The sting: How a Canadian is fighting back in Syria’s high-stakes disinformation war
Executive Director Bill Wiley speaks with The Globe and Mail about CIJA’s probe into disinformation networks attempting to discredit the work of his organisation and others seeking accountability in Syria.
Read the full story here
Executive Director Bill Wiley speaks with The Globe and Mail about CIJA’s probe into disinformation networks attempting to discredit the work of his organisation and others seeking accountability in Syria.
Read the full story here
The UK professor, a fake Russian spy and the undercover Syria sting
Director Nerma Jelacic speaks to The Observer about CIJA’s inquiry into disinformation networks that seek to discredit Syria accountability efforts.
Read the full story here
Director Nerma Jelacic speaks to The Observer about CIJA’s inquiry into disinformation networks that seek to discredit Syria accountability efforts.
Read the full story here
CIJA Statement on the Syria Disinformation Campaign
بالعربية
The Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) is proud to report that it has concluded a probe into the disinformation networks which have increasingly threatened to derail fragile Syria accountability efforts through misinformation, lies and revisionism.
CIJA’s inquiry uncovered the extraordinary degrees of deception these disinformation networks are willing to go to in order to achieve their goal of whitewashing the egregious crimes committed by the regime of Bashar al-Assad. It also exposed a surprising array of individuals who have recklessly served to amplify certain of the core allegations of the disinformation network – persons who are not themselves assessed by CIJA as being apologists for the Assad regime, and are in some instances working in the field of international criminal and humanitarian law.
Amongst other things, the CIJA inquiry revealed that the disinformation networks:
admit privately to fabricating sources and information in order to create the impression of well-researched and evidence-based reports;
coordinate their work with, and take instructions from, Russian diplomats and other representatives of the Russian state;
are engaged in a tightly controlled and orchestrated campaign to denigrate the findings of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), with proactive assistance from Hague-based lawyers providing pro bono counsel on how to wage lawfare against the increasingly damning findings of the OPCW with respect to Syrian regime chemical attacks; and
are prepared to ask apparent agents of foreign states to support their research efforts, and even to attack their foes.
CIJA was only the latest target of this disinformation campaign. Over the last five years, Russia and various proxies in the west have pursued a vicious disinformation war against individuals and groups undertaking humanitarian as well as accountability efforts in Syria. The most prominent targets of this campaign have been the Syrian White Helmets, Mayday Rescue and the OPCW.
In November 2020, CIJA was advised implicitly by the so-called Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media – a leading pro-Moscow and pro-Damascus disinformation network – that CIJA and its Executive Director would be the next targets of its long-running disinformation campaign. In response, CIJA launched its probe, the primary objective of which was to protect the security of CIJA’s witnesses, sensitive sources, its personnel and their families.
The said inquiry was undertaken by lawful means during the period 01 December 2020 to 14 March 2021.
CIJA’s major security concerns were confirmed when a former senior CIJA consultant disclosed to the Working Group and its allies highly sensitive details regarding the extended families – including the children – of CIJA personnel, as well as the names of myriad operational and administrative staff. From a CIJA perspective, this discovery alone demanded the initiation of an inquiry.
The risks that CIJA personnel face are real, not perceived. Documents originating from Syrian security intelligence in the possession of CIJA and other information show that Damascus and states with known Assad sympathies are interested in locating CIJA personnel and facilities. In response to such threats, the CIJA is necessarily committed to protecting by all lawful means its witnesses, sources, personnel, mandate and reputation. This effort requires CIJA to expose those who persist in doing the unconscionable bidding of Moscow, Damascus and their allies in Syria, whether consciously or recklessly. CIJA is obliged morally and ethically to proceed in solidarity with the victims of the Working Group and its partners’ disinformation, including the White Helmets, Mayday Rescue, the OPCW, and James Le Mesurier, whom many of us knew as a friend.
Over the decade of conflict in Syria, CIJA has helped extract to safety activists who found themselves in harm’s way inside Syria. CIJA has done so quietly and without need for recognition. The rising influence of disinformation networks and their impact on Syrian victims and survivors require a strong and unified response by those who stand for human rights and accountability. The information gathered during this probe will be provided to relevant authorities such that appropriate measures can be taken.
CIJA’s solidarity with those who undertake crucial humanitarian, accountability and criminal justice work in Syria, and its determination to fight disinformation networks and their enablers, is now a matter of public record.
About the CIJA
CIJA has been conducting criminal investigations in Syria since 2011. While for security reasons we kept a lower public profile than is usual for an NGO, our work has had high impact where it matters the most: securing evidence and ensuring that this material supports the efforts of western law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable. Thus far, CIJA has collected over one million pages of Syrian regime documentation and it is currently supporting thirty-two law enforcement agencies from over a dozen democratic countries. CIJA’s evidence and testimony have been used in five completed trials pertaining to both Syrian regime and Islamic State criminality. Additionally, CIJA is currently assisting fifteen ongoing investigations by law enforcement agencies. Overall, since 2016 CIJA has responded to requests for assistance from national authorities pertaining to over 2,000 suspects. For more about CIJA’s work go to www.cijaonline.org
26 March 2021
بالعربية
The Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) is proud to report that it has concluded a probe into the disinformation networks which have increasingly threatened to derail fragile Syria accountability efforts through misinformation, lies and revisionism.
CIJA’s inquiry uncovered the extraordinary degrees of deception these disinformation networks are willing to go to in order to achieve their goal of whitewashing the egregious crimes committed by the regime of Bashar al-Assad. It also exposed a surprising array of individuals who have recklessly served to amplify certain of the core allegations of the disinformation network – persons who are not themselves assessed by CIJA as being apologists for the Assad regime, and are in some instances working in the field of international criminal and humanitarian law.
Amongst other things, the CIJA inquiry revealed that the disinformation networks:
admit privately to fabricating sources and information in order to create the impression of well-researched and evidence-based reports;
coordinate their work with, and take instructions from, Russian diplomats and other representatives of the Russian state;
are engaged in a tightly controlled and orchestrated campaign to denigrate the findings of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), with proactive assistance from Hague-based lawyers providing pro bono counsel on how to wage lawfare against the increasingly damning findings of the OPCW with respect to Syrian regime chemical attacks; and
are prepared to ask apparent agents of foreign states to support their research efforts, and even to attack their foes.
CIJA was only the latest target of this disinformation campaign. Over the last five years, Russia and various proxies in the west have pursued a vicious disinformation war against individuals and groups undertaking humanitarian as well as accountability efforts in Syria. The most prominent targets of this campaign have been the Syrian White Helmets, Mayday Rescue and the OPCW.
