Syrians detained in Germany for alleged crimes against humanity

German police have arrested four Syrian Palestinians and a Syrian national for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Syria about a decade ago. The men, identified under German privacy laws as Jihad A., Mahmoud A., Sameer S. and Wael S., are believed to be associated with the Free Palestine Movement militia. Another suspect, Mazhar J., is accused of being an agent of Syrian intelligence.

Prosecutors say the militants attacked civilians at checkpoints between 2012 and 2014, using fists and rifle butts. One civilian was handed over to Syrian military intelligence to be imprisoned and tortured. In addition, one of the arrested individuals is suspected of handing over three people who were later executed in a massacre of 41 civilians in April 2013.

The arrests were made possible under Germany's Universal Jurisdiction Act, which allows for the prosecution of crimes against humanity committed worldwide. The investigation was conducted in cooperation with Swedish authorities, who arrested three people in Sweden for violations of international law in Syria in 2012.

Anwar al-Bunni, a lawyer involved in the prosecution of Syrians in Germany for war crimes, said the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research has been working on the case for three years. Al-Bunni expressed hope that the investigation would include the siege of the Al Yarmouk camp, where starvation was used as a weapon against civilians.

Yarmouk, once Syria's largest Palestinian refugee camp, became a symbol of suffering in rebel-held areas during the Syrian government's siege from 2013 to 2018, before being recaptured from members of armed Islamist groups.