Lebanon to Cooperate with Interpol on Arrest of Syrian Official Accused of War Crimes

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
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Lebanon to Cooperate with Interpol on Arrest of Syrian Official Accused of War Crimes

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Monday Lebanon will cooperate with an Interpol request to arrest former Syrian intelligence officer Jamil Hassan, accused by US authorities of war crimes under the toppled Assad government.

Last week, Lebanon received an official notice from Interpol urging judicial and security authorities to detain Hassan, whose whereabouts remain unclear, if he is found on Lebanese soil, three Lebanese judicial sources told Reuters.

"We are committed to cooperating with the Interpol letter regarding the arrest of the Director of Syrian Air Force Intelligence, as we continue to cooperate on all matters related to the international system," Mikati told Reuters.

The directive also called for Hassan's arrest if he enters Lebanon, with the ultimate aim of extraditing him to the United States, the sources said.

On Dec. 9, a US indictment unsealed charges against Hassan, 72, with war crimes, including the torture of detainees, some of them US citizens, during the Syrian civil war.

Hassan is also one of three senior Syrian officials who were found guilty by a French court in May of war crimes over their involvement in the disappearance and subsequent death of a French-Syrian father and his son.

According to Lebanese judicial sources, the Interpol arrest warrant accuses Hassan of involvement in "crimes of murder, torture, and genocide."

Hassan is also allegedly responsible for overseeing the deployment of thousands of barrel bombs against the Syrian population, leading to the deaths of countless civilians, the sources said.

The Interpol request was circulated among Lebanon’s General Security and border control authorities.

Up to 30 lower-ranking former intelligence and Fourth Division army officers under the Assad administration are now in police custody in Lebanon following their arrest by Lebanese authorities, two security sources told Reuters.



Syrians Circulate Lists of War Crimes Suspects

 The Daraya cemetery, which contains the remains of victims of the 2012 massacre (circulated).
 The Daraya cemetery, which contains the remains of victims of the 2012 massacre (circulated).
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Syrians Circulate Lists of War Crimes Suspects

 The Daraya cemetery, which contains the remains of victims of the 2012 massacre (circulated).
 The Daraya cemetery, which contains the remains of victims of the 2012 massacre (circulated).

The file of individuals implicated in war crimes and human rights violations under the deposed Syrian regime remains one of the most complex challenges facing the new administration in Syria, especially in the absence of official, public lists of wanted persons.
The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria has been investigating war crimes and other violations of international human rights law since the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
Operating remotely, the commission has compiled lists containing approximately 4,000 names of individuals suspected of committing serious crimes. Following his first visit to Syria on January 9, a UN investigator tasked with examining these violations expressed optimism for “productive cooperation” with the new Syrian authorities.
In addition, “Pro Justice,” a Washington-based organization founded in 2019 by Syrian Americans under the sponsorship of defected Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab, previously released a “blacklist” before the fall of the regime, naming 100 high-ranking officials from the former regime accused of war crimes committed since 2011. This remains one of the few publicly documented lists, with detailed files outlining the role of each individual in these crimes.

In December, UN investigators announced confidential lists naming 4,000 individuals responsible for serious crimes in Syria. They emphasized the importance of ensuring accountability at the highest levels following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.
Linnea Arvidsson, coordinator for the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, stated: “It is crucial to hold perpetrators of crimes at the highest levels accountable.”
Since the regime’s fall, dozens of “unofficial” lists have circulated, naming and depicting suspects. One prominent list includes 161 names of senior officers and leaders of the former regime, topped by Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother Maher al-Assad, commander of the Fourth Armored Division.
This division, along with Air Force Intelligence, is accused of committing atrocities such as the Daraya massacre in 2012, the chemical weapons attack in Douma in 2013, and other crimes including drug trafficking and managing detention centers tied to these activities.
Nevertheless, arrests have also been made of individuals not listed in these reports. For example, Brigadier General Riyad Hassan, head of Political Security in Damascus, was arrested on December 27. Other arrests include Hayyan Miya, leader of the National Defense Militia in Latakia, and Aws Salloum, known as “Azrael of Sednaya,” who is accused of brutally executing over 500 detainees during the security campaign in Homs and its countryside.
Similarly, Mohammad Nour al-Din Shalloum, accused of destroying surveillance footage from Sednaya Prison, was detained after the regime’s fall, along with the killing of several prison guards.
On December 26, Syrian military forces successfully killed Shujaa al-Ali, infamously known as the “Butcher of Houla,” during clashes in western rural Homs. Al-Ali, who led the largest militia in the region, had spent the last four years engaging in extortion, kidnapping for ransom, and drug trafficking.
Platforms such as the “Wanted List of Former Regime Officers and Militants,” which emerged after the regime’s collapse, continue to monitor suspects and share their names and alleged crimes, primarily targeting well-known militia leaders in their respective regions.
Civil activist Ayman Ahmad from Homs warns that the unregulated circulation of random, unofficial lists on social media poses a significant threat to civil peace. “These lists are a form of incitement to violence and fearmongering, which only complicates the situation,” he said, pointing out reports of over 1,000 arrests during recent security campaigns in Homs neighborhoods.
He added: “As long as arrests are being made based on lists determined by the new administration, even if those lists are not publicly disclosed, we urge a halt to the dissemination of random, unofficial lists. These lists incite indiscriminate violence and deepen social divisions.”