In November 2020, CIJA was advised implicitly by the so-called Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media – a leading pro-Moscow and pro-Damascus disinformation network – that CIJA and its Executive Director would be the next targets of its long-running disinformation campaign. In response, CIJA launched its probe, the primary objective of which was to protect the security of CIJA’s witnesses, sensitive sources, its personnel and their families.
The said inquiry was undertaken by lawful means during the period 01 December 2020 to 14 March 2021.
CIJA’s major security concerns were confirmed when a former senior CIJA consultant disclosed to the Working Group and its allies highly sensitive details regarding the extended families – including the children – of CIJA personnel, as well as the names of myriad operational and administrative staff. From a CIJA perspective, this discovery alone demanded the initiation of an inquiry.
The risks that CIJA personnel face are real, not perceived. Documents originating from Syrian security intelligence in the possession of CIJA and other information show that Damascus and states with known Assad sympathies are interested in locating CIJA personnel and facilities. In response to such threats, the CIJA is necessarily committed to protecting by all lawful means its witnesses, sources, personnel, mandate and reputation. This effort requires CIJA to expose those who persist in doing the unconscionable bidding of Moscow, Damascus and their allies in Syria, whether consciously or recklessly. CIJA is obliged morally and ethically to proceed in solidarity with the victims of the Working Group and its partners’ disinformation, including the White Helmets, Mayday Rescue, the OPCW, and James Le Mesurier, whom many of us knew as a friend.
Over the decade of conflict in Syria, CIJA has helped extract to safety activists who found themselves in harm’s way inside Syria. CIJA has done so quietly and without need for recognition. The rising influence of disinformation networks and their impact on Syrian victims and survivors require a strong and unified response by those who stand for human rights and accountability. The information gathered during this probe will be provided to relevant authorities such that appropriate measures can be taken.
CIJA’s solidarity with those who undertake crucial humanitarian, accountability and criminal justice work in Syria, and its determination to fight disinformation networks and their enablers, is now a matter of public record.
About the CIJA
CIJA has been conducting criminal investigations in Syria since 2011. While for security reasons we kept a lower public profile than is usual for an NGO, our work has had high impact where it matters the most: securing evidence and ensuring that this material supports the efforts of western law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable. Thus far, CIJA has collected over one million pages of Syrian regime documentation and it is currently supporting thirty-two law enforcement agencies from over a dozen democratic countries. CIJA’s evidence and testimony have been used in five completed trials pertaining to both Syrian regime and Islamic State criminality. Additionally, CIJA is currently assisting fifteen ongoing investigations by law enforcement agencies. Overall, since 2016 CIJA has responded to requests for assistance from national authorities pertaining to over 2,000 suspects. For more about CIJA’s work go to www.cijaonline.org
26 March 2021
March 26, 2021
The UK professor and the fake Russian agent
The BBC reports on CIJA’s months-long investigation into Syria disinformation networks that targeted the organisation and its personnel.
Read the full story here
The BBC reports on CIJA’s months-long investigation into Syria disinformation networks that targeted the organisation and its personnel.
Read the full story here
Edinburgh professor gave names to fake Russia spy
A University of Edinburgh professor and a member of the so-called Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media admits to coordinating with Russian diplomats, attempting to undermine the trial in Germany of two former Syrian officials prosecuted for torture offences. The Times reports on CIJA´s probe into the far-reaching efforts to discredit and derail Syria accountability efforts.
Read the full story here
A University of Edinburgh professor and a member of the so-called Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media admits to coordinating with Russian diplomats, attempting to undermine the trial in Germany of two former Syrian officials prosecuted for torture offences. The Times reports on CIJA´s probe into the far-reaching efforts to discredit and derail Syria accountability efforts.
Read the full story here
To Russia with Love
Der Spiegel reports on efforts by a group of UK university professors to “spread propaganda under the guise of science” in bid to discredit humanitarian workers and deny mass murder.
Read the full story here
Der Spiegel reports on efforts by a group of UK university professors to “spread propaganda under the guise of science” in bid to discredit humanitarian workers and deny mass murder.
Read the full story here
CIJA Executive Director Bill Wiley on the Future of International Criminal Justice
In an op-ed published by Open Canada, CIJA Executive Director Bill Wiley discusses the decline in multilateral approaches to international criminal justice and the consequences it carries for achieving accountability for core international crimes committed in Syria.
Read More: War in Syria and the uncertain future of international criminal justice - Open Canada
In an op-ed published by Open Canada, CIJA Executive Director Bill Wiley discusses the decline in multilateral approaches to international criminal justice and the consequences it carries for achieving accountability for core international crimes committed in Syria.
Read More: War in Syria and the uncertain future of international criminal justice - Open Canada
CIJA Syria Investigators Reflect on a Decade of Conflict
Over fifty Syrian men and women lie at the core of CIJA’s success. Their work has made possible unprecedented efforts to secure linkage evidence from within Syria – the evidence necessary to identify those individuals most responsible for a range of atrocity crimes committed over the past decade of conflict. Their names are unknown to the world, their identities – indefinitely, stringently concealed. And yet, under this operational cover, they are Syrians who by virtue of their work have played a crucial role in four criminal trials concluded to date, and who continue to work inside Syria in support of CIJA’s 37 law enforcement partners throughout Europe and North America. Their work exposes them to real dangers, exacts real sacrifice. In the words of CIJA Executive Director Bill Wiley, “every success that CIJA enjoys is ultimately attributable to their efforts.”
CIJA now works in a handful of other conflict and post-conflict zones, but Syria provided the foundation for a new vision of international criminal justice – one premised on the idea that a non-governmental body could conduct investigations to a criminal evidence standard in the midst of high-intensity conflict. The result, as described by the Chair of CIJA’s Board of Commissioners Stephen Rapp, is evidence as rich, if not richer, than that the Allied powers had available for the Holocaust cases.
CIJA’s Syrian investigators have selflessly dedicated their lives to the pursuit of justice and accountability in total anonymity with little likelihood for public recognition of their sacrifice. Some have been relocated for safety reasons, others who testified in European trials have entered witness protection. They possess unique perspectives on the past decade of conflict and the role of criminal investigations in realising justice and accountability.
On the tenth anniversary of the Syrian uprising, CIJA sought to preserve the reflections of its Syrian investigators. In striking detail and breadth of feeling, investigators described the nature and evolution of their motivation to remain in the fight for accountability, the stakes and toll of their work, and the outcomes they hope it achieves.
