A new witness has recently provided Zaman al-Wasl with new information about doctor Alaa Mousa, who was arrested in Germany on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria.
The witness, Mazen (a pseudonym), said, “I was arrested in late 2012, on the Syrian-Lebanese border, and was taken to Military Security Branch 261, in Homs, where I was detained for about 40 days, and was subjected to extreme physical and psychological torture. The prisoners in that branch were treated in imaginably brutal ways, and many died under torture.
“I was moved to a number of other security branches in Damascus, for interrogation, the last of which was Branch 235 of the Syrian Military Intelligence. There, I was put in a small cell, ,that initially held 4 detainees but eventually we reached 14.
“During my period of detention in the Palestine Branch, Mousa was present at the branch. He was infamous with the older detainees, who told me that he was from Al-Hawash, Homs. In the three times that I met him, he looked nothing like the doctor. He was a torturer, a jailer and an executioner devoid of humanity and mercy.
According to the witness, Mousa prescribed drugs arbitrarily without conducting any medical examinations, most of which were incompatible with the patients’ conditions.
“One detainee, a Palestinian doctor called Noor, had diabetes, and died because of one of Al’s prescriptions, who was apathetic to our please to help him when his condition had worsened. He told us to let him die, which happened four days later.
“Another detainee, K. A., who arrived in the branch in mid-2013, and shortly after was taken for interrogation, but when he was returned, he was passed out. When he regained consciousness, he told us about the torture sessions he had just been through. He said 5 people laid him on a bed and started injecting him with all sorts of drugs all over his body, learning how to use a needle on him.
“ Mousa, who was present, might have been training these nurses or jailers to inject needles, or perhaps he was just doing it for his own pleasure and entertainment. K. A.’s condition contuned to deteriorate, losing up to 50 kg in just one month.
“ Mousa was a criminal and a Shabiha member, and held no respect to his profession or the ethics of the job, providing no help whatsoever to the people who needed it and who continued to suffer from torture and disease without release.”
Mazen also revealed that back then, Ala Musa has worked in drug trafficking in the security branches, embezzling money that is supposedly used on the medicine prescribed to the detainees.
The witness gave an accurate description of Ala Musa, describing him as bigger than average, tall, with a full body and a whitish complexion. “We were not allowed to look directly at the jailers or the doctor, but sometimes we were able to steal glances. I saw him from different angles, and I am sure that it was him that I saw back in the Palestine Branch. I saw his photos spread on websites and social media pages and recently on a TV report.”
Zaman Al-Wasl has met with the doctor Mohamed Wahbi, an urologist who joined the military hospital in February 2011, and witnessed many inhuman, racist and sectarian practices by the hospital staff, including director Brigadier Ali Assi. Wahbi confirmed the witness’s description of Mousa, saying that is quite likely that Mousa has committed the crimes he is accused of. “From February 2011 to June 2012, I worked with Mousa, and he may have been assigned to the Palestine branch at the time.”
Mazen, who is residing in Europe, expressed his willingness to testify against Mousa in German courts, and that he can be reached through Zaman al-Wasl, provided that he is contacted directly by a public prosecutor or an attorney or a trusted organization known for its work on this file, as to ensure his safety and the safety of his family.
German law prosecutes criminals who reside in Germany and who have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. In addition to Mousa’s arrest and the start of the proceedings of his trial, he will be stripped of his refugee status based on the reasons given by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, which state that cancellation is permitted if the person: he has committed a crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes;
he has committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his admission to that country as a refugee;
he has been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations."
On June 22, 2020, the German prosecution arrested Mousa at his place of residence in the state of Hessen, on suspicion of crimes against humanity.
Zaman Al Wasl
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