Office of Public Affairs | Former Syrian Assad Prison Official Convicted of Torture and Immigration Fraud
A federal jury convicted Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 73, right now on one rely of conspiracy to commit torture and three counts of torture for his involvement within the torture of prisoners at Adra Prison in Damascus, Syria. The jury additionally convicted Alsheikh of mendacity to US immigration authorities about his fee of these crimes, fraudulently acquiring a inexperienced card and making an attempt to naturalize as a US citizen.
“Samir Ousman Alsheikh tortured prisoners and committed human atrocities to punish and silence political dissent in Syria,” mentioned Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Then, after committing these heinous offenses for years, he lied to US immigration authorities to live in the United States of America and pursue citizenship. Thanks to the courage of the victims, and the diligence and dedication of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners, Alsheikh can no longer escape his past and will be held to account for his brutal crimes.”
“Our country is not a refuge for criminals — especially criminals who engage in brutality of the kind this defendant inflicted on his victims,” mentioned First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “I commend the victims, our agents, and our prosecutors for finally bringing this defendant to justice.”
“Homeland Security Investigations and our partners are dedicated to bringing accountability to criminals like Samir Ousman Alsheikh, who tortured prisoners and then relocated to the United States,” mentioned Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles. “Our Homeland will never serve as a sanctuary for human rights abusers.”
“Today’s convictions serve as a reminder that the FBI will not tolerate acts of violence and torture or attempts to obfuscate those crimes,” mentioned Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “Along with our partners in the United States and throughout the world, we remain committed to defending victims and bringing perpetrators to justice.”
According to the proof introduced at trial, Alsheikh was a Brigadier General in cost of Damascus Central Prison, generally often called Adra Prison, from about 2005 by 2008, beneath the regime of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. According to the proof, Alsheikh inflicted and ordered subordinates to inflict extreme bodily and psychological ache and struggling on prisoners. In explicit, Alsheikh ordered sure prisoners to be despatched to a bit of the jail often called Wing 13, the place they have been held in tiny isolation cells and tortured.
Victims who refused to hurt or kill political dissidents imprisoned with them or who in any other case confirmed help for the prisoners testified at trial that they witnessed and suffered numerous types of torture. For instance, guards used manacles to droop prisoners by their wrists from pipes on the ceiling and then beat them with fists or cables whereas suspended for prolonged intervals of time. One sufferer testified that he felt like his limbs could be torn from his physique after they suspended him for days.
Witnesses additionally testified that they have been positioned on a torture system often called the “Magic Carpet” or “Flying Carpet,” which consisted of two giant picket panels with hinges within the center. Guards strapped the witnesses to the system on their backs, positioning the prisoners’ waists on the hinges, and then forcing the decrease panel along with the higher, folding the higher and decrease halves of the prisoners’ our bodies collectively and inflicting excruciating ache and severe damage. One sufferer recalled that Alsheikh himself stomped on the Magic Carpet together with his foot. One sufferer testified that as half of his punishment for writing a letter of help to a political prisoner, he was subjected to the Magic Carpet and then pressured to put on a purple jumpsuit solely assigned to these designated for execution. He testified that he thought he was going to die. Witnesses additionally testified to being folded right into a automotive tire, restrained, and crushed by guards.
The proof at trial confirmed that Alsheikh personally ordered these and different horrific acts of torture and brutality in opposition to the three named victims within the indictment. Following his time at Adra Prison, Alsheikh was appointed Governor of the Syrian province of Deir Ez-Zour in 2011. In 2018, he utilized for a visa and later utilized to change into a US Citizen.
Photograph depicting Alsheikh and Bashar al-Assad on or about July 25, 2011, when Assad appointed Alsheikh
The proof at trial additionally confirmed that Alsheikh got here to the United States in 2020, after mendacity about and concealing the torture and violence he ordered and dedicated on the jail, amongst different misrepresentations, on his visa software to enter the United States and to change into a authorized everlasting resident. The proof additional proved that Alsheikh continued to lie about and conceal his previous conduct in his later software to change into a United States citizen.
Alsheikh faces a most penalty of 20 years in jail for every of the three torture counts and the rely of conspiracy to commit torture; he faces a most penalty of 10 years in jail for every of the immigration and tried naturalization fraud expenses. He will stay in US custody pending his sentencing at a date to be decided by the Court. A federal district courtroom decide will decide any sentence after contemplating the US Sentencing Guidelines and different statutory components.
FBI Chicago and HSI Los Angeles investigated the case with help from HSI and FBI Legal Attachés in Germany. HSI’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC) additionally considerably supported the case, together with the FBI’s International Human Rights Unit (IHRU). Established in 2009, the HRVWCC furthers the federal government’s efforts to establish, find, and prosecute human rights abusers within the United States, together with those that are recognized or suspected to have participated in persecution, battle crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, feminine genital mutilation, and the use or recruitment of youngster troopers. Valuable help was additionally offered by the Federal Criminal Police Office in Germany.
Trial Attorney Patrick Jasperse of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant United States Attorney Joshua O. Mausner prosecuted the case, with vital help from HRSP Historian/Analyst Philip Hoffman and HRSP Trial Attorney Alexandra Skinnion, and help from HRSP Trial Attorney Detailee Spencer M. Perry. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs offered crucial help.
Members of the general public who’ve details about former human rights violators within the United States are urged to contact US legislation enforcement by the HSI tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE (1-866-347-2423) or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They may also electronic mail HRV.ICE@ice.dhs.gov or full its on-line tip kind at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp.
