First Conviction of a Syrian Torturer
Syrians constitute the largest number of refugees in the world. Why are they running away from homes? One word might tell us all. Torture. Yes torture. Syria became a torture factory. Not only Syria was torturing its people for demanding freedom, but America was also sending its prisoners to Syria to get tortured. You may not find it on google maps But Syrians know it well. They call it hell on earth. Its real name is Al-Khatib prison situated in Damascus, the capital of Syria. thousands of people were subjecteds to torture, rape and murder at this location. As Syrians ran away from torture and bombings, Thanks to German Chancellor Merkel a million ended up in Germany. This is where Syrians found one of their torturers, Anwar Raslan, himself present in Germany. He was arrested and tried. Although the torture did not take place in Germany, he was tried using the universal jurisdiction principal. 147 countries accept universal jurisdiction but not many use it. Torture is a crime against humanity which has universal jurisdiction. Anwar Raslan was co-perpetrator in at least 4,000 cases of torture, 27 murders and two cases of sexual assault. He was sentenced to life in prison after Universal jurisdiction is a legal principle that allows international entities to claim criminal jurisdiction over an accused person regardless of where they committed the crime, what their nationality is or any other relation to the prosecutor. Although Geneva conventions prohibit torture, many around the world continute to use torture. Despite an absolute prohibition against torture in the USA, America allowed torture. It sent prisoners to what is known as black sites to be tortured. It tortured people in Abu Guraib. Most prisoners in Guantanamo Bay were also tortured. Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen, is one such person. He was in transit at JFK airport on his way home to Canada. The US instead detained him and sent him to Syria to be tortured. He was kept in a grave-like cell for 10 month. Now Canada has filed a case against his torturer. A Syrian named Col. George Salloum