“We never despaired”
Many of CIJA’s Syrian investigators have been with the organisation since its founding, working tirelessly from the dawn of the conflict and through its darkest episodes to this day. Reflecting on its beginnings, one of these investigators recalls that, “during our first meeting with the Commission in 2012, we expected that the path to justice would be short, that at any moment Bashar al-Assad would be in prison along with all those who stood by him”. In CIJA’s mandate – to collect, preserve and analyse evidence of core international crimes in service of criminal-justice accountability – investigators found a calling that rose to the principles of the popular uprising: “the aspiration to change the painful reality in which the Syrian people have lived for a long time…[the] pursuit of justice and the most basic human rights that are enshrined in international laws.”
Yet, the ensuing conflict would see these hopes and aspirations deferred by the large-scale devastation and cruelty that the Syrian Regime wrought upon the civilian population – “by destroying the educational and medical infrastructure and sectors, using the army and security branches to suppress the demonstrations and torture people, in violation of all the principles of international law, while insisting on killing innocent civilians who opposed the Regime and demanded freedom and dignity.”
While CIJA’s investigators bore witness to widespread and systematic violations of international law, they spared no effort to collect and preserve the evidence that would one day bring those responsible to account.
In the years that followed, through regular training and mentoring from international experts, CIJA’s Syrian investigators secured and extracted over 1.3 million original documents and collected thousands of witness interviews. This evidence has been crucial for establishing the criminal conduct and individual criminal responsibility of mid- and high-ranking Syrian Regime and IS members for ongoing atrocities committed across the country – an archive of war crimes evidence, the volume and quality of which is unprecedented. As a result of their work, steps toward accountability are starting to be realised through investigations, trials and verdicts across Europe and North America, which have drawn extensively on materials collected by CIJA investigators and the evidentiary information therein.
“Justice will be a victory for humanity, and for the world"
While the tenth anniversary of the uprising is a painful reminder that the path to justice is long, CIJA’s investigators also see the passage of time as a testament to the persistence of the Syrian people: “The anniversary shows that the Syrians who have chosen the path of freedom will not back down from that path even if they lose their lives, and they will keep going until they achieve their freedom and live with dignity”.
Today, they remain resolute in their work, impelled by an understanding that “without achieving justice and conducting trials, no sustainable peace can exist in Syria.” Emphasising the role of fair criminal trials, CIJA investigators hold that securing accountability for the crimes committed in Syria will not only offer recognition for the suffering of the Syrian people, but also set an important example for the rest of the world. In the words of one investigator: “I dream of seeing the criminals punished by law through fair trials, so that the world can realise that no criminal can escape punishment.” Their wish, another tells us, “is for international justice to take its course by prosecuting the criminals who wantonly perpetrated grave violations against the Syrian people. Justice will heal the wounds and relieve the pain of the mothers, the wives and the children who lost their loved ones because of the criminal methods of oppression practiced by the security organisations in Syria. Justice will be a victory for humanity, and for the world."
“A historical and humanitarian responsibility”
And yet, how does one carry forth the work of justice and accountability in the face of intractable conflict and inexplicable levels of loss? The reflections of CIJA’s investigators reveal a fortitude that runs deep not despite of but because of the toll their work takes. They reveal a motivation rooted not just in a belief in the potential of international justice but in a personal responsibility towards victims and survivors, towards family and loved ones, to hold those responsible for their suffering to account.
For one investigator, to carry forth means “to stop for a minute everyday and remember the innocent blood that flowed for freedom, and the many friends who died for believing in freedom. It means that I do not stop thinking about the innocent detainees who are still suffering from the worst conditions of detention in history...it means continuing the struggle despite the fatigue.” For another, their work is part of a struggle larger still – “the rejection of all forms of tyranny in the world despite all the harm my family and I have suffered.”
In the opinions of investigators, international justice remains the path through which their aspirations and those of the popular uprising can be realised. For them, working toward accountability is a “historical and humanitarian responsibility”, “a moral duty”. Despite the slow progress toward a reality in which accountability for Syria is achieved, victories secured through trials and prosecutions in European courts fuel their determination: “we are becoming more and more insistent, after seeing the fruit of the distinguished work carried out by the team, and the success of our efforts.” Ultimately, one investigator remarked, “there are many examples in history of achieving justice after a long time, and this is what makes me continue to do what I am doing”.
Until this vision is realised, they remain committed to furthering the momentum behind criminal-justice accountability. “No matter how long it may take, I know that the sun will rise again and justice will be achieved.”
Over fifty Syrian men and women lie at the core of CIJA’s success. Their work has made possible unprecedented efforts to secure linkage evidence from within Syria – the evidence necessary to identify those individuals most responsible for a range of atrocity crimes committed over the past decade of conflict. Their names are unknown to the world, their identities – indefinitely, stringently concealed. And yet, under this operational cover, they are Syrians who by virtue of their work have played a crucial role in four criminal trials concluded to date, and who continue to work inside Syria in support of CIJA’s 37 law enforcement partners throughout Europe and North America. Their work exposes them to real dangers, exacts real sacrifice. In the words of CIJA Executive Director Bill Wiley, “every success that CIJA enjoys is ultimately attributable to their efforts.”
CIJA now works in a handful of other conflict and post-conflict zones, but Syria provided the foundation for a new vision of international criminal justice – one premised on the idea that a non-governmental body could conduct investigations to a criminal evidence standard in the midst of high-intensity conflict. The result, as described by the Chair of CIJA’s Board of Commissioners Stephen Rapp, is evidence as rich, if not richer, than that the Allied powers had available for the Holocaust cases.
CIJA’s Syrian investigators have selflessly dedicated their lives to the pursuit of justice and accountability in total anonymity with little likelihood for public recognition of their sacrifice. Some have been relocated for safety reasons, others who testified in European trials have entered witness protection. They possess unique perspectives on the past decade of conflict and the role of criminal investigations in realising justice and accountability.
On the tenth anniversary of the Syrian uprising, CIJA sought to preserve the reflections of its Syrian investigators. In striking detail and breadth of feeling, investigators described the nature and evolution of their motivation to remain in the fight for accountability, the stakes and toll of their work, and the outcomes they hope it achieves.
“We never despaired”
Many of CIJA’s Syrian investigators have been with the organisation since its founding, working tirelessly from the dawn of the conflict and through its darkest episodes to this day. Reflecting on its beginnings, one of these investigators recalls that, “during our first meeting with the Commission in 2012, we expected that the path to justice would be short, that at any moment Bashar al-Assad would be in prison along with all those who stood by him”. In CIJA’s mandate – to collect, preserve and analyse evidence of core international crimes in service of criminal-justice accountability – investigators found a calling that rose to the principles of the popular uprising: “the aspiration to change the painful reality in which the Syrian people have lived for a long time…[the] pursuit of justice and the most basic human rights that are enshrined in international laws.”
