This investigative report uncovers a punitive approach employed by Syrian security forces following the detention of minors. Children were held without trial until they reached the legal age of 18, at which point they were transferred to Military Field Courts. Additionally, the Syrian regime used illegal methods to issue death sentences for detained minors under the Anti-Terrorism Law (No. 19 of 2012).
Investigation by Ali Al Ibrahim and Mohamad Skaf
For seven years, the family of the child Sariah, who disappeared after his arrest in 2011 in Hama, held onto the hope of seeing him again. Sariah was 15 years old at the time of his arrest, detained along with many minors (under the age of 18) who were held without trial and later transferred to the Military Field Courts, where they were subject to extraordinary procedures in violation of both international and Syrian legal standards.
The child’s mother and siblings live in constant fear, especially after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree on September 3, 2023, ending the work of the Military Field Courts, which had handled Sariah’s case.
The family’s worry intensifies as they fear that their son’s fate has been forgotten, particularly amidst the grave violations Syria has witnessed over the years, including mass executions and enforced disappearances affecting a significant number of children and detainees.
The new decree terminates Legislative Decree No. 109 of 1968 and its amendments, which established the Military Field Courts responsible for cases falling under military jurisdiction during wartime, according to the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). All cases in those courts will now be transferred as they are to the military judiciary for prosecution, according to the Penal Code and the Code of Military Procedure, established by Legislative Decree No. 61 of 1950 and its amendments.
The now-abolished decree had granted the Military Field Courts broad powers, including the ability to disregard procedural rules in existing legislation, with their rulings not subject to any form of appeal.
Twenty-four Children, Victims of Deferred Executions
On April 24, 2018, Sariah’s aunt Basmah, an employee at the civil registry in Syria, received mail from the Syrian Ministry of Interior containing a list of detainees documented as deceased (whether executed or due to torture), which included Sariah’s name, with his date of death recorded as April 14, 2014.
“I never imagined I’d have to inform my family that my sister’s son had died. I had promised him I would help him obtain his ID card from the civil registry and had always waited for his return. I always believed that since he was a child, there was no way they would harm or kill him; even the lawyer assured us of that,” she told the investigative team. “Sariah was a child when he was arrested, and his mother used to accuse me of lying when I told her that her beloved son was still alive. I should have been honest and told her that the monsters didn’t let him live.”
Sariah’s name appeared on a list obtained by the investigative team, which included the names of 25 Syrian children later transferred to Military Field Courts and sentenced to execution, in addition to the confiscation of their movable and immovable assets, despite their minor status at the time of arrest.
Through a team of investigative journalists and researchers, the team was able to confirm the deaths of 24 out of the 25 names on a list that exclusively included children under 18 at the time of their arrest (18 children from Hama, 3 from Homs, 2 from Idlib, and one each from Aleppo and Daraa) following execution orders issued by the Military Field Courts.
The investigative team obtained a list containing the full personal details of each child, including their full name, mother’s name and surname, date and place of birth, date of execution ruling, and national identification number. However, the list did not indicate whether the sentences had been carried out.
This investigative report uncovers a punitive approach employed by Syrian security forces following the detention of minors. Children were held without trial until they reached the legal age of 18, at which point they were transferred to Military Field Courts. Additionally, the Syrian regime used illegal methods to issue death sentences for detained minors under the Anti-Terrorism Law (No. 19 of 2012).
The investigative team relied on open sources, such as social media posts, groups focused on tracking the forcibly disappeared in Syrian regime detention centers, and exclusive interviews with the victims’ families. Through these sources, the team confirmed that all individuals listed in the report were forcibly disappeared by Syrian regime forces and security agencies. Contact with the families of these individuals further confirmed that all names on the list belonged to minors under 18 at the time of their detention.
To determine the fate of those named on the list, the team obtained death records from civil registries under the Ministry of Interior in several Syrian provinces. These records revealed that 24 individuals on the list had died and confirmed that they were children at the time of their detention.
How Are These Matters Legally Pursued?
