Testimony of Syrian ‘Gravedigger’ at German Court Rivals Horrors of Nazi Crimes

An installation of 49 figures dressed with cloth of torture victims, by Syrian artist Khaled Barakeh, stands in front of a Koblenz courtroom during the first trial against suspected members of Syrian president Bashar Assad's security services for crimes against humanity in Koblenz, Germany, July 1, 2020. (Reuters)
An installation of 49 figures dressed with cloth of torture victims, by Syrian artist Khaled Barakeh, stands in front of a Koblenz courtroom during the first trial against suspected members of Syrian president Bashar Assad's security services for crimes against humanity in Koblenz, Germany, July 1, 2020. (Reuters)
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Testimony of Syrian ‘Gravedigger’ at German Court Rivals Horrors of Nazi Crimes

An installation of 49 figures dressed with cloth of torture victims, by Syrian artist Khaled Barakeh, stands in front of a Koblenz courtroom during the first trial against suspected members of Syrian president Bashar Assad's security services for crimes against humanity in Koblenz, Germany, July 1, 2020. (Reuters)
An installation of 49 figures dressed with cloth of torture victims, by Syrian artist Khaled Barakeh, stands in front of a Koblenz courtroom during the first trial against suspected members of Syrian president Bashar Assad's security services for crimes against humanity in Koblenz, Germany, July 1, 2020. (Reuters)

The “gravedigger’s” testimony at the Syrian war crimes trial in Germany created shock in the courtroom as he gave his horrific account of crimes committed by the regime. The grisly details brought to mind the familiar horrors of Nazi crimes, leaving the courtroom reeling.

The “gravedigger”, whose identity remains concealed at the hearing, said he continues to be haunted by the mass graves he dug for the victims killed by the Syrian regime during the nearly decade-long conflict. One image that has been etched in his memory is that of a deceased, woman who was still hugging her dead child, whom he lowered into a mass grave in Damascus.

Recalling such horrors, the witness broke down in tears before the court. The presiding judge at the Koblenz court adjourned the session until he could collect himself. Once resumed, the “gravedigger” recalled another horrific image, that of a man piled onto hundreds or even thousands of corpses, who was still breathing. The supervising Syrian officer noticed that he was still alive and ordered the vehicle that was digging up the grave to run him over, turning him into yet another corpse in the mass grave.

Such stories went on throughout the gravedigger’s three-hour testimony.

The unprecedented court is trying former Syrian intelligence senior officer Anwar Raslan and former officer Eyad al-Gharib for crimes against humanity committed in Syria after the 2011 uprising. The trial kicked off four months ago and is the first against security officials in Bashar Assad’s regimes for crimes against humanity. Raslan and Gharib are still the only two officials whom lawyers and Syrian and European activists have compiled complete cases against.

Raslan is accused of torturing some 4,000 people and killing 58 others at the Khatib detention center in Damascus. Gharib is accused of arresting protesters and turning them over to the center where they were tortured and sometimes killed.

Since the opening of the trial in Koblenz on April 23, the world listened with extreme shock to firsthand accounts of the horrors endured by the Syrian people for years: arbitrary arrests, severe torture, mass graves dug up by the regime…

Syrian lawyer Anwar al-Bunni had persuaded witnesses to testify at the court. He himself gave his testimony after spending years in jail in Syria. He is now living in Germany where he is working tirelessly to bring justice to the Syrian people.

He spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat of the German people’s shock to learn of the crimes that have been committed in Syria. Many have compared them to Nazi crimes and the Auschwitz trials.

“The greatest shock of all is that these crimes are still happening in Syria,” he added.

The “gravedigger”, he said, had continued to work on burying the detainees until 2017 when he left the country. He confirmed that these crimes are still being committed in Syrian jails.

The most significant revelation provided by the witness, added Bunni, was the “missing link”. He said that people have often wondered where the corpses were being buried. “What happens to the detainees when they enter the security department branches and then disappear?”

“We now know,” Bunni remarked. Most significant of all, he stressed, was that the gravedigger confirmed that all security departments throughout Syria were complicit in the systematic mass killing, meaning the whole regime is involved.

Many families of missing Syrians learned of the fate of their loved ones after seeing photographs of their corpses taken by a former Syrian army photographer, codenamed Caesar, who fled in August 2013 with thousands of photos that document the regime’s crimes. It was his job to record the deaths in military prisons. The photos, which show the world the atrocities of the regime, are but some evidence the prosecution is using at the Koblenz trial.

Mass graves
The gravedigger continued his grim testimony by recalling how corpses were transported in refrigerated trucks from all security departments and military and even civilian hospitals. He detailed how he was “recruited” by a member of Syrian intelligence in 2011. He was tasked to form a team of 10 to 15 men who would be in charge of escorting the trucks, which would be loaded with bodies, four times a week to mass graves. The gravedigger said the intelligence provided him with a small truck without a license plate and that was covered with posters of president Bashar Assad. Some three trucks used to transport hundreds of bodies that were piled on top of each other. Each truck was designated to specific security departments and detention centers.