Yet, the ensuing conflict would see these hopes and aspirations deferred by the large-scale devastation and cruelty that the Syrian Regime wrought upon the civilian population – “by destroying the educational and medical infrastructure and sectors, using the army and security branches to suppress the demonstrations and torture people, in violation of all the principles of international law, while insisting on killing innocent civilians who opposed the Regime and demanded freedom and dignity.”
While CIJA’s investigators bore witness to widespread and systematic violations of international law, they spared no effort to collect and preserve the evidence that would one day bring those responsible to account.
In the years that followed, through regular training and mentoring from international experts, CIJA’s Syrian investigators secured and extracted over 1.3 million original documents and collected thousands of witness interviews. This evidence has been crucial for establishing the criminal conduct and individual criminal responsibility of mid- and high-ranking Syrian Regime and IS members for ongoing atrocities committed across the country – an archive of war crimes evidence, the volume and quality of which is unprecedented. As a result of their work, steps toward accountability are starting to be realised through investigations, trials and verdicts across Europe and North America, which have drawn extensively on materials collected by CIJA investigators and the evidentiary information therein.
“Justice will be a victory for humanity, and for the world"
While the tenth anniversary of the uprising is a painful reminder that the path to justice is long, CIJA’s investigators also see the passage of time as a testament to the persistence of the Syrian people: “The anniversary shows that the Syrians who have chosen the path of freedom will not back down from that path even if they lose their lives, and they will keep going until they achieve their freedom and live with dignity”.
Today, they remain resolute in their work, impelled by an understanding that “without achieving justice and conducting trials, no sustainable peace can exist in Syria.” Emphasising the role of fair criminal trials, CIJA investigators hold that securing accountability for the crimes committed in Syria will not only offer recognition for the suffering of the Syrian people, but also set an important example for the rest of the world. In the words of one investigator: “I dream of seeing the criminals punished by law through fair trials, so that the world can realise that no criminal can escape punishment.” Their wish, another tells us, “is for international justice to take its course by prosecuting the criminals who wantonly perpetrated grave violations against the Syrian people. Justice will heal the wounds and relieve the pain of the mothers, the wives and the children who lost their loved ones because of the criminal methods of oppression practiced by the security organisations in Syria. Justice will be a victory for humanity, and for the world."
“A historical and humanitarian responsibility”
And yet, how does one carry forth the work of justice and accountability in the face of intractable conflict and inexplicable levels of loss? The reflections of CIJA’s investigators reveal a fortitude that runs deep not despite of but because of the toll their work takes. They reveal a motivation rooted not just in a belief in the potential of international justice but in a personal responsibility towards victims and survivors, towards family and loved ones, to hold those responsible for their suffering to account.
For one investigator, to carry forth means “to stop for a minute everyday and remember the innocent blood that flowed for freedom, and the many friends who died for believing in freedom. It means that I do not stop thinking about the innocent detainees who are still suffering from the worst conditions of detention in history...it means continuing the struggle despite the fatigue.” For another, their work is part of a struggle larger still – “the rejection of all forms of tyranny in the world despite all the harm my family and I have suffered.”
In the opinions of investigators, international justice remains the path through which their aspirations and those of the popular uprising can be realised. For them, working toward accountability is a “historical and humanitarian responsibility”, “a moral duty”. Despite the slow progress toward a reality in which accountability for Syria is achieved, victories secured through trials and prosecutions in European courts fuel their determination: “we are becoming more and more insistent, after seeing the fruit of the distinguished work carried out by the team, and the success of our efforts.” Ultimately, one investigator remarked, “there are many examples in history of achieving justice after a long time, and this is what makes me continue to do what I am doing”.
Until this vision is realised, they remain committed to furthering the momentum behind criminal-justice accountability. “No matter how long it may take, I know that the sun will rise again and justice will be achieved.”
For Syrians, the road to justice begins in Europe
A wide-ranging account by AFP of investigations underway across Europe seeking to secure accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria and discusses CIJA assistance to domestic law enforcement agencies.
Verdict Against Former Syrian Regime Officer for Crimes Against Humanity Is A Landmark Case
The Organization for World Peace reports on the conviction in the case of Eyad A, featuring commentary on the historic verdict by CIJA Director Nerma Jelacic.
The Organization for World Peace reports on the conviction in the case of Eyad A, featuring commentary on the historic verdict by CIJA Director Nerma Jelacic.
CIJA Speaks to CBC: The Current
CIJA Executive Director Bill Wiley speaks to CBC’s the Current on the occasion of the Eyad A ruling and discusses the significance of CIJA-secured linkage evidence to the conviction in the case.
Segment begins at 01:02:40
Listen here: The Current for March 4, 2021 | CBC Radio
CIJA Executive Director Bill Wiley speaks to CBC’s the Current on the occasion of the Eyad A ruling and discusses the significance of CIJA-secured linkage evidence to the conviction in the case.
Segment begins at 01:02:40
Listen here: The Current for March 4, 2021 | CBC Radio
CIJA Speaks to BBC World Service
CIJA Director Nerma Jelacic speaks to the BBC World Service about CIJA’s evidentiary assistance to German authorities in the case of Eyad A and war crimes units across Europe.
Segment begins at 00:27:00.
Listen here: BBC Sounds
CIJA Director Nerma Jelacic speaks to the BBC World Service about CIJA’s evidentiary assistance to German authorities in the case of Eyad A and war crimes units across Europe.
Segment begins at 00:27:00.
Listen here: BBC Sounds
Trial Report from CIJA Expert Testimony in Case of Anwar Raslan
The Syrian Justice and Accountability Centre has published a trial monitoring report of CIJA’s expert testimony in the case of Anwar Raslan before the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany.
The Syrian Justice and Accountability Centre has published a trial monitoring report of CIJA’s expert testimony in the case of Anwar Raslan before the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany.
In world first, Germany convicts Syrian regime officer of crimes against humanity
CNN reports on the first crimes against humanity conviction addressing torture in Syrian detention facilities and the role of CIJA evidence in the trial of Eyad A.
CNN reports on the first crimes against humanity conviction addressing torture in Syrian detention facilities and the role of CIJA evidence in the trial of Eyad A.
Koblenz court issues verdict in Eyad A. case
On 24 February, the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany convicted former Syrian secret service agent Eyad A. of aiding and abetting 30 counts of crimes against humanity committed in the early months of the 2011 uprising and sentenced him to four years and six months in prison.
