Dutch court sentences Syrian to 26 years for torturing for al-Assad

A Dutch court has sentenced a Syrian man to 26 years in prison for crimes against humanity committed during his time working for the regime of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The court in The Hague handed down the sentence to Rafik A on Monday, having found that he tortured and raped prisoners while working as an interrogator.

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The court heard that the defendant, whose last name it withheld, used several methods against opponents in detention centres in 2013 and 2014, including suspending them upside down and subjecting them to electric shocks.

“The suspect was engaged in torture, rape or other sexual abuse of eight victims in this case, either by committing the acts himself or by ordering others to do so,” ‌presiding ⁠Judge Wim van Hattum said in a ruling summary.

The sentence is the latest in a series of cases brought against Syrian nationals since longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in a rebel offensive in December 2024.

These landmark cases have drawn attention to the gross human rights abuses committed during al-Assad’s reign, which culminated in a civil war that began in 2011 and lasted almost 14 years.

European courts have used a legal principle known as universal jurisdiction that allows defendants to be prosecuted for crimes under international law, even when committed overseas.

Rafik was arrested in the Netherlands in 2023 after two years in the country as an asylum seeker. Several other charges against him were dropped due to a lack of sufficient evidence.

A German court sentenced a Syrian doctor to life in prison in June last year for committing crimes against humanity against al-Assad’s opponents.

The court found Alaa Mousa guilty of murdering and torturing dissidents between 2011 and 2012, following a trial that lasted more than three years.

Rafik A’s trial was the first in the Netherlands to see sexual violence prosecuted as a crime against humanity.

During the trial, the suspect denied the charges against him, which he dismissed as a “conspiracy”.

His lawyers said that the defendant himself was tortured by militias and is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

In May last year, a French court sentenced Majdi Nema to 10 years in prison for participating in war crimes also committed during Syria’s civil war. Nema served as a spokesman for a rebel group fighting al-Assad. He was found guilty of conscripting minors aged 15 to 18 and helping to plan war crimes.