Will a landmark case involving torture in Syria lead to future prosecutions?

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Will a landmark¹ case involving torture in Syria lead to future prosecutions²?

Transcript³

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Eric Witte of the Open Justice Society about the conviction in a German court of a Syrian colonel on crimes against humanity stemming from the Syrian civil war.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The civil war in Syria has gone on so long that I feel obliged to begin this next story by reminding people of the basics. It's been almost a decade. It's killed an estimated half-a-million people. It's forced millions of Syrians to flee. And many Syrians who have been imprisoned⁴ by their government accused the government of torture. On Thursday, a German court sentenced a former Syrian colonel to life in prison for committing crimes against humanity. So what happens now? Eric Witte is with the Open Society Justice Initiative, which supported several witnesses in the case. Welcome.

ERIC WITTE: Thank you very much.

INSKEEP: What was it that the Syrian colonel had done, according to the court?

WITTE: This colonel was an intelligence officer in one of the detention⁵ facilities and oversaw⁶ a regime of torture within that facility. Some 4,000 cases of torture were testified to at the trial, along with murders, sexual violence, rape⁷ and other crimes.

INSKEEP: I'm shocked by many things there, and one of them is the sheer numbers. You didn't say four people, 40 people, 400 - you said 4,000 people abused in this way.

WITTE: That's right. And yet, you know, some victims of his crimes were able to see a measure of justice for their suffering, but 4,000 still pales in comparison with the overall scale and with the brutality⁸ of these crimes in Syria over a decade. So much more needs to be done.

INSKEEP: Yeah. Let's talk about that measure of justice. The German court sentenced the colonel to life in prison. How did he come before the court, and how significant is this ruling?

WITTE: So this case was really quite remarkable⁹. It was built by survivors¹⁰ of the torture and really validates¹¹ those efforts to painstakingly¹² document what happened to them, to work with organizations, including the Open Society Justice Initiative, to assemble a case, bring it to prosecutors¹⁴, and prosecutors were really able to bear out those facts at trial. And there have been a handful of other cases in Germany and other countries, and there may be a few more, but it's really a narrow pathway to justice. And so we think much more needs to be done so that accountability is really much more commensurate to the scale and the brutality of these crimes.

INSKEEP: Some people will wonder, was the colonel in custody¹⁵? Is he actually available to be put in prison?

WITTE: Yes. He was a free man, and then he was recognized, actually, by one of his victims, and that's when the case really got underway. He had come to Germany along with a number of other Syrians, hundreds of thousands of Syrians, in 2015, and one of his former victims recognized him.

INSKEEP: So what do activists¹⁶ do now?

WITTE: Well, there are cases underway in other countries. We're working, for example, with the prosecutor¹³ in Vienna to bring a case against another senior former official involved in torture and detention. We and partners have been involved in building cases for chemical weapons use in Syria and have filed criminal complaints in Germany, France and Sweden. But, you know, we think also that states should consider creating a court, specifically for Syria, by treaty.

INSKEEP: A special war crimes tribunal is what you're talking about. I've got to stop the discussion there. But Eric Witte of the Open Society Justice Initiative, thanks so much.

WITTE: Thank you so much.

(SOUNDBITE OF KIASMOS' "HELD")

1 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

2 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

5 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

6 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

7 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

8 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

9 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

10 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

11 validates   

v.证实( validate的第三人称单数 )；确证；使生效；使有法律效力

参考例句：

• Other research validates that when it comes to chocolate, type does matter. 其他的研究也证实了不同种类的巧克力确实功效不同。 来自互联网
• Trouble shoots equipment, review and validates data and complete reports. 管理错误描述设备，审查并确认试验数据，完成试验报告。 来自互联网

12 painstakingly   

adv. 费力地 苦心地

参考例句：

• Every aspect of the original has been closely studied and painstakingly reconstructed. 原作的每一细节都经过了仔细研究，费尽苦心才得以重现。
• The cause they contrived so painstakingly also ended in failure. 他们惨淡经营的事业也以失败而告终。

13 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

14 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

15 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

16 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》