A former Syrian military official who oversaw a prison where alleged human rights abuses took place has been charged with several counts of torture after being arrested in July for visa fraud charges, authorities said Thursday.
Samir Ousman al-Sheikh, who oversaw Syria’s infamous Adra Prison from 2005 to 2008 under recently ousted President Bashar al-Assad, was charged by a federal grand jury in California with several counts of torture and conspiracy to commit torture.
“It’s a huge step toward justice,” said Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the U.S.-based Syrian Emergency Task Force. “Samir Ousman al-Sheikh’s trial will reiterate that the United States will not allow war criminals to come and live in the United States without accountability, even if their victims were not U.S. citizens.”
Federal officials detained the 72-year-old in July at Los Angeles International Airport on charges of immigration fraud, specifically that he denied on his U.S. visa and citizenship applications that he had ever persecuted anyone in Syria, according to a criminal complaint. He had purchased a one-way plane ticket to depart LAX on July 10, en route to Beirut, Lebanon.
Human rights groups and United Nations officials have accused the Syrian government of widespread abuses in its detention facilities, including torture and arbitrary detention of thousands of people, in many cases without informing their families.
The government fell to a sudden rebel offensive last Sunday, putting an end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family and sending the former president fleeing to Russia. Insurgents have freed tens of thousands of prisoners from facilities in multiple cities since then.
