Syrian torture archive smuggler details horrors in Assad’s prisons

PARIS 

For years, the world knew them only as “Caesar” and “Sami.”

Since 2014, these pseudonyms have become synonymous with exposing torture in Syrian prisons under the Bashar al-Assad regime. The gruesome images they smuggled out shocked global consciences, prompting the US to enact the Caesar Act sanctions against Syria.

Their photos have also been used in Western courts to convict Syrian officials accused of torture and human rights abuses during their time in power.

-Who is Sami, the ‘twin witness’ alongside Caesar?

In his first public interview using his real name and image, Sami, now revealed as Osama Othman, shared his story with the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. Othman, currently chairman of the Caesar Files Group, was a civil engineer when the Syrian uprising began in 2011. Initially peaceful, the revolution spiralled into a bloodbath as Assad’s forces brutally suppressed it.

Sami lived in rural Damascus, where areas were divided between opposition forces and government troops. His area was controlled by factions within what became known as the Free Syrian Army. But someone very close to him, later known as “Caesar,” worked in regime-controlled areas.

His job was far from ordinary.

His mission was to document the deaths in Syrian security branches, documenting them through photos: a headless corpse, a body without eyes, another marked with signs of severe torture. Some bore marks of starvation. Naked corpses carried numbers. Thousands of photos. Women, men and children. Many of their “crimes” were officially classified as “terrorism.” But how could the crime of a child be labelled “terrorism”?

The brutal nature of the crimes led both Sami and Caesar to work together to document what was happening in Syrian prisons and detention centers, particularly in Damascus, where Caesar worked, often documenting the deaths of at least 70 people daily.

The two men began collaborating in May 2011, with Caesar smuggling photos via USB drives and handing them over to Sami in opposition-controlled areas.

‘Daddy…why are they sleeping without clothes?’

The smuggler of the Syrian torture archive, Sami, often hesitated to speak about himself and avoided answering questions on this topic. However, after some pressure, he shared a glimpse of his experience. He told Asharq Al-Awsat:

“Even my children didn’t know they were the children of this man (Sami) carrying the secret code. Sometimes, by accident, as I was watching and searching for a photo late at night, I was surprised to find my little son entering and coming to me while I was looking at the computer and asking, ‘Daddy, why are these people sleeping without clothes?’ In his innocence, he thought they were just asleep. This pain is hard to bear, especially when you have to make your child live in such anxiety and stress. It was necessary to protect our children by protecting ourselves.”

He further reflected on his emotions of that time, saying: “You made a very dangerous decision, so why should others bear the responsibility of this decision? People you didn’t consult when you left. People who were very young and others who were much older, and you burdened them with fear without asking them, at a moment when you decided your responsibility was greater than your love for your family.”

The efforts of Sami and Caesar resulted in the smuggling of tens of thousands of photos of torture victims’ bodies out of Syria. The photos were first revealed in 2014, after they had escaped Syria. Today, these images are part of the “indictment” against the security agencies of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. In fact, the crimes were not limited to one prison or another. Torture practices were widespread, leaving little doubt that this was a systematic policy likely backed by the highest levels of the regime.

When asked why he decided to break his silence and reveal his true identity, he responded: “Syrians know the answer to this question. I think the answer is obvious to most Syrians, both inside and outside the country. The nature of the work and the nature of the file we brought out of Syria, which went through many complicated stages and steps until we reached this blessed day, made it necessary for me to conceal my identity and that of many of the team members.”

“Today, thank God, we are in a completely different situation. We are in a different place. A new Syria. I wanted Syrians to know what happened, and I also want to address them and the authorities in Damascus, expressing what we hope for regarding human rights issues related to documenting and archiving data and evidence that will lead us to a stage of accountability and transitional justice for stability in Syrian society. I believe this matter is worth speaking out about so we can tell the world what we know, so future generations do not face the same problems,” he added.

“I never thought, honestly, that I would live to say these words. Congratulations to our people in Syria on the fall of Assad. And congratulations to all the righteous people in the world on Assad’s fall. Thank you to all who stood by our revolution, and shame on those who stood against it. After 14 years of working in secrecy, facing fear and anxiety, the sun of freedom is now rising over Syria, a freedom for which our people have paid a heavy price. A team of unsung heroes led a complex, risky task, with dangers not only from the regime but from other sources as well. Today, we vow to continue defending the dignity of the Syrian people, wherever they are.”

The necessity of accountability

Sami stressed the importance of “accountability” in Syria today, after the fall of the previous regime.

“At this crucial moment in Syria’s history, as we prepare to enter a new phase after more than five decades of the Assad family’s rule, we call on the new government to work diligently to achieve justice, hold perpetrators accountable, and ensure the dignity of human rights as a foundation for building a better future that all Syrians dream of,” he said.