The bodies, however, did not have names. All that identified them were the signs of torture. Some faces were disfigured, possibly by acid. The corpses were just numbers for the perpetrators. The numbers were etched on the chests or foreheads of the victims. Some corpses were dumped in graves with their hands still tied behind their backs. All the bodies showed signs of beatings, many had their nails plucked out.

The gravedigger estimated that each truck transported some 300 to 700 corpses at a time. They would embark on their grisly journey at dawn from the Tishreen, Harasta and Mezzeh military hospitals to two mass graves in al-Qutayfah north of Damascus and al-Najha to its south. The bodies are unceremoniously dumped in a massive 6-meter deep and 100-long pit. Each pit would take some 150 truck trips to fill.

The gravedigger performed this job from 2011 to 2017. No details were revealed about his identity, despite the defense’s demands, for fear over the safety of his family that is still in Syria. His testimony concluded the witness testimonies, which included five from former detainees.

Raslan’s voice and face
None of the detainees could identify Raslan by looking at his face because they were always blindfolded when he interrogated them at the Khatib detention center. However, evidence is available that showed that he was an interrogator at the center and that he ordered the torture of prisoners.

He has refused to appear before the trial and is only speaking through his lawyer. Prior to the beginning of the trial, he confessed to a German investigator that he had interrogated one of the main witnesses at the trial: Wassim Mukdad, the famed Syrian musician who sought refuge in Germany. Mukdad told the court that he was interrogated by only one officer during his time in detention and that he would be able to identify him by hearing his voice as he was always blindfolded. The musician and other witnesses requested a sample of Raslan’s voice to confirm his identity but his lawyer vehemently refused.

Even though the witnesses have not identified Raslan, Bunni told Asharq Al-Awsat that upcoming witnesses will be able to verify him by looking at his face because they had seen him at detention centers.

The hearings will resume in May.

Raslan had defected from the regime and arrived in Germany as a refugee in 2015. He has rejected the accusations against him, saying he had no knowledge of the alleged torture at the Khatib detention center. He even claimed that he used to help some of the prisoners.

He was arrested in Berlin after he turned to the police to explain to them that he was concerned that he was being watched by other Syrians. He admitted in his request that he was a former officer in the Syrian army, which prompted the police to refer his case to the criminal police to probe whether he may be tried for possible crimes.

Gharib arrived in Germany in 2018 and was arrested after providing testimony before immigration authorities. He admitted that he used to work for Syrian intelligence, but has rejected the accusations against him.



Here’s What to Watch as Election Day Approaches in the US

People cast their ballots on the last day of early voting for the general election in Michigan at the Livingston Educational Service Agency in Howell, Michigan on November 3, 2024. (AFP)
People cast their ballots on the last day of early voting for the general election in Michigan at the Livingston Educational Service Agency in Howell, Michigan on November 3, 2024. (AFP)
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Here’s What to Watch as Election Day Approaches in the US

People cast their ballots on the last day of early voting for the general election in Michigan at the Livingston Educational Service Agency in Howell, Michigan on November 3, 2024. (AFP)
People cast their ballots on the last day of early voting for the general election in Michigan at the Livingston Educational Service Agency in Howell, Michigan on November 3, 2024. (AFP)

Election Day is nearly upon us. In a matter of hours, the final votes in the 2024 presidential election will be cast.

In a deeply divided nation, the election is a true toss-up between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.

We know there are seven battleground states that will decide the outcome, barring a major surprise. But major questions persist about the timing of the results, the makeup of the electorate, the influx of misinformation — even the possibility of political violence. At the same time, both sides are prepared for a protracted legal battle that could complicate things further.

Here's what to watch on the eve of Election Day 2024:

History will be made either way

Given all the twists and turns in recent months, it's easy to overlook the historical significance of this election.

Harris would become the first female president in the United States' 248-year history. She would also be the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to hold the office. Harris and her campaign have largely played down gender and race fearing that they might alienate some supporters. But the significance of a Harris win would not be lost on historians.

A Trump victory would represent a different kind of historical accomplishment. He would become the first person convicted of a felony elected to the US presidency, having been convicted of 34 felony counts in a New York hush-money case little more than five months ago.

Trump, who is still facing felony charges in at least two separate criminal cases, argued that he is the victim of a politicized justice system. And tens of millions of voters apparently believe him — or they're willing to overlook his extraordinary legal baggage.

US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at Michigan State University's Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Michigan, on November 3, 2024. (AFP)

How long will it take to know the winner? Election Day in the United States is now often considered election week as each state follows its own rules and practices for counting ballots — not to mention the legal challenges — that can delay the results. But the truth is, nobody knows how long it will take for the winner to be announced this time.

In 2020, The Associated Press declared President Joe Biden the winner on Saturday afternoon — four days after polls closed. But even then, The AP called North Carolina for Trump 10 days after Election Day and Georgia for Biden 16 days later after hand recounts.