Eyad A. is convicted for his role in a violent attack against protesters in September 2011 in Douma, which resulted in the deprivation of liberty and subsequent torture of at least 30 civilians at Branch 251 of the General Intelligence Directorate, located in the Al-Khatib neighborhood of Damascus.
At the time of the incident, Eyad A. was a low-ranking officer in Sub-Division 40 which, while formally subordinate to Branch 251, acted autonomously under the leadership of Hafez Makhlouf, a cousin of President Bashar al-Assad. The sub-division was responsible for suppressing demonstrations and operated checkpoints throughout Damascus and its surroundings.
The verdict constitutes the first crimes against humanity conviction of a former member of the Syrian Regime. The court also found that the crimes Eyad A. is convicted of were committed as part of the Syrian government’s widespread and systematic attack against its civilian population. Further, Eyad A. knew and accepted that his conduct would result in the torture of civilians and that his conduct was part of a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population.
CIJA has supported the German Federal Police investigation of this case since 2017 and the prosecution since Eyad A.’s arrest in 2019. CIJA’s assistance came in the form of documentary evidence, witness as well as expert testimony. This assistance focused on the role and structure of both Branch 251 of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate and Sub-Division 40.
The support provided by CIJA is based on original Regime documents as well as victim and insider witness accounts, secured by CIJA investigators in Syria. Of significant relevance to the. case were documents and insider witness accounts, confirming the position of Sub-Division 40 within the structure of Branch 251. In November 2020, CIJA’s Director of Operations and Investigations testified as an expert witness before the court in Koblenz. Over the course of the two-day testimony, CIJA provided a thorough contextual analysis of the Regime’s security-intelligence apparatus and its widespread and systematic use of torture in detention as well as of the role of Branch 251 and Sub-Division 40. The complex expert testimony included a courtroom presentation of over 60 slides summarising CIJA´s findings and evidence. A binder of CIJA documents was entered into evidence at the judges´ request following the testimony. These documents were read into record in subsequent days of the trials, including on the last day of the hearing.
Eyad A. was originally indicted and tried together with Anwar R., the former head of interrogations at Branch 251 of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate. Following ten months of hearings, the court formally severed the Eyad A. case on 17 February 2021. The trial of Anwar R. continues.
CIJA has been investigating crimes committed in Syria since 2012. Since then, its teams of Syrian investigators have amassed over 1,000,000 pages of Syrian regime documentation constituting the largest cache of documentary evidence ever secured in the course of an ongoing conflict. To date, CIJA’s analysts have answered close to 600 requests for assistance from public authorities concerning over 2,000 individual targets. CIJA is currently cooperating with 15 ongoing investigations and provides continuous support to 36 law enforcement agencies from 13 countries.
Links and Media
Selected Court Documents
Official Press Release, 24 February 2021
Selected Media Coverage
Reuters, “German arrest is first big catch for Syria investigators”, 13 February 2019
NPR, "Why Are Syrian War Crimes Being Prosecuted in Germany?", 24 September 2019
Al Jazeera, "Landmark trial against alleged Syrian war criminals: What next?", 30 April 2020
The Washington Post, "German court case is first to try Syrian regime for war crimes", 23 April 2020
JusticeInfo, "Syria Trial in Germany: The orders that came from the very top", 26 November 2020
JusticeInfo, “Koblenz, the First Syria State Crimes Trial in Europe”, 14 December 2020
On 24 February, the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany convicted former Syrian secret service agent Eyad A. of aiding and abetting 30 counts of crimes against humanity committed in the early months of the 2011 uprising and sentenced him to four years and six months in prison.
Eyad A. is convicted for his role in a violent attack against protesters in September 2011 in Douma, which resulted in the deprivation of liberty and subsequent torture of at least 30 civilians at Branch 251 of the General Intelligence Directorate, located in the Al-Khatib neighborhood of Damascus.
At the time of the incident, Eyad A. was a low-ranking officer in Sub-Division 40 which, while formally subordinate to Branch 251, acted autonomously under the leadership of Hafez Makhlouf, a cousin of President Bashar al-Assad. The sub-division was responsible for suppressing demonstrations and operated checkpoints throughout Damascus and its surroundings.
The verdict constitutes the first crimes against humanity conviction of a former member of the Syrian Regime. The court also found that the crimes Eyad A. is convicted of were committed as part of the Syrian government’s widespread and systematic attack against its civilian population. Further, Eyad A. knew and accepted that his conduct would result in the torture of civilians and that his conduct was part of a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population.
CIJA has supported the German Federal Police investigation of this case since 2017 and the prosecution since Eyad A.’s arrest in 2019. CIJA’s assistance came in the form of documentary evidence, witness as well as expert testimony. This assistance focused on the role and structure of both Branch 251 of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate and Sub-Division 40.
The support provided by CIJA is based on original Regime documents as well as victim and insider witness accounts, secured by CIJA investigators in Syria. Of significant relevance to the. case were documents and insider witness accounts, confirming the position of Sub-Division 40 within the structure of Branch 251. In November 2020, CIJA’s Director of Operations and Investigations testified as an expert witness before the court in Koblenz. Over the course of the two-day testimony, CIJA provided a thorough contextual analysis of the Regime’s security-intelligence apparatus and its widespread and systematic use of torture in detention as well as of the role of Branch 251 and Sub-Division 40. The complex expert testimony included a courtroom presentation of over 60 slides summarising CIJA´s findings and evidence. A binder of CIJA documents was entered into evidence at the judges´ request following the testimony. These documents were read into record in subsequent days of the trials, including on the last day of the hearing.
Eyad A. was originally indicted and tried together with Anwar R., the former head of interrogations at Branch 251 of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate. Following ten months of hearings, the court formally severed the Eyad A. case on 17 February 2021. The trial of Anwar R. continues.
CIJA has been investigating crimes committed in Syria since 2012. Since then, its teams of Syrian investigators have amassed over 1,000,000 pages of Syrian regime documentation constituting the largest cache of documentary evidence ever secured in the course of an ongoing conflict. To date, CIJA’s analysts have answered close to 600 requests for assistance from public authorities concerning over 2,000 individual targets. CIJA is currently cooperating with 15 ongoing investigations and provides continuous support to 36 law enforcement agencies from 13 countries.
