Syria
Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan, Abdel Salam Mahmoud (known as the Dabbagh case, after the victim)
Type of liability
Personne physique
Alleged perpetrator(s)
Jamil HASSAN, Ali MAMLUK, Abdel Salam MAHMOUD
Nationality of alleged perpetrator(s)
Syrian
Legal classification of crime(s)
Complicity in crimes against humanity
War crimes
Source of the complaint
NGO
Victim
Ongoing proceedings
non
Regime
4 - 113 CP
Summary of facts
In November 2013, Patrick Dabbagh and his father Mazen Dabbagh, both French-Syrian nationals residing in Syria, were arrested at their home by officers of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence and detained for interrogation at the Mezzeh detention center, on the outskirts of Damascus. They have never been seen again.
In July 2018, the Dabbagh family was formally notified by the Syrian authorities that Patrick and Mazen Dabbagh had died. According to the UN Commission of Inquiry, Mezzeh is one of the detention centers with the highest mortality rate.
Jamil Hassan was for many years an adviser to President Bashar al-Assad before becoming Director of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence in 2009. Hundreds of detainees under his control were allegedly subjected to torture, inhuman treatment and extrajudicial executions.
Ali Mamluk is one of the founders of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence. Since June 2005, he has headed the National Security Bureau. Because of his role in the repression of the Syrian population, Ali Mamluk has been subject to European Union and United States sanctions since 2011.
Abdel Salam Mahmoud was in charge of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence at the Mezze military airport.
They are accused of being the indirect perpetrators of, or accomplices in, unlawful arrests, detentions, torture, sexual violence and other inhumane acts committed in the detention centers of these branches between May 2011 and July 2015.
Legal proceedings
In October 2018: the French authorities issue international arrest warrants against three senior officials of the Syrian intelligence services: Jamil Hassan (Director of Air Force Intelligence), Ali Mamluk (Director of the National Security Bureau) and Abdel Salam Mahmoud. They are accused of “complicity in acts of torture,” “complicity in enforced disappearances,” “complicity in crimes against humanity,” and “war crimes and war offenses.”<br />
In 2019: the investigating judges hear about 20 new witnesses who had been held at the Mezzeh center in Damascus.<br />
In 2021: the investigating judges hear the NGO Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) as a civil party in the proceedings.<br />
January 27, 2023: the prosecutor requests the committal of Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan and Abdel Salam Mahmoud for trial before the Paris Assize Court for complicity in crimes against humanity (willful attacks on life, torture, enforced disappearance, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty) and war offenses (extortion and concealment of extorted property) committed against Patrick Abdelkader and Mazzen Dabbagh.<br />
March 29, 2023: the investigating judges of the Crimes Against Humanity Unit of the Paris Judicial Court order the committal of Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan and Abdel Salam Mahmoud for trial before the Paris Assize Court on the same charges.<br />
From May 21 to 24, 2024: trial in absentia before the Paris Assize Court.<br />
May 24, 2024: Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan and Abdel Salam Mahmoud are sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for “complicity in a crime against humanity” and “war offense.”</p>
Legal issues
Complaint
Names of NGOs / Victim(s)
FIDH
LDH
SCM
Legal basis for jurisdiction (article)
Court of Assizes judgment
Sources
TRIAL International, "Universal Jurisdiction Annual Review 2022"