The Juvenile Delinquents Act No. 18 of 1974 and its amendments govern juvenile cases, defining a juvenile as any person under 18 years of age (Article 1). According to the Syrian Legal Development Program, the detention of children in Syrian prisons without trial until they reach the legal age to be transferred to the Field Court and subsequently executed violates children’s rights under both Syrian and international law.
International law prohibits the imposition of the death penalty or life imprisonment on individuals under 18. This prohibition is upheld by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 6, paragraph 5) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 37, paragraph a), which also prohibits life imprisonment without the possibility of release.
In the context of armed conflict, the death penalty for children is prohibited under Article 68 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 77, paragraph 5, of Additional Protocol I, and Article 6, paragraph 4, of Additional Protocol II. Violating this prohibition could constitute a war crime.
The team also managed to locate the sole survivor named in the list, obtaining documents that prove his trial in a Military Field Court, as well as documenting his testimony and those of the families of other victims, some of which are included in this report.
The investigative team expanded its witness and source network to strengthen the story and understand how the cases of 24 forcibly disappeared Syrian children came to be recorded as “deceased” in Syria’s civil registries. The team acquired specific documents and testimonies from personnel within the Syrian Military Police, under the Ministry of Defense, who were active during the detention and execution of these victims.
Moreover, the team consulted with legal experts and Syrian human rights organizations, such as the Syrian Legal Development Program and the Syrian Network for Human Rights, to obtain a legal interpretation of the implications of detaining these children and later recording them as deceased.
How Did Underage Sariah End Up in a Military Field Court?
Sariah’s case is just one among dozens of Syrian children who were detained, transferred to Military Field Courts, and subsequently executed upon reaching the legal age. This reveals a covert strategy adopted by Syrian security forces since the outbreak of protests in March 2011: detaining minors without official records and shelving their files within security branches until they reach legal age, at which point they could be executed under Syrian law.
According to Mohannad Sharabati, the legal advisor of the Support Unit at the Syrian Legal Development Program (SLDP), “Referring detainees to Military Field Courts clearly reflects the absence of rule of law in Syria. The executive branch, represented by the head of the regime, has complete control over the legislative and judicial branches, leading to the enforcement of exceptional laws and courts that do not adhere to international legal standards, such as the Military Field Courts.”
An informant who spent three years of his mandatory military service in the Military Police, responsible for transferring detainees, their files, and correspondence from the “security compound” in the Kafr Sousa neighborhood of Damascus to Saydnaya prison and other locations, told the investigative team that he witnessed over 6,000 cases of detainees under the age of 18 who were issued death sentences.
What Are Security Compounds?
The term “security compound” refers to specific areas in various parts of Syria under the control of Syrian regime forces. These compounds are typically located in the heart of cities, where government buildings and security headquarters are concentrated. For instance, there is a security compound in the Kafr Sousa neighborhood in Damascus, which houses notorious security branches, such as Branch 215 (run by Military Intelligence), often referred to by former detainees as the “Death Branch,” and Branch 227, as well as the Military Records Directorate. Another security compound is located in the Rawda neighborhood in central Damascus, where the Syrian National Security Administration building is surrounded by military checkpoints and security detachments.
The source, who requested anonymity for security reasons, explained, “From 2014 until the end of 2017, during my service in the Military Police in Damascus, part of our duties under the Ministry of Defense involved transporting detainees, their files, and correspondence from the security compound in Damascus to Saydnaya Prison and the Dimas Court [one of the Military Field Courts], as well as back and forth between Saydnaya and Dimas. During this period, executions were at nearly their highest levels. I personally witnessed and transported over 6,000 detainees brought to the security compound in Damascus, aged between 15 and 17.”
The source continued, “While they were held in this compound, they turned 18 or 19 years old. Afterward, they were sentenced to death by the Military Field Court.” He added, “This number represents only what I witnessed during my work, not counting other individuals in the Military Police assigned to similar tasks.”
The detention of minors and their subsequent death sentences occurred during the tenure of Judge Mohammad Kanjo Hassan, who presided over the Military Field Court from December 2013 until January 2023.