Links and Media
Selected Court Documents
Official Press Release, 24 February 2021
Selected Media Coverage
Reuters, “German arrest is first big catch for Syria investigators”, 13 February 2019
NPR, "Why Are Syrian War Crimes Being Prosecuted in Germany?", 24 September 2019
Al Jazeera, "Landmark trial against alleged Syrian war criminals: What next?", 30 April 2020
The Washington Post, "German court case is first to try Syrian regime for war crimes", 23 April 2020
JusticeInfo, "Syria Trial in Germany: The orders that came from the very top", 26 November 2020
JusticeInfo, “Koblenz, the First Syria State Crimes Trial in Europe”, 14 December 2020
Colvin v Syrian Arab Republic
The judgement in “Colvin V. Syria” found the Syrian Arab Republic liable for the extrajudicial killing of US journalist Marie Colvin in a deliberate artillery attack against the Baba Amr Media Centre in Homs, on 22 February 2012, as part of “Syria’s long-standing policy of violence” used to target journalists and suppress dissent. In issuing its verdict, the court further awarded significant damages of over $ 302 million. The case was built by the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) on behalf of Colvin’s relatives. CIJA provided extensive evidentiary assistance including original Syrian Regime documents, access to insider witnesses and an expert report on the structures of Syria’s military and security-intelligence apparatus authored by CIJA’s Senior Military Analyst.
A landmark ruling on extrajudicial killing
The court found that Colvin’s extrajudicial killing constitutes a violation of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which allows victims or relatives of US citizens who have been subjected to killing and torture abroad by a foreign government to seek redress before a US court. The court’s opinion draws on a wide range of corroborating evidence to demonstrate the “comprehensive intelligence gathering effort” by the Syrian Regime to identify the whereabouts of foreign journalists, including Colvin, in the besieged neighborhood of Baba Amr in Homs. Once their location in the Media Center in Baba Amr was uncovered, the Regime proceeded to launch an artillery attack against the premises “for the purpose of killing the journalists inside”. The attack resulted in the killing of Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik. Many other journalists and activists in the building were left severely wounded; it is reported that over eighty civilians were killed in attacks directed against Baba Amr, on the same day.
Exposing the Syrian Regime’s system of violent suppression
The judgement in “Colvin v Syria Arabic Republic” is also significant as it represents the first verdict to hold the Syrian Regime responsible for atrocities committed amid the country’s decade-long war. While the suit was focused directly on the events in Baba Amr, it provided an unprecedented opportunity to judicially examine extensive evidence regarding the systematic and highly regulated nature of the Regime’s campaign to quell civil decent from the very start of the conflict. The court’s opinion provides a wide-ranging examination of the Syrian Regime’s response to the 2011 popular uprising and suppression of independent and foreign media, finding that the level of violence was extreme.
Evidence Base
The civil complaint was built over a number of years and its evidentiary base rests on a wide array of analytical reports, original Syrian Regime documentation and witness statements. Expert reports outlining Syrian politics and policies based on the authors´ subject matter expertise, diplomatic cables and UN reports were provided by then United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye and former US Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford. An additional expert report on economic damages was provided by Dr. Maria Tsennykh as part of the complaint.
The centerpiece of CIJA´s contribution to the case was a 132-page expert report on the command-and-control structures of Syria´s government and security-intelligence apparatus authored by CIJA’s Senior Military Analyst. The report drew on the vast array of documents collected by Syrian field investigators since 2011 in order to form a complete contextual understanding of the Regime’s attack on Baba Amr. The court’s opinion extensively cites CIJA’s work in its findings, which established inter alia the role of the Central Crisis Management Cell, the highest national security body in the Syrian Regime, in directing the Regime’s violent response to the uprising in general and in overseeing the Homs Military and Security Committee in particular; the command and control responsibility of Major General Rafiq Shahadah, in coordinating military and intelligence operations in the siege of Baba Amr; the widespread and systematic violence directed against the civilian population as well as those who “tarnish[ed] the image of Syria in the foreign media and international organizations.” In addition to the expert report, CIJA´s assistance included providing access to two former Regime members with insider knowledge of the attacks on Baba Amr as well as over 200 documents.
Links and Media
Selected Court Documents
Amended Memorandum Opinion of US District Court for the District of Columbia
List of Other Evidence and Pleadings
Selected Media Coverage
The Independent, “Marie deserved the truth': Assad regime deliberately targeted and killed journalist Colvin, investigation claims”, 9 April 2018
The Intercept, “Target Journalist. How the Assad Regime Tracked and Killed Marie Colvin for Reporting on War Crimes in Syria”, 9 April 2018
NPR, “Syrian Defector: Assad Forces Targeted, Killed Journalist Marie Colvin”, 10 April 2018
The Times, “Target Journalist: The killing of reporters should be classified as a war crime”, 5 April 2018
The New York Times, “Syrian Forces Aimed to Kill Journalists, U.S. Court Is Told”, 9 April 2018
The New York Times, “Syria Ordered to Pay $302.5 Million to Family of Marie Colvin”, 31 January 2019
The judgement in “Colvin V. Syria” found the Syrian Arab Republic liable for the extrajudicial killing of US journalist Marie Colvin in a deliberate artillery attack against the Baba Amr Media Centre in Homs, on 22 February 2012, as part of “Syria’s long-standing policy of violence” used to target journalists and suppress dissent. In issuing its verdict, the court further awarded significant damages of over $ 302 million. The case was built by the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) on behalf of Colvin’s relatives. CIJA provided extensive evidentiary assistance including original Syrian Regime documents, access to insider witnesses and an expert report on the structures of Syria’s military and security-intelligence apparatus authored by CIJA’s Senior Military Analyst.
A landmark ruling on extrajudicial killing
The court found that Colvin’s extrajudicial killing constitutes a violation of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which allows victims or relatives of US citizens who have been subjected to killing and torture abroad by a foreign government to seek redress before a US court. The court’s opinion draws on a wide range of corroborating evidence to demonstrate the “comprehensive intelligence gathering effort” by the Syrian Regime to identify the whereabouts of foreign journalists, including Colvin, in the besieged neighborhood of Baba Amr in Homs. Once their location in the Media Center in Baba Amr was uncovered, the Regime proceeded to launch an artillery attack against the premises “for the purpose of killing the journalists inside”. The attack resulted in the killing of Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik. Many other journalists and activists in the building were left severely wounded; it is reported that over eighty civilians were killed in attacks directed against Baba Amr, on the same day.
