Austria Charges Two Former Syrian Officials Over Civil War Torture and Abuse
Austrian prosecutors charged two former Syrian officials with torture and grievous bodily harm for abuses committed in Raqqa between 2011-2013. The defendants, who sought asylum in Austria in 2015, face up to 10 years imprisonment.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Austrian prosecutors announced on Wednesday that two former Syrian government officials have been formally charged with crimes committed against detained civilians during the early years of Syria’s civil war, marking one of the most significant European legal actions related to the Assad regime’s repression.
According to the Vienna Prosecutor’s Office, the two men — a former brigadier general in Syria’s intelligence service and the former head of the investigative department of Raqqa’s criminal police, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel — face multiple charges including grievous bodily harm, sexual coercion, and torture.
The alleged crimes took place between 2011 and 2013 in the city of Raqqa, where the officials are accused of orchestrating and personally participating in the torture and abuse of detainees as part of efforts to suppress protests against then-president Bashar al-Assad.
“To date, 21 victims have been identified,” Austrian prosecutors said in their statement.
Both defendants reportedly applied for asylum in Austria in 2015 and have been residing in the country since. If convicted, they each face up to 10 years in prison under Austrian law.
Austria is home to one of Europe’s largest Syrian diasporas, estimated at around 100,000 people, many of whom fled the civil war that erupted after peaceful protests were violently crushed by the Assad government in 2011.
Universal Jurisdiction in Action
The case is part of a growing number of war crimes prosecutions across Europe pursued under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows national courts to prosecute crimes against humanity regardless of where they occurred or the nationality of the perpetrators.
Similar landmark cases have been heard in Germany, France, and Sweden, where former Syrian security officials have faced trial for systematic torture and extrajudicial killings inside the regime’s notorious detention centers.
Longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was ousted last year, ending more than 20 years of authoritarian rule. His overthrow has accelerated calls within Europe’s Syrian refugee communities for accountability and justice for atrocities committed during the war, which killed more than half a million people and displaced millions more.
The charges in Vienna mark another significant step in European efforts to confront war crimes committed during Syria’s decade-long conflict, as survivors and exiles continue to seek justice far from their homeland.