Mohammad Kanjo Hassan
Born in Tartus on January 1, 1959, Mohammad Kanjo Hassan comes from a family with strong ties to the Syrian military and security agencies.
He obtained a law degree from Damascus University and subsequently joined the ranks of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces. Rising through the positions within the Military Judiciary under the Ministry of Defense, he became the Deputy Military Prosecutor at the Military Field Court in Damascus with the rank of Brigadier General at the onset of the popular protests against the Syrian regime in March 2011.
In December 2013, he was promoted to Major General and appointed as the President of the Military Field Court in Damascus, later becoming the Head of the Military Judiciary. He remained in this role until his retirement on January 1, 2023.
Hassan has been accused by families of Field Court victims and human rights organizations of involvement in issuing and carrying out thousands of death sentences during his time presiding over the court. He is believed to have played a key role in suppressing anti-regime protests and signing death sentences against military defectors.
In December 2023, his name was added to the sanctions list issued by the British Foreign Office due to his involvement in severe human rights violations during his service.
Legalized Killing!
Sariah’s tragedy was echoed, albeit in a different way, with Khaled, who was arrested in October 2013 at the age of 16 from his home in Hama during a raid by Syrian regime forces accompanied by Military Security personnel. According to his father, the reason for the arrest was a case of mistaken identity.
Khaled had the same name as one of his cousins, who had been a Syrian army conscript before defecting and later becoming a commander in an armed opposition faction. Despite the clear differences in their identification cards, the young boy was detained and transferred to the Military Security Branch in Hama, where he was held for a month and a half.
After this period, he was transferred to Branch 215 of Military Intelligence in Damascus, notorious for its harsh conditions and systematic torture of detainees, according to human rights organizations. There, Khaled spent around a year and a half in arbitrary detention without any formal charges brought against him. He was later moved to Saydnaya Military Prison, one of Syria’s most notorious prisons, where detainees endure extreme forms of torture and medical neglect.
In Saydnaya, the Military Field Court in Dimas sentenced Khaled to death. However, the sentence was never carried out, as Khaled died beforehand from torture and severe respiratory illness caused by the inhumane detention conditions. According to released detainees who saw Khaled during his confinement, he was suffering from the effects of torture up until his final moments.
The Syrian Legal Development Program described the Military Field Courts as “exceeding international fair trial standards. They lack transparency and independence, issuing judgments without regard for the principles of fair trial outlined in international laws such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, thereby undermining the rights of the accused.”
Executions are carried out under Syria’s Penal Code (Law No. 48 of 1949), the Code of Criminal Procedure (Law No. 112 of 1950), and the Anti-Terrorism Law (Law No. 19 of 2012).
However, there is no legal basis for detaining children in Syrian prisons without trial until they reach the legal age to be transferred to Military Field Courts for execution, as attorney Mohannad Sharabati emphasized. He stated, “International law prohibits the imposition of the death penalty or life imprisonment on individuals under 18. Syrian law aligns with this prohibition and does not prescribe death or life sentences for offenses committed by minors.”
Sana (a pseudonym), a lawyer who has tirelessly but unsuccessfully pursued Sariah’s case unofficially for the past seven years, confirmed this point. She explained that lawyers hesitate to take on such cases due to fear of retaliation from security agencies.
Sana told the investigative team: “Sariah was arrested when he was under 18, which means he should have been tried in juvenile courts, which are civil, not military. Even if we assume the investigation records and list of charges were accurate, and even if he received a death sentence, it should have been mitigated by the military prosecution under the Juvenile Delinquents Law (Law No. 18 of 1974 and its amendments), as he was a minor when the alleged offense was committed.”
Sana added that “security regulations prohibit holding individuals in security branches for more than 40 days without cause. How did Sariah end up spending all those years in detention, and how was he executed based on charges for actions he allegedly committed at 15? And what were these charges that justified execution? They killed Sariah outside the law but under the guise of the law.”