Exposing the Syrian Regime’s system of violent suppression
The judgement in “Colvin v Syria Arabic Republic” is also significant as it represents the first verdict to hold the Syrian Regime responsible for atrocities committed amid the country’s decade-long war. While the suit was focused directly on the events in Baba Amr, it provided an unprecedented opportunity to judicially examine extensive evidence regarding the systematic and highly regulated nature of the Regime’s campaign to quell civil decent from the very start of the conflict. The court’s opinion provides a wide-ranging examination of the Syrian Regime’s response to the 2011 popular uprising and suppression of independent and foreign media, finding that the level of violence was extreme.
Evidence Base
The civil complaint was built over a number of years and its evidentiary base rests on a wide array of analytical reports, original Syrian Regime documentation and witness statements. Expert reports outlining Syrian politics and policies based on the authors´ subject matter expertise, diplomatic cables and UN reports were provided by then United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye and former US Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford. An additional expert report on economic damages was provided by Dr. Maria Tsennykh as part of the complaint.
The centerpiece of CIJA´s contribution to the case was a 132-page expert report on the command-and-control structures of Syria´s government and security-intelligence apparatus authored by CIJA’s Senior Military Analyst. The report drew on the vast array of documents collected by Syrian field investigators since 2011 in order to form a complete contextual understanding of the Regime’s attack on Baba Amr. The court’s opinion extensively cites CIJA’s work in its findings, which established inter alia the role of the Central Crisis Management Cell, the highest national security body in the Syrian Regime, in directing the Regime’s violent response to the uprising in general and in overseeing the Homs Military and Security Committee in particular; the command and control responsibility of Major General Rafiq Shahadah, in coordinating military and intelligence operations in the siege of Baba Amr; the widespread and systematic violence directed against the civilian population as well as those who “tarnish[ed] the image of Syria in the foreign media and international organizations.” In addition to the expert report, CIJA´s assistance included providing access to two former Regime members with insider knowledge of the attacks on Baba Amr as well as over 200 documents.
Links and Media
Selected Court Documents
Amended Memorandum Opinion of US District Court for the District of Columbia
List of Other Evidence and Pleadings
Selected Media Coverage
The Independent, “Marie deserved the truth': Assad regime deliberately targeted and killed journalist Colvin, investigation claims”, 9 April 2018
The Intercept, “Target Journalist. How the Assad Regime Tracked and Killed Marie Colvin for Reporting on War Crimes in Syria”, 9 April 2018
NPR, “Syrian Defector: Assad Forces Targeted, Killed Journalist Marie Colvin”, 10 April 2018
The Times, “Target Journalist: The killing of reporters should be classified as a war crime”, 5 April 2018
The New York Times, “Syrian Forces Aimed to Kill Journalists, U.S. Court Is Told”, 9 April 2018
The New York Times, “Syria Ordered to Pay $302.5 Million to Family of Marie Colvin”, 31 January 2019
Handcuffed to the truth
In an exclusive report marking the tenth anniversary of the Syrian uprising, CBS 60 Minutes sits down with Ambassador Stephen Rapp, Chair of CIJA’s Board of Commissioners, to discuss CIJA’s efforts to bring Syrian perpetrators to account and the strength of the evidence collected by CIJA’s Syrian investigators to date: “We've got better evidence-- against Assad and his clique-- than we had against Milosevic in Yugoslavia…even better than we had against the Nazis at Nuremberg, because the Nazis didn't actually take individual pictures of each of their victims with identifying information on them.”
In an exclusive report marking the tenth anniversary of the Syrian uprising, CBS 60 Minutes sits down with Ambassador Stephen Rapp, Chair of CIJA’s Board of Commissioners, to discuss CIJA’s efforts to bring Syrian perpetrators to account and the strength of the evidence collected by CIJA’s Syrian investigators to date: “We've got better evidence-- against Assad and his clique-- than we had against Milosevic in Yugoslavia…even better than we had against the Nazis at Nuremberg, because the Nazis didn't actually take individual pictures of each of their victims with identifying information on them.”
CIJA participates in the UN Team of Experts on Sexual Violence in Conflict's Fifth Digital Dialogue
On 25 January, CIJA Senior Advisor on sexual and gender-based violence, Stephanie Barbour, participated as a panelist in the UN Team of Experts on Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict´s Fifth Digital Dialogue entitled “The importance of a label: understanding the impunity gap for conflict-related sexual violence crimes associated with slavery and trafficking."
The event juxtaposed and explored critical intersections in the investigation of the crimes of slavery, the slave trade and trafficking. In her remarks, Barbour discussed the challenges of investigating the slave trade of women and children by Islamic State (IS) in Northern Iraq and Syria and outlined the elements of CIJA´s large-scale situational investigation model, which enabled the collection of critical multi-layered, corroborative evidence of IS enslavement practices. Drawing on her recent contribution to the Special Issue of the Journal of International Criminal Justice, Barbour also presented the strategies CIJA has adopted to ensure that its collections meet criminal evidentiary standards irrespective of the jurisdiction in which they are to be used, as well as the organisation´s analytical approaches to characterising the crimes of enslavement, slave trade and trafficking under different domestic and international legal regimes.
During the event, moderated by Patricia Viseur Sellers, Special Advisor for Gender for the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Barbour was joined by panelists Ameena Saeed, former Iraqi MP, Yezidi Kurd advocate on trafficking and slavery; Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Professor of Law, Cardozo Law School; Aimee Comrie, Project Coordinator for GLO.ACT Asia and the Middle East, UNODC; and Valiant Richey, OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.
A video recording of the Dialogue is available here. Stephanie Barbour’s presentation starts at 17:11.
On 25 January, CIJA Senior Advisor on sexual and gender-based violence, Stephanie Barbour, participated as a panelist in the UN Team of Experts on Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict´s Fifth Digital Dialogue entitled “The importance of a label: understanding the impunity gap for conflict-related sexual violence crimes associated with slavery and trafficking."
The event juxtaposed and explored critical intersections in the investigation of the crimes of slavery, the slave trade and trafficking. In her remarks, Barbour discussed the challenges of investigating the slave trade of women and children by Islamic State (IS) in Northern Iraq and Syria and outlined the elements of CIJA´s large-scale situational investigation model, which enabled the collection of critical multi-layered, corroborative evidence of IS enslavement practices. Drawing on her recent contribution to the Special Issue of the Journal of International Criminal Justice, Barbour also presented the strategies CIJA has adopted to ensure that its collections meet criminal evidentiary standards irrespective of the jurisdiction in which they are to be used, as well as the organisation´s analytical approaches to characterising the crimes of enslavement, slave trade and trafficking under different domestic and international legal regimes.
