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| Clockwise from top left, HRW's Lama Faqih, HRW researchers in Reqqa and "bsat al-reeh" |
(New York) – Government
security branches in Raqqa city hold documents and potential physical evidence
indicating that detainees were arbitrarily detained and tortured there while
the city was under government control. Human Rights Watch researchers visited
the State Security and Military Intelligence facilities in Raqqa, now under the
de facto control of local armed opposition groups, in late April 2013.
Local opposition
leaders with the support of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and
Opposition Forces and neutral international experts should safeguard potential
evidence of torture and arbitrary detention in security forces centers in
opposition-controlled areas, Human Rights Watch said.
“The documents, prison
cells, interrogation rooms, and torture devices we saw in the government’s
security facilities are consistent with the torture former detainees have
described to us since the beginning of the uprising in Syria,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle
East director at Human Rights Watch. “Those in control of Raqqa need to
safeguard the materials in these facilities so the truth can be told and those
responsible held accountable.”
In the State Security
facility, Human Rights Watch researchers observed on the ground floor and in
the basement, rooms that appeared to be detention cells.
Among the documents
were what appeared to be lists of security force members who had worked there.
Human Rights Watch researchers also saw a “bsat al-reeh” (بساط الريح) torture device in the
facility, which former detainees have said has been used to immobilize and
severely stretch or bend limbs.
Several former
detainees held at other intelligence facilities in Syria have described to
Human Rights Watch how security guards used “bsat al-reeh” torture devices in
detention facilities across the country. They tie a detainee down to a flat
board, sometimes in the shape of a cross, so that he is helpless to defend
himself. In some cases, former detainees said guards stretched or pulled their
limbs or folded the board in half so that their face touched their legs,
causing pain and further immobilizing them.
Among the reams of
documents and case files Human Rights Watch researchers saw in the Military
Intelligence facility in Raqqa were some that appeared to list all of Raqqa’s
college graduates, suggesting that they were of interest to the security branch
by virtue of their college education. Researchers also observed three solitary
confinement cells and one group detention cell in the right half of the first
floor of the facility.
Human Rights Watch
researchers interviewed five people formerly held by Military Intelligence in
Raqqa, who said that security forces detained and interrogated them there. They
said that the security services questioned them about lawful activities, such
as participating in peaceful demonstrations, providing relief assistance to
displaced families, defending detainees, and providing emergency assistance to
injured demonstrators. They believed that they were detained for these lawful
activities, making their detention arbitrary.
Four said that officers
and guards in the facility tortured them. They identified Mohammed al-Ahmed,
also known as Abu Jassem, as the person responsible for their interrogations,
and in some cases, abuse. Raqqa residents interviewed by Human Rights Watch
said opposition fighters killed Abu Jassem during the battle for control of
Raqqa, which came under opposition control during the first week of March.
In addition to the
State Security and Military Intelligence branches, three other facilities in
the city of Raqqa – formerly managed by Criminal Security, Political Security,
and Air Force Intelligence – are now also controlled by armed opposition
groups.
Human Rights Watch has
repeatedly documented widespread violations by Syrian government security
forces and officials, including enforced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary
and incommunicado detentions of peaceful protesters, activists, humanitarian
assistance providers, and doctors.
Based on information
from former detainees and defectors, Human Rights Watch previously identified
the locations, agencies responsible, torture methods, and, in many cases, the
commanders who were in charge of 27 detention facilities run by Syrian
intelligence agencies across the country where torture has been documented. The
systematic patterns of ill treatment and torture that Human Rights Watch has
documented point to a state policy of torture and ill treatment and therefore
constitute a crime against humanity.
The de facto
authorities in opposition held areas still face many challenges and competing
priorities. Some are still subject to attack by Syrian government forces and
are struggling to provide basic services to local populations. Nevertheless,
there is an urgent need to safeguard potential evidence in these and other
former security force facilities that could be vital to future domestic and
international accountability processes, Human Rights Watch said. This evidence
could also help to clarify the role intelligence forces played in abuses in
Syria.
Documents and material
in these facilities could vanish or be destroyed if not promptly secured.
Destruction or mishandling of these documents and material will weaken the
possibility of bringing to justice those responsible for serious crimes. In
addition, their loss could encumber future truth seeking processes and prevent
the comprehensive documentation of crimes committed by the Syrian government.
Truth commissions can be valuable complementary tools to criminal justice for
preserving historical memory, clarifying events, and attributing political and
institutional responsibilities.
The de facto
authorities in Raqqa and local opposition leaders should coordinate the
collection and storage of this potential evidence from security force branches
now under their control, Human Rights Watch said. They should seek the support
of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces and
neutral international experts, including those with expertise in collecting
forensic evidence and in working before criminal tribunals.
The armed opposition
groups that have taken control of these facilities should secure them while
allowing civilian opposition leaders, with outside support, to organize the
removal of materials and photographing of physical evidence that is not
movable.
Authorities should also
create a central repository in a secure and undisclosed location to receive and
store this potential evidence until proper criminal investigations can be
undertaken. If possible, copies of relevant materials should be made and stored
in a separate location in case originals are destroyed or lost.
Human Rights Watch has
repeatedly urged the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the
International Criminal Court (ICC). Other countries should join the mounting
calls for accountability by supporting a referral to the ICC as the forum most
capable of effectively prosecuting those bearing the greatest responsibility
for abuses in Syria. On January 14, a letter was sent to the Security Council
on behalf of 58 countries calling for an ICC referral. The Security Council has
taken no action in response.
“Learning the truth
about the role intelligence services have played in spying on and terrorizing
Syrians will enable them to guard against these abuses in the future,” Houry
said. “But for Syrians to learn the truth once the conflict ends, it is vital
even under the tough conditions of war to preserve the potential evidence of
the security forces’ role.”