The Syrian Detainee Authority stated that “the Field Courts were exceptional, lacking any constitutional guarantees. Defendants standing before them were not allowed to present any defense, appoint a lawyer, or appeal any decision or sentence. Additionally, their proceedings were held in secrecy.”
The authority viewed these courts as “one of the tools through which the Syrian regime exercised its practice of killing since the beginning of its rule, using them to eliminate any dissenting voices. They also served as one of the intimidation mechanisms that have been in place since the beginning of the uprising, closely associated with the infamous Saydnaya Military Prison.”
A report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights, issued on September 12, documented that the Military Field Courts have issued 14,843 death sentences from March 2011 until August 2023. Among those sentenced were 114 children and 26 women. Execution was carried out for 7,872 individuals, including 2,021 military personnel. Their bodies were not returned to their families, nor were their families officially notified of the executions.
Fifty-five Years of Sham Trials
The roots of the Military Field Courts in Syria trace back to the period following the June 1967 war with Israel, specifically to 1968 when these courts were established. They were designed to handle crimes under military jurisdiction, referred to them by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Armed Forces (the President), and committed during times of war and military operations.
The court is formed by a decision of the Minister of Defense and consists of a president and two military members, where the president’s rank is no lower than Major, and each member’s rank is no lower than Captain.
Decree No. 109 of 1968 granted these courts extensive powers, including the ability to disregard traditional legal procedures ensuring a fair trial, and their verdicts were not subject to appeal.
Since 1980, under the rule of Hafez al-Assad, the father of the current president, these courts have expanded their powers to include civilians, significantly increasing the number of victims. For over 55 years, the courts have played a central role in issuing death sentences and carrying out enforced disappearances, especially after the outbreak of popular protests in 2011. These courts became “symbols of repression and fear, leaving behind a legacy filled with crimes and violations,” according to a report by Amnesty International.
Amnesty described the Field Courts as operating “outside the boundaries of the Syrian legal system.” A former judge in the courts stated, “The judge only asks the detainee for their name and whether they committed the crime or not, and the detainee will be convicted regardless of the answer.”
The organization added, “Detainees face sham judicial procedures before their execution, lasting no more than a minute or two… These procedures are so brief and arbitrary that they cannot be considered legitimate judicial processes.” The procedures have been described as “a farce… ending with the detainees being executed by hanging.”
According to a source who worked within the military judiciary, Military Field Courts issue collective and in-absentia sentences without relying on charges or reviewing investigation reports. Instead, these rulings are based on security reports from officers, confessions extracted under torture within security branches, or recommendations from the “Five-member Committee.” Detainees are then transported from the security compound in Damascus (Kafr Sousa area) for processing, while their files are sent ahead to the Military Field Courts.
Furthermore, the Military Field Courts, according to this source, deny defendants the right to legal representation. Lawyers are granted no access to review case files.
According to legal experts consulted by the investigative team, following the abolition of the Military Field Courts, security agencies have begun referring detainees to military judiciary courts, the Counter-Terrorism Court, or civilian courts. The assessment and classification of the “crime” remain at the discretion of the security agencies, amidst a lack of judicial independence in both the military and civilian judiciary systems.
Survivor #25 Tells His Story
The investigative team managed to reach the sole survivor listed in the exclusive document, who holds the number 25.
Mustafa Kamal al-Khatib, now 28 years old and residing in Idlib, a region outside the Syrian regime’s control, agreed to an interview and shared the documents he possesses. His account sheds light on the treatment of detainees by Syrian security forces, especially minors who were sent to Military Field Courts.
Among the documents al-Khatib shared was a death sentence issued against him, later reduced to 12 years of hard labor after his family paid a sum of money. Al-Khatib provided his testimony through video and audio recordings, recounting the conditions he endured.
Al-Khatib explained that he was detained in 2013 while a ninth-grade student by Palestine Branch (Branch 235) and was subjected to multiple forms of torture, stating, “I endured all kinds of torture in Palestine Branch, both physical and sexual…”
He described how detainees were treated as mere numbers rather than individuals. His number was 95 in his cell, while his father, detained in another cell, was assigned the number 25, reflecting the dehumanizing approach of security branches toward detainees.