During the event, moderated by Patricia Viseur Sellers, Special Advisor for Gender for the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Barbour was joined by panelists Ameena Saeed, former Iraqi MP, Yezidi Kurd advocate on trafficking and slavery; Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Professor of Law, Cardozo Law School; Aimee Comrie, Project Coordinator for GLO.ACT Asia and the Middle East, UNODC; and Valiant Richey, OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.
A video recording of the Dialogue is available here. Stephanie Barbour’s presentation starts at 17:11.
The Hunt for the Guilty
In 2020, CIJA provided information on over 500 suspects to Western authorities investigating war crimes in Syria and Iraq. Bill Wiley takes Deutschlandfunk Kultur inside CIJA´s evidence archive supporting investigations and prosecutions such as the Al-Khatib trial in Koblenz, Germany.
In 2020, CIJA provided information on over 500 suspects to Western authorities investigating war crimes in Syria and Iraq. Bill Wiley takes Deutschlandfunk Kultur inside CIJA´s evidence archive supporting investigations and prosecutions such as the Al-Khatib trial in Koblenz, Germany.
How the highest-ranking Syrian regime suspect tracked by CIJA evaded arrest
In late 2015, CIJA located Brigadier General Khaled Al-Halabi, a former high ranking Syrian regime officer suspected of crimes against humanity, in Vienna. In January 2016, CIJA informed Austrian authorities that the suspect – the highest-ranking Syrian regime official known to be in Europe – was on their territory.
Al-Halabi was the Head of General Intelligence Branch 335 in Raqqa from at least 2009 until 02 March 2013, two days prior to the fall of Raqqa to Syrian opposition forces. Together, the extant evidence held by the CIJA demonstrates that Al-Halabi exercised de jure and de facto control over all aspects of the functioning of Branch 335. The evidence illustrates that egregious crimes against humanity, including murder and torture, along with sexual offences, were perpetrated in Branch 335 by subordinates of Al-Halabi, with his knowledge.
The likely presence of Al-Halabi in Austria was discovered by CIJA’s investigators and then verified and narrowed down to an address in Vienna in late 2015 by a nascent unit of cyber and tracking analysts. Concurrently, a legal brief outlining Al-Halabi’s individual criminal responsibility for a range of crimes against humanity committed under his control and with his full knowledge was created by analysts and legal advisers. The legal brief rests on Syrian regime documentation and witness statements, many of which came from insider witnesses.
In January 2016, the CIJA established contact with Austria’s Federal Ministry of Justice (MoJ) indicating that it had information on a high-ranking, suspected Syrian regime perpetrator of core international crimes, who was present on Austrian territory. CIJA representatives met with the MoJ on 29 January 2016, with a number of follow-up meetings taking place later that year. The complete Al-Halabi dossier was shared with Austrian authorities.
CIJA was able to build its dossier on Al-Halabi using its unprecedented evidence holdings and rigorous analytical understanding of the perpetrating structures of the Syrian Regime, as well as Islamic State. It uses this information and analytical capacity to support numerous investigations and cases in Europe. This includes assisting over 30 law enforcement agencies from 13 countries: since 2016 CIJA has received in excess of 550 Requests for Assistance, concerning nearly 2,000 Syrian regime and Islamic State suspects – many of them present in Schengen Zone States. It has also provided evidence and testimony used in court cases that have resulted in convictions of the accused.
CIJA regards the evidence against Al-Halabi as being particularly damning. Moreover he is, most certainly, the highest-ranking and most culpable (in terms of alleged criminality) suspect who remains at large in the West.
CIJA does not normally comment on cases under investigation nor does it seek to publicise its role until charges are raised or arrests made. The Al-Halabi case is different. Since 2018, third parties have leaked the existence of and details about the investigation to Austrian press, while extensive nationwide and international coverage appeared in November 2020.
Reporting by The Daily Telegraph explores some of the potential reasons for a lack of definitive action by Austrian authorities over the past five years. For further detail, see here or here.
In late 2015, CIJA located Brigadier General Khaled Al-Halabi, a former high ranking Syrian regime officer suspected of crimes against humanity, in Vienna. In January 2016, CIJA informed Austrian authorities that the suspect – the highest-ranking Syrian regime official known to be in Europe – was on their territory.
Al-Halabi was the Head of General Intelligence Branch 335 in Raqqa from at least 2009 until 02 March 2013, two days prior to the fall of Raqqa to Syrian opposition forces. Together, the extant evidence held by the CIJA demonstrates that Al-Halabi exercised de jure and de facto control over all aspects of the functioning of Branch 335. The evidence illustrates that egregious crimes against humanity, including murder and torture, along with sexual offences, were perpetrated in Branch 335 by subordinates of Al-Halabi, with his knowledge.
The likely presence of Al-Halabi in Austria was discovered by CIJA’s investigators and then verified and narrowed down to an address in Vienna in late 2015 by a nascent unit of cyber and tracking analysts. Concurrently, a legal brief outlining Al-Halabi’s individual criminal responsibility for a range of crimes against humanity committed under his control and with his full knowledge was created by analysts and legal advisers. The legal brief rests on Syrian regime documentation and witness statements, many of which came from insider witnesses.
In January 2016, the CIJA established contact with Austria’s Federal Ministry of Justice (MoJ) indicating that it had information on a high-ranking, suspected Syrian regime perpetrator of core international crimes, who was present on Austrian territory. CIJA representatives met with the MoJ on 29 January 2016, with a number of follow-up meetings taking place later that year. The complete Al-Halabi dossier was shared with Austrian authorities.
CIJA was able to build its dossier on Al-Halabi using its unprecedented evidence holdings and rigorous analytical understanding of the perpetrating structures of the Syrian Regime, as well as Islamic State. It uses this information and analytical capacity to support numerous investigations and cases in Europe. This includes assisting over 30 law enforcement agencies from 13 countries: since 2016 CIJA has received in excess of 550 Requests for Assistance, concerning nearly 2,000 Syrian regime and Islamic State suspects – many of them present in Schengen Zone States. It has also provided evidence and testimony used in court cases that have resulted in convictions of the accused.
CIJA regards the evidence against Al-Halabi as being particularly damning. Moreover he is, most certainly, the highest-ranking and most culpable (in terms of alleged criminality) suspect who remains at large in the West.
CIJA does not normally comment on cases under investigation nor does it seek to publicise its role until charges are raised or arrests made. The Al-Halabi case is different. Since 2018, third parties have leaked the existence of and details about the investigation to Austrian press, while extensive nationwide and international coverage appeared in November 2020.
Reporting by The Daily Telegraph explores some of the potential reasons for a lack of definitive action by Austrian authorities over the past five years. For further detail, see here or here.