US prosecutors are accusing two senior Syrian officials of overseeing a notorious torture centre that abused peaceful protesters, including a 26-year-old American woman who was later believed to have been executed.
The indictment was released on Monday, two days after a shock rebel offensive overthrew Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The United States, United Nations and others accuse him of widespread human rights abuses in a 13-year battle to crush opposition forces seeking his removal from power.
The war, which began as a largely nonviolent popular uprising in 2011, has killed half a million people.
The indictment, filed on November 18 in federal court in Chicago, is believed to be the US government’s first against what officials say were networks of Assad intelligence services and military branches that detained, tortured and killed thousands of perceived enemies.
It names Jamil Hassan, director of the Syrian air force’s intelligence branch, who prosecutors say oversaw a prison and torture centre at the Mezzeh air force base in the capital, Damascus, and Abdul Salam Mahmoud, who prosecutors say ran the prison.
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