“In recent days, and in the events preceding them, we have witnessed a significant increase in the likelihood of chaos resulting from the remnants of the Syrian regime. The random entries of citizens into prisons and detention centers has led to the destruction or loss of critical documents and official records that reveal violations from decades ago.”

He emphasized that “the full responsibility for the destruction of evidence and the loss of the rights of detainees and survivors falls on the shoulders of the security officials of the former regime, both those who have left and those still in office, as well as the current forces preparing to take control of Damascus.”

“Although what is happening now is expected after the country’s liberation from the Syrian regime, urgent intervention is necessary to gather the evidence and documents from the archives of the previous security institutions, ministries, and other government bodies. This raises our concern that the former regime’s employees are still working, which allows them to destroy or erase critical files related to exposing the crimes of the fallen regime,” he added.

Fate of the ‘Baath Party’ files

Sami believes that “all institutions of the former regime contain files of great significance, whether security, civil or military. We are also concerned about the erasure of files from the Baath Party branches and affiliates, which, as all Syrians know, were essentially security institutions that practiced all forms of physical and psychological intimidation against our people throughout the years of the revolution.”

“We hope that this step will involve human rights organizations concerned with investigating and addressing human rights violations. The delay in uncovering the locations of official and secret detention centers, especially in liberated areas or those not yet reached by armed opposition forces, in addition to circulating testimonies and information about detainees being transferred to unknown locations just before the regime’s fall, reflects a disregard for the lives of these individuals.”

Sami called on the current authorities to “take immediate and transparent steps to disclose the fate of detainees and victims who died under torture in Syrian prisons and to arrest all those responsible for managing and operating the prisons.”

“They must urgently provide documents showing the names and numbers of victims to ensure families’ right to know the fate of their loved ones. The Syrian people’s right to access the truth cannot be compromised; it is a duty for all concerned parties. Tolerating those responsible for these crimes under any pretext is a direct violation of humanitarian and legal standards and gives the green light to reproduce the tools of oppression and violations practiced by the security apparatuses that remain in place.”

The Syrian activist emphasized that “achieving justice requires holding accountable everyone involved in the crimes committed against the Syrian people, and that achieving peace and stability in Syria depends on transitional justice as a core principle at this stage.”

“We call for a national reconciliation based on the principles of justice and accountability, ensuring the rights of all components of the Syrian people in a safe and stable environment that respects their dignity and meets their needs while guaranteeing that no one escapes punishment under any guise,” Sami added.

Opposition ‘imposed’ on the people

Sami criticized certain factions within the Syrian opposition without naming them, speaking about their “failures.”

“Given the past political failures of the opposition that were imposed on the Syrian people, we stress the need for immediate reassuring statements regarding their vision and how they intend to involve the people in decision-making and initiate the process of building a society in a manner that respects the will of the Syrian people and guarantees their right to self-determination.”

He called on the current authorities “to strengthen and facilitate the work of all civil society organizations operating both inside and outside Syria. We also urge all these organizations to actively support efforts to achieve transitional justice in Syria, involve the Syrian people in developments regularly, contribute to providing humanitarian and medical support to survivors of detention and enforced disappearances, and ensure that all those involved in crimes are held accountable without impunity.”

He demanded the “publication and circulation of the names of the officers responsible for the crimes and who are known to the Syrian people, monitoring both official and unofficial crossings, and calling on the official Syrian media institutions, which have long contributed to the oppression of Syrians, distorting facts and glorifying murderers, to return to their natural function as a tool that strengthens the citizens’ trust in state institutions and as a source of accurate information.”

“It pains us to see our people searching for the names of their missing loved ones on social media while the state’s media is absent from performing its task, which was created solely as a public service institution, not a political tool.”

‘Crimes that do not statute-bar’

Sami reiterated that “crimes against humanity and genocide are not subject to statutes of limitations and cannot be forgiven under any circumstance. The Syria we dream of is a free Syria built on justice and equality. Transitional justice, preceding comprehensive national reconciliation, is the only way to build the Syria of the future.”

“We all hope that Syria is now in a better place (than) the Syria our team left 11 years ago, along with thousands of tortured faces and mutilated bodies, hundreds of faces whose eyes had dreamed of being with us today,” he said.

“I am not alone. There are many unsung heroes who contributed to reaching this stage. The Caesar File required tremendous efforts in Europe through the courts and in the US through Syrian organizations that worked tirelessly until they managed to push the US administration to issue the Caesar Act or the Civilian Protection Act, which is one of the outcomes of the Caesar File.”

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