Syrian Survivors of Torture and their Families Press for Justice

Fadwa Mahmoud

Fadwa Mahmoud’s husband, who was part of a political opposition party, as well as her son, were detained in Syria in 2012. She has been looking for them ever since. Because the Syrian government is not providing information to the families looking for their missing relatives, Fadwa does not know if her loved ones are alive or dead.  

Fadwa is also a survivor of torture and detention. She is an activist and one of the founders of the Families for Freedom movement. The movement brings together women calling for freedom and justice for loved ones detained and forcibly disappeared by Syrian authorities and non-state armed groups. Fadwa told Human Rights Watch the ICJ case is a first step towards ending impunity for Syria’s long history of torture.  

Wafa Ali Mustafa

Wafa Mustafa’s father, Ali Mustafa, a critic of Assad’s government, disappeared in 2013. As an activist, Wafa has spoken widely about the devastating impact of detention and enforced disappearances, emphasizing the need for accountability. 

In 2022, Wafa held her father’s portrait in front of another court in Koblenz, Germany, which issued a ground-breaking conviction of a former Syrian intelligence officer for crimes against humanity. German authorities were the first in Europe to open a “structural investigation” related to Syria, to broadly catalogue crimes committed by various parties to the Syrian conflict.

Despite Syrian authorities’ record of serious crimes and in the absence of any indication that the abusive practices have ceased, several Arab countries rushed in 2023 to normalize relations with the government. A number of EU countries and leaders are also pushing to declare certain parts of Syria as safe for refugee returns, despite many reports that those who do are at serious risk of persecution. Wafa told Human Rights Watch the ICJ case should be a reminder that such crimes continue. She underlined that seeking accountability for past atrocities should be paired with efforts to end their repetition. 

Ahmad Helmi

Ahmad Helmi was detained for three years in nine different Syrian prisons. He told Human Rights Watch that the ICJ case gave him the opportunity to finally see an international court probe the Syrian government’s ongoing, “around the clock” practice of torture.  

While Ahmad said he was not surprised Syrian government representatives did not attend the October 2023 hearings in the Hague (Syria instead sent a letter contesting the ICJ’s jurisdiction) he expected other governments to work to enforce the court’s binding order. He sees the ICJ case as an additional tool in the struggle for justice in Syria and a key step to advance a democratic future for the country.  

Ahmad co-founded the Ta’afi initiative, which supports survivors of detention and their fight toward justice, accountability, and victims’ rights. Ta’afi means “Recovery” in Arabic.  

Ahmad told Human Rights Watch that justice would be knowing that Syrian children will not face the same torture he did.

Mazen Darwish 

Mazen Darwish is a Syrian lawyer and survivor of torture who has sought refuge in Europe. For him, the ICJ case is the result of years of efforts by Syrian civil society, survivors, and families, to find creative pathways to justice.  

Since Russia and China have blocked efforts at the UN Security Council to give the International Criminal Court a mandate over serious crimes in the country, Syrians and others have successfully pushed for criminal cases to be brought in European courts, including in Germany, Sweden, and France. Mazen and his organization, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, are working to facilitate the testimony of torture victims in court. According to Mazen, it is very important the world’s highest court is also examining Syrian government abuses. 

Amneh Khoulani

Amneh Khoulani and her four brothers were detained and tortured in Syria. While she was released, her brothers were not. Amneh, a human rights defender, discovered the death in detention of one of her brothers through the “Caesar photographs” – a set of photographs smuggled out of Syria by a defector, showing images of detainees who died in  Syria’s detention centers. 

The Caesar photographs are compelling evidence of widespread torture, starvation, beatings, and disease in Syrian government detention facilities, amounting to crimes against humanity. The photos have been used as evidence in proceedings across Europe.  

Amneh told Human Rights Watch that the different criminal cases in Europe and the ICJ case are steps in the right direction because they signal to the Syrian government that victims and survivors are not giving up. 

Samar Allouni

Samar Allouni is part of the Families for Freedom movement. In 2015, her husband was arrested in front of her. She has not heard from him since.  

Many nongovernmental groups have found those detained by government security services or many of the non-state armed groups in Syria are routinely subjected to enforced disappearance or held incommunicado, with families unable to get any information about their whereabouts. In their case at the ICJ, the Netherlands and Canada have underlined how “withholding information or obfuscating the truth about the circumstances of detainees’ disappearance or deaths” “prolong[s] the suffering of the families and loved ones.”  

In 2023, after years of advocacy, the UN General Assembly established the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria to clarify their fate and whereabouts.  

Bayan Rehan

Bayan Rehan is a former detainee and survivor of torture. Bayan told Human Rights Watch she saw the ICJ case as a watershed moment because it was the first international justice institution to scrutinize Syrian government's crimes. Other key advances include cases in a number of European countries using the legal principle of universal jurisdiction. This principle allows for the investigation and prosecution of serious crimes no matter where they were committed and regardless of the nationality of the suspects or victims.  

In Germany, a court convicted former Syrian intelligence officials for serious crimes including overseeing torture, killings, and sexual assault. In 2024, a French court convicted in absentia high-level Syrian officials of crimes against humanity in a case relating to torture and enforced disappearance. Other cases are ongoing across Europe including in Germany, France, and Sweden. Judicial officials leading these cases should redouble their efforts to make justice accessible to victims and survivors of serious crimes.  

Reem Fadel 

Reem Fadel was a detainee in Syria. She told Human Rights Watch that when she was in prison herself, it gave her hope and faith that people outside were calling for her freedom. That’s why Reem came to The Hague with a photo of her brother-in-law who is still in detention in Syria, underlining that he and thousands of others are still missing.  

Reem is working to raise awareness about the fate of the Syrian detainees with the Ta’afi initiative. Syrian civil society groups, including the Ta’afi initiative, have joined forces to demand justice and accountability. 

Reem described the group of Syrians gathered in front of the International Court of Justice that day as a “beacon of hope for every prisoner.” 

Mouhanad Sharabati

Mouhanad Sharabati is a Syrian lawyer with the Syrian Legal Development Program (SLDP), an organization focused on strengthening legal and advocacy efforts of Syrian groups combatting impunity. Mouhanad has practiced law in Syria and was a member of the Syrian Bar Association.

SLDP, together with other Syrian civil society groups, has been at the forefront of efforts to ensure sustained scrutiny of Syrian government abuses. Mouhanad underlined the importance of implementing the ICJ ruling, especially to ensure that evidence of what happened to the disappeared is preserved.

In its November 2023 order, the ICJ directed Syria to “take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of any evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope of the Convention.” To date, Syrian nongovernmental groups, survivors, activists, and others have been essential to the preservation and collection of evidence. For example, many have actively cooperated with the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism, a team of investigators established by the UN General Assembly in 2016, which gathers and preserves evidence for future prosecutions.