U.S. indicts 2 former Syrian officials, accuses them of torturing prisoners

Two former high-ranking Syrian military figures who played key roles in President Bashar al-Assad’s now-deposed regime have been indicted on war crimes charges in the U.S. 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 through the infliction of cruel and inhuman treatment on detainees under their control, including U.S. citizens.”

The Justice Department’s indictment accuses them of “cruel and unusual treatment” of civilian prisoners at Mezzeh Military Airport near Damascus.

Syrians have been searching jails for loved ones after Assad was overthrown, while thousands of prisoners have been freed from the facilities notorious for their use of torture.

A warrant has been issued for the arrests of the two former intelligence officers on charges of conspiracy to commit the war crime of cruel and inhuman treatment. If they are found guilty, they could face life in prison.

Prosecutors said they remain “at large” and did not specify whether authorities know their whereabouts.

The grand jury indictment was filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago in November but not unsealed until Tuesday, following the victory of rebel forces in Damascus and the downfall of Assad on Sunday.

The U.S. is the latest country to issue warrants against Mahmoud and Hassan, following Germany in 2018. The U.S. has maintained 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 answer for their heinous crimes,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

The indictment lists in detail the torture it alleges was meted out at the direction of Hassan and Mahmoud. The two Syrians “whipped, kicked, electrocuted, and burned their victims; hung them by their wrists for prolonged periods of time; threatened them with rape and death; and falsely told them that their family members had been killed,” Garland said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said, “Hassan and Mahmoud allegedly oversaw the systematic use of torture and cruelty on perceived enemies of the Syrian regime, including American citizens.”

The indictment says Hassan was the director of Syrian air force intelligence and oversaw a network of jails, including the Mezzeh Prison in Damascus, where suspected regime opponents were kept and tortured. Mahmoud was a brigadier general who directed operations at Mezzeh, it says.

The pair are specifically accused of human rights abuses from 2012 to 2019, including torturing and killing people suspected of aiding or supporting groups opposed to Assad in Syria’s long and bloody civil war.

“Detainees in the defendants’ custody, 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 were burned with acid,” the indictment says.