The Syrian intelligence officer on the centre of one of the vital surprising acts of the civil conflict – the Tadamon bloodbath – remains to be engaged on a army base exterior Damascus and has since been accused by colleagues of directing as much as a dozen extra mass killings.
Amjad Yousef, a serious in one in all Syria’s most feared intelligence models, is working from the Kafr Sousa base, the place he has been for a lot of the previous six months because the Guardian revealed his function in capturing lifeless dozens of individuals throughout a loss of life pit in Tadamon, a suburb of the Syrian capital in 2013.
A former colleague of Yousef’s stated he had admitted to the killings in a telephone name with a mutual good friend. “He stated ‘Sure I did it. That’s what I needed to do on the time.’ Nobody was shocked we knew him. And we all know the regime.”
The pictures shocked the Syrian diaspora and drew condemnation throughout Europe and in Washington. France, Germany and the Netherlands have all opened conflict crimes investigations utilizing legal guidelines of common jurisdiction and are looking any perpetrators who might have escaped to European soil.
German investigators consider they might have recognized an affiliate of Yousef’s now residing in Germany and are getting ready a case in opposition to the previous intelligence officer. The Tadamon revelations additionally induced uproar in Syria, rattling the nation’s management, which normally retains a vice-like grip on state secrets and techniques, and inflicting widespread anger even amongst supporters of the president, Bashar al-Assad.
After the revelations, near 100 long-term prisoners have been launched from authorities dungeons. Some had been locked up for greater than a decade.
The previous colleague of Yousef’s advised the Guardian that the foremost had been a feared presence in Tadamon for the previous decade, and had frequently snatched ladies from the streets of the suburb, lots of whom have been by no means seen once more. “I noticed him take ladies from a bread queue one morning. They have been harmless. They’d performed nothing. They have been both raped, or killed. Nothing much less.”
Yousef was recognized by analysis performed by Prof Uğur Üngör and the researcher Annsar Shahoud from the College of Amsterdam’s Institute of Holocaust and Genocide Research. The lecturers have been leaked 27 movies, which have been downloaded from the laptop computer utilized by Department 227 of the Syrian intelligence, – of which Yousef was deputy chief. The sources who leaked the movies fled Syria earlier this 12 months and their identities are being sought by the nation’s army intelligence, which has opened an inquiry into how the fabric was leaked.
In an unpublished video, seen by the Guardian, Yousef shoots as much as six ladies throughout a pit as his loss of life quad appears to be like on, and generally joins the slaughter. The pit is then set alight and a bulldozer brings ash and particles to fill it in, in what seems to be an try and get rid of proof of the conflict crime.
The previous colleague stated as much as a dozen extra massacres have been carried out in Tadamon and that native individuals have been effectively conscious of the areas. “The entire individuals have been Sunnis,” he stated. “This was sectarian cleaning. Nothing else. It was Alawites eliminating Sunnis.”
A sectarian dimension to the killings had been suspected, however two extra of Yousef’s former colleagues had prompt they have been additionally supposed as a warning to communities in or close to Tadamon to not collaborate with opposition teams.
The supply stated all bloodbath websites in Tadamon have been no-go zones for native residentsand that the ultimate loss of life toll of killings by Department 227 could possibly be as excessive as 350.
The movies marked one of many solely examples within the Syrian conflict the place senior regime officers have been proven committing atrocities. The unit recorded the movies to show to senior leaders – and even Syria’s political regime – what had taken place.
Assad reacted angrily when France introduced in August that it will open a conflict crimes inquiry, telling Paris it was utilizing the allegations as a pretext to attempt to re-colonise Syria.
France stated its counterterrorism prosecutor’s workplace had been handed the movies. “The alleged actions are prone to represent probably the most critical worldwide crimes, particularly crimes in opposition to humanity and conflict crimes. The combat in opposition to impunity is a matter of justice for the victims. Additionally it is a necessary prerequisite for constructing an enduring peace in Syria. After a decade of crimes in opposition to the Syrian individuals, France stays dedicated to making sure that these accountable are dropped at justice,” a authorities spokesperson stated.
Extra reporting by Leena Saedi
