A decade later, the prospect of accountability.
The image of desperate people in the al-Yarmouk neighborhood waiting for humanitarian aid in the rubble of shattered buildings became an iconic image of the Syrian conflict that began in 2011.
The photo was shared millions of times on social media and appeared on a giant screen in New York’s Times Square to remind a distracted public that in restive Syrian neighborhoods civilians remained besieged and on the brink of starvation.
At the time, Chris Guinness, a spokesman for the UN agency distributing humanitarian aid described the photo as “cinematic in its scope and grandeur, and yet, it’s deeply personal,” and he added, “Etched on each small face is a very personal private story. And I think it’s the combination of the epic and the miniature which partly explains it.”
The photo was released as the Security Council debated a resolution urging the Syrian government of open besieged areas which was ignored by the regime.
Now, there appears to be some accountability a decade after those horrific events due to a coordinated efforts between Germany and Sweden.
On Wednesday, German and Swedish authorities announced the arrest of 8 men suspected of committing crimes against humanity in Syria. The alleged atrocities took place against the residents of al-Yarmouk, a mostly Palestinian district in the Syrian capital. The neighborhood was cordoned off by the Assad regime in a policy aimed to break the 2011 uprising. The residents were cut off from supplies of food, water, and medical supplies, but the bigger danger was often at the checkpoints.
German prosecutors say those detained in Germany belonged to a pro-government militia that manned checkpoints to brutally enforce the blockade. At least one of the militia members was a Syrian intelligence officer.
The German prosecutor alleges that those arrested specifically targeted and shot civilian protestors. Four of the suspects “physically abused civilians severely and repeatedly,” according to an official statement.
In addition, three civilian victims allegedly arrested by the militia and turned over to Branch 227, a notorious Syrian prison, were killed in a massacre at the prison where 41 also people died.
The arrests could be made due to universal jurisdiction in German and Sweden which allows national courts to prosecute crime against humanity even if those crimes took place outside national borders. Both countries have used the legal procedure to open cases.
The first trial worldwide trial on state torture in Syria opened in Germany in April 2020. The latest prosecution was in a Swedish court last month. In 2023, France issued an arrest warrant against the Syrian President, Bashar al Assad that has withstood legal challenges and convicted 3 top Syrian officials of crimes against humanity in absentia in May.
