A Syrian military official who fled to the United States was charged in California with multiple counts of torture, specifically for using a device called the "flying carpet" to inflict pain on prisoners.
The charges, which were brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and include conspiracy to commit torture, stem from Samir Ousman Sheikh's role as the head of Damascus Central Prison (also known as Adra Prison). It's alleged that he tortured political prisoners to suppress opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, reported Yahoo! News.
Assad's regime was toppled by rebels on December 8. Residents of Damascus, the capital city, were captured on video celebrating in the streets.
Sheikh, arrested in July 2024 at Los Angeles International Airport, faces allegations of personally carrying out beatings and torture in his punishment wing.
It's alleged that he used a device called the "flying carpet," a tool that bends the body in half causing spinal fractures, during his tenure from 2005 through 2008. This allegation earned him the conspiracy to commit torture charge, reported Yahoo! News.
"Samir Alsheikh is charged with torturing political dissents and other prisoners to deter opposition to the regime of then Syrian President Bashar al-Assad," said Nicole Argenttieri, the principal deputy assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "Alsheikh later allegedly lied about his crimes to obtain a U.S. green card."
Sheikh immigrated to the United States in 2020 and applied for American citizenship in 2023.
Another one of his charges includes lying on his visa and citizenship applications about his involvement in Syria's prison system.
If convicted he could face up to 30 years in prison.
The charges brought by the DOJ highlight its ongoing efforts to hold foreign officials like Sheikh accountable for violating human rights.
"When it comes to pursuing our criminal investigations, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has a long reach and an even longer memory," said Eddy Wang, special agent in charge of the HSI field office in Los Angles.
United Nations investigators said they have identified 4,000 human rights abusers in Syria, in a secret list. Bashar al-Assad's government has been accused of rapes, torture and killings since Syria's civil war started in 2011.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday told Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan it was "imperative" to work against a resurgence of the Islamic State group in Syria following Assad's ousting.
Israel ordered troops to "prepare to remain" in the Syria buffer zone on the Golan Heights through the winter while bombing their military assets in a "worst-case scenario" with Syria.
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