The young detainee spent a year and a month in Palestine Branch before being transferred to another branch. He explained that the security authorities altered his arrest date to avoid registering him as a minor, saying, “Before transferring me to Branch 248, they made me fingerprint documents without knowing their content… They changed my arrest date to make it appear that I was detained in 2014 instead of 2013.”
He added, “Throughout my transfers between various branches, including Palestine Branch, Branch 248, and Saydnaya Military Prison, I saw many juvenile detainees, aged 15 to 17. They were with me, and all were sentenced to death.”
Final Moments Before Execution
In testimonies on field executions in Syria, human rights organizations quoted a former guard at Saydnaya Prison, who revealed that up to 13,000 people were hanged at Saydnaya between September 2011 and December 2015. Before the execution sentence is issued, the victims undergo what Syrian authorities call a “trial” before the Military Field Court. In reality, this “trial” lasts no more than a minute or two, conducted in an office before a military officer, where the detainee’s name is recorded in the “death register.”
On the day of execution, referred to by prison guards as the “party,” those scheduled for execution are gathered from their cells in the afternoon. They are told they are being transferred to a civilian prison, which many believe has better conditions. However, instead, they are taken to a basement cell where they are severely beaten before being moved to the execution chamber.
In the execution room at Saydnaya Prison, rows of nooses line the wall. When entering the room, the victims’ eyes are blindfolded, so they are unaware that they are about to be executed. They are asked to place their fingerprints on documents recording their deaths. Afterward, they are led, still blindfolded, to concrete platforms where they are hanged. They don’t know how or when the execution will occur until the nooses are placed around their necks. Some detainees held in the upper floors of the execution building reported occasionally hearing the sounds of hangings.
At around three in the morning, members of the execution committee arrive from outside Saydnaya Prison to witness the executions. Regular committee members include the director of Saydnaya Prison, the military prosecutor from the Military Field Court, a representative from the intelligence services (typically from Military Intelligence), the commander of the brigade on the southern front, an officer from the military medical services at Tishreen Hospital, and the chief doctor at Saydnaya Prison. Each committee member is usually accompanied by one or two assistants or personal guards.
To this day, detainees continue to be transferred to Saydnaya Prison, and “trials” are still held at the Military Field Court in Qaboun. Therefore, there is no reason to believe that the executions have ceased.
Attorney Mohammad Othman stated: “The detention of minors in Syrian prisons and their transfer to Military Field Courts, where they are sentenced to death upon reaching adulthood, reveals severe violations of human rights and both international and Syrian law. These practices reflect the absence of justice and accountability in the Syrian judicial system, calling for urgent international action to hold those responsible accountable and to protect children’s rights.” He added that “the stories of these minors stand as painful testimonies to a grim reality that demands relentless efforts to achieve justice and end these ongoing violations.”
Today, al-Khatib recalls the details of his death sentence, despite being a minor at the time of his arrest, his eventual survival, and escape to northern Syria. He also remembers the names of some other children who were detained with him and executed at Saydnaya Prison, such as Qaddour Sobhi al-Hassan and Anwar al-Qatroun.
“Some detainees were fortunate,” he noted, “as they were able to secure their release by paying large sums of money, including my father, who paid around $45,000 (more than 650 million Syrian pounds) to secure my release, while other children face a delayed execution.”
This investigation was conducted by the Syrian Investigative Journalism Unit, SIRAJ. Edited by Manar al-Rashwani.
SIRAJ is committed to not publishing lists of names or specific information about sources at their request, due to concerns of retaliatory actions if disclosed.
The legal analysis for this investigation was provided by the Syrian Legal Development Program (SLDP) in London, United Kingdom.
Source:
daraj.media, Ali Al Ibrahim and Mohamad Skaf, October 30, 2024
_____________________________________________________________________
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde
Comments
Post a Comment
Constructive and informative comments are welcome. Please note that offensive and pro-death penalty comments will not be published.