Four years earlier, the 2016 election was decided just hours after most polls closed. The AP declared Trump the winner on election night at 2:29 a.m. (it was technically Wednesday morning on the East Coast).

This time, both campaigns believe the race is extremely close across the seven swing states that are expected to decide the election, barring a major surprise: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The size of the map and the tightness of the race make it hard to predict when a winner could be declared.

Where can I find early clues about how the contest might unfold? Look to two East Coast battleground states, North Carolina and Georgia, where the results could come in relatively quickly. That doesn't mean we'll get the final results in those states quickly if the returns are close, but they are the first swing states that might offer a sense of what kind of night we're in for.

To go deeper, look to urban and suburban areas in the industrial North and Southeast, where Democrats have made gains since 2020.

In North Carolina, Harris’ margins in Wake and Mecklenburg Counties, home to the state capital of Raleigh and the state’s largest city, Charlotte, respectively, will reveal how much Trump will need to squeeze out of the less-populated rural areas he has dominated.

In Pennsylvania, Harris needs heavy turnout in deep blue Philadelphia, but she's also looking to boost the Democrats’ advantage in the arc of suburban counties to the north and west of the city. She has campaigned aggressively in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties, where Biden improved on Clinton’s 2016 winning margins. The Philadelphia metro area, including the four collar counties, accounts for 43 percent of Pennsylvania’s vote.

Elsewhere in the Blue Wall, Trump needs to blunt Democratic growth in Michigan's key suburban counties outside of Detroit, especially Oakland County. He faces the same challenge in Wisconsin's Waukesha County outside of Milwaukee.

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pumps his fist after speaking at the end of a campaign rally at Atrium Health Amphitheater in Macon, Georgia, on November 3, 2024. (AFP)

Where are the candidates? Trump will likely spend the very early hours of Election Day in Michigan, where he is scheduled to hold a final late-night rally in Grand Rapids as has become his tradition.

The Republican candidate plans to spend the rest of the day in Florida, where he is expected to vote in person -- despite previously saying he would vote early. He's scheduled to hold a campaign watch party in Palm Beach Tuesday night.

Harris plans to attend an Election Night party at Howard University in Washington, a historically Black university where she graduated with a degree in economics and political science in 1986 and was an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Aside from Howard, she has no public schedule announced for Election Day.

Harris said Sunday that she had “just filled out” her mail-in ballot and it was “on its way to California.”

Who's left to show up on Election Day? On the eve of Election Day, it's unclear which voters will show up to cast ballots on Tuesday.

More than 77 million people participated in early voting — either in person or through the mail. So many people already cast ballots that some officials say the polls in states like Georgia might be a “ghost town” on Election Day.

One major reason for the surge is that that Trump has generally encouraged his supporters to vote early this time, a reversal from 2020 when he called on Republicans to vote only in-person on Election Day. The early vote numbers confirm that millions of Republicans have heeded Trump's call in recent weeks.

The key question, however, is whether the surge of Republicans who voted early this time will ultimately cannibalize the number of Republicans who show up on Tuesday.

There are also shifts on the Democratic side. Four years ago, as the pandemic lingered, Democrats overwhelmingly cast their ballots early. But this time around, without the public health risk, it's likely that more Democrats will show up in person on Election Day.

That balance on both sides is critical as we try to understand the early returns. And it's on the campaigns to know which voters they still need to turn out on Tuesday. On that front, Democrats may have an advantage.

Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee have outsourced much of their get-out-the-vote operation to outside groups, including one funded largely by billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk that’s facing new questions about its practices. Harris’ campaign, by contrast, is running a more traditional operation that features more than 2,500 paid staffers and 357 offices in battleground states alone.

Chocolate bars with the faces of Democratic presidential nominee US Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump are displayed at a store in John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, US, October 25, 2024. (Reuters)

Could there be unrest? Trump has been aggressively promoting baseless claims in recent days questioning the integrity of the election. He falsely insists that he can lose only if Democrats cheat, even as polls show that show the race is a true toss-up.

Trump could again claim victory on election night regardless of the results, just as he did in 2020.

Such rhetoric can have serious consequences as the nation saw when Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in one of the darkest days in modern American history. And unfortunately, there is still a potential of further violence this election season.

The Republican National Committee will have thousands of “election integrity” poll monitors in place on Tuesday searching for any signs of fraud, which critics fear could lead to harassment of voters or election workers. In some key voting places, officials have requested the presence of sheriff deputies in addition to bulletproof glass and panic buttons that connect poll managers to a local 911 dispatcher.

At the same time, Trump allies note that he has faced two assassination attempts in recent months that raise the possibility of further threats against him. And police in Washington and other cities are preparing for the possibility of serious Election Day unrest.

As always, it's worth noting that a broad coalition of top government and industry officials, many of them Republicans, found that the 2020 election was the “most secure” in American history.”