Former Syrian Prison Chief Charged With Torture in Los Angeles: Accused of Abusing Prisoners at Adra Prison
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced in Los Angeles, California, on December 12 that a federal grand jury had returned a superseding indictment charging former Syrian government official Samir Ousman Alsheikh with torture. The superseding indictment adds three counts of torture and one count of conspiracy to commit torture to the visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud charges in the initial indictment against Alsheikh in August.
According to court documents, Alsheikh, 72, of Lexington, South Carolina, was the head of Damascus Central Prison, colloquially known as Adra Prison, from approximately 2005 through 2008. In that role, he allegedly ordered subordinates to inflict, and was sometimes personally involved in inflicting, severe physical and mental pain and suffering on political and other prisoners.
In particular, Alsheikh allegedly ordered some prisoners to Adra Prison's "Punishment Wing," where prisoners were beaten while suspended from the ceiling with their arms extended and were subjected to a device known as the "Flying Carpet," which folded their bodies in half at the waist, causing excruciating pain and sometimes resulting in fractured spines.
According to the Justice Department, Alsheikh held a variety of positions in the Syrian police and the Syrian state security apparatus, was associated with the Syrian Ba'ath Party that ruled Syria, and was appointed governor of the province of Deir Ez-Zour by then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. The superseding indictment alleges that Alsheikh immigrated to the United States in 2020 and applied for U.S. citizenship in 2023, and that he lied about his crimes to obtain a U.S. green card.
United States Attorney Martin Estrada said the allegations of grave human rights abuses in the superseding indictment are chilling and that the United States will not be a safe harbor for those accused of committing atrocities abroad. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, said Alsheikh is charged with torturing political dissidents and other prisoners to deter opposition to the regime of then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and that the victims of such violent treatment continue to suffer long after the physical acts of torture have ceased.
If convicted, Alsheikh faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy to commit torture charge, 20 years for each of the three torture charges, and 10 years for each of the two immigration fraud charges. An indictment is merely an allegation, and Alsheikh is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua O. Mausner and Justice Department Trial Attorneys Patrick Jasperse and Alexandra Skinnion. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Related: Assad Regime Falls in Syria as Rebels Enter Damascus and Assad Flees
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于洛杉矶市中心的爱德华·罗伊巴尔联邦大楼与美国联邦法院大楼，加州中区联邦地区法院所在地。Alexis Doine 摄，CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons（本图为原图裁切）。 / Photo: The Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and United States Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, home of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Photo by Alexis Doine, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).
