The Syrian Justice Accountability Center (SJAC) will stand witness during the trial of former Syrian government official, Samir Ousman al-Sheikh.
Al-Sheikh was recently arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of visa and naturalization fraud, extrajudicial killings and political killings, during his term as the prison director of Adra prison in Damascus from 2005 to 2008.
SJAC, which partly contributed to the arrest of the former official, hopes the trial will bring closure to the victims for crimes committed by al-Sheikh.
Executive Director of SJAC Mohammad al-Abdallah spoke of his experience at Damascus in 2005 as a prisoner under al-Sheikh’s reign as prison director. Abdallah says he still holds memories of the crimes committed by al-Sheikh in prison and he will use all the evidence he has against him in a U.S. trial.
“I will be meeting this person again, this time, he is not the prison director, and I’m not the young (law student) prisoner. I’ll remind him of what he said and did 19 years ago, but now in front of a U.S. judge,” said Abdallah.
In a recent interview with NYC Daily Post, the Team Lead for SJAC’s Case Building, Alan Haji, stated the Department of Justice and FBI are yet to issue statements about al-Sheikh’s trial, but more information should be available in the coming weeks.
When gathering information for use in a trial against suspected persons, SJAC provides witness testimony as they did with al-Sheikh’s case when authorities are unable to obtain the information themselves, often due to the witness being located in Syria or another location that is difficult to reach through conventional means.
According to Haji, to allow smooth operations among involved stakeholders, their organization follows a standardized policy for handling evidence. They have also established an easily accessible research methodology that allows law enforcement to understand how they document information.
“SJAC follows a standardized policy for handling evidence, and we developed a publicly available research methodology so that investigators clearly know how documentation is processed by SJAC. Our legal team regularly consults with lawyers and prosecutors across national jurisdictions to ensure that documentation collected by SJAC is admissible in courts,” Haji explained in an interview.
Exploring justice through the lens of SJAC
As discussed in my interview with Haji, “justice and accountability” goes beyond bringing perpetrators to trial, ensuring that victims and witnesses trust the justice system.
“For some Syrians, being able to understand what happened to them and their loved ones is the justice they want, while others demand retribution by seeing perpetrators held accountable,” Haji added.
Besides ensuring that justice prevails, SJAC attempts to offer consolation to Syrians before and after conducting witness interviews as a means to guarantee participants feel comforted when reliving traumatic experiences. Haji explained “this support can be hard for many Syrians to access,” but it is important for transitional justice efforts.
How SJAC collaborates with international law enforcement
Haji pointed out SJAC works with national law enforcement agencies in Europe and the U.S. to identify perpetrators of international crimes and human rights violations who left Syria and arrived in a jurisdiction where they can be held accountable.
Moreover, the organization has a documentation team inside Syria that collects interviews and evidentiary material which allow its team to pass information proactively or by request to authorities in the U.S. and European Union.
Additionally, SJAC’s open-source investigation team collects material, including photos, videos, social media posts and the current location of perpetrators, all of which are relevant to prosecutions. This information is used in SJAC’s public investigations which notify prosecutors about the human rights abuses and war crimes committed in Syria.
All the documentation SJAC collects is stored securely on its documentation database Bayanat, which not only preserves data, but can find links between separate pieces of documentation.
Haji further emphasized the importance of finding connections within millions of pieces of evidence when conducting investigations. SJAC’s database is therefore a valuable resource that can be leveraged to support investigations by national authorities.
How al-Sheikh’s ruling might unfold
According to Abdallah, the complaint against al-Sheikh is based upon an investigation conducted by U.S. authorities in which five former detainees of Adra prison were questioned. This complaint alleges that al-Sheikh persecuted political dissidents and was involved in the execution of prisoners from 2005 to 2008.
He also stated visa and naturalization fraud is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment, but the final sentence would vary on different factors including the intensity of human rights abuses, criminal history and whether multiple counts are found to be distinct crimes.
“Additional charges might be added as this investigation continues,” said Abdallah.
Featured image: Photo by Kirk Cameron on Unsplash
Edited by: James Sutton
