note on the Delayed Translation of SJAC Trial Reports Since the beginning of the Anwar R. and Eyad A. trial in Koblenz, SJAC trial monitors have attended every trial session and produced highly-detailed summaries of the proceedings. Each trial monitoring report has been subject to several layers of review, including legal review by the […]