Torture Photos from "Caesar"

On January 21, 2014, the media grew abuzz with startling news of "industrial scale" torture, abuse, and murder of at least 11,000 Syrian prisoners by their government, proven to an unusual degree by actual photographs and a rigorous study by credible investigators of such crimes. The allegations and invocation of Nazi death camp parallels made waves, among other places, at the Geneva 2 peace conference which began in Montreaux the following day.

The claims are lodged originally by an alleged defector - code-named "Ceasar" - in possession of thousands of photos he says were taken, by him, in the Syrian prison system where he worked. With funding from Qatar, the claim was bolstered with the hire of British law firm Carter-Ruck, and a team of three war crimes prosecutors. This team produced a report (stamped "CONFIDENTIAL" but ultimately released on the 21st, via CNN and the Guardian) that seems a bit short on rigor in verifying the photos, and long on trusting "Caesar's" characterization of things. (deeper analysis pending)

The photographs, as far as can be seen, do suggest systematic torture and abuse of captive men, as noted including various bodily injuries, starvation, and finally various kinds of execution. We can't know how many images of how many bodies there truly are, or how representative the publicized few are. But it seems criminal abuses are being carried out to whatever degree, and merit close scrutiny. With this report of questionable integrity being precisely the scrutiny thus far, there is great reason to doubt just when and where the photos were taken, by whom, of whom, and under what circumstances. The core assertion of the report, that it proves crimes "by the current Syrian regime." so convenient in play at Geneva, remains not only uncertain but in fact highly questionable.

The Defector and the Photographs
(forthcoming...)

The Report and Media Promotion
(forthcoming...) Title: A Report into the credibility of certain evidence with regard to Torture and Execution of Persons Incarcerated by the current Syrian regime (Prepared for Carter-­‐Ruck and Co. Solicitors of London.)

The report is marked on each page "CONFIDENTIAL," but this stringest measure was waived in the interest of bringing "Caesar's" important allegations before the global public. This was done through two media outlets - CNN in the United States, and the Guardian in the UK.
 * CNN PDF link(file name: Syria Board of Inquiry Doha PDF)
 * Guardian online readable posting
 * Guardian PDF link

Interestingly, the Qatari-owned al-Jazeera was relegated, along with the rest, to follower status on this story. This may suggest the seriousness with which the house of Thani has approached this information offensive against "the current Syrian regime."


 * CNN article: EXCLUSIVE: Gruesome Syria photos may prove torture by Assad regime

The Wall Street Journal saw fit to revive the allegations with this July 25 video. It re-explains Caesar and his photos, identifies the "hospital 601" they think the photos were taken at (suspiciously close to Assad's palace). Thousands of corpses were processed, they note, and it's believed they were tortured prisoners. Stephen Rapp from the US State Department is shown addressing the Atlantic Council in support of Caesar's "the Syrian government has a mania for documentation that we haven't seen since the Khmer Rouge or the Nazis." As an example he cites these photos of people burned, starved, gouged and killed by somebody, and then docuumented - in the thousands. Rapp doesn't even mention or seem to care if the government killed the people - it's the simple documentation that seems to upset him. The one image the WSJ video adds, over and over, is the one inset at left. We're to presume this apparently Christian man rose up against the government and it was they, not the Islamist rebels ravaging Syria, who killed him. The proof, as usual - the government wound up with the body, and documented it.

Syria

 * Xinhua reports
 * The Syrian Ministry of Justice on Wednesday denied a recent report by the British Carter-Ruck law office that accused the Syrian administration of torturing and killing thousands of detainees in government-run detention centers, the official SANA news agency said. The report is "politicized and lacks objectivity and professionalism," the ministry said in a statement after the report was firstly published on Monday, describing it as "baseless."
 * They didn't claim there were no photos, nor that the photos did not depict crimes. Rather:

"The report is a mere gathering of photos of unidentified persons proving that a number of them are foreign terrorists from several nationalities who had been killed when attacking the military checkpoints and civil institutions," the statement said, adding that "part of them are civilians and military personnel who were tortured and killed by the armed terrorist groups because of their support to the state."''
 * And of course they claim it was a politically motivated operation:

The ministry said "the aforementioned law office is clearly linked to hostile sides to the Syrian Arab Republic since the beginning of the crisis in Syria." ... The ministry added that the report was published two days before the Geneva II conference, undoubtedly proving that it has a political aim and tried to undermine the efforts exerted to realize peace in Syria and end terrorism in the country.

Russia
Russia's Prime Minister Medvedev met CNN's Christiane Amanpour in his office, for a televised presentation with the photos she's certain are of crimes by Russia's ally. As the summary says:
 * “These are crimes, of course,” Medvedev told Amanpour at his office outside Moscow, but the case “should have firm proof legally.”


 * “I know there are a lot of victims, and that's very sad, but that does not mean that the existence of victims or victims in a particular place is the proof that those are the victims of the regime and not the bandits who were doing something or any other force.”


 * “You know, in my university where I was studying law, I was taught that until the fact of guilt is proved in court, a person cannot be claimed guilty,” he said. “We cannot say that Assad is a criminal without investigation,” he told Amanpour. “So probably this other trial should be held on the territory of Syria after the conflict subsides. It's the right of the Syrian people.”

Turkey

 * Hurriyet Daily News: Syria unable to explain away photos showing torture in Syria, Turkish FM says
 * Syrian officials attending peace talks in Montreux, Switzerland, Jan. 23 could not dismiss photos that purported to show evidence of systematic torture, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said. The regime could not say that they had no connection with the photos. The person who took the photos testified in front of a group of international lawyers,” Davutoğlu said. “How can someone produce 55,000 photos if nothing occurred?” 

[...]
 * “The regime has two paths [open to it]. Either it will step into serious negotiations or all the members of the regime will be tried in The Hague or in the International Criminal Court. One or all of these will happen in the upcoming period,” Davutoğlu said.


 * When Damascus does something that is revealed, some try to protect the Syrian government and put Turkey in a difficult position, Davutoğlu added. “I am surprised by those who are asking, ‘What was going on behind this?’ instead of feeling indignation after seeing those photos,” he said.

U.S.
As BBC news reported, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the new evidence "underscores that it makes it even more important that we make progress [at Geneva II]. The situation on the ground is so horrific that we need to get a political transition in place, and we need to get the Assad regime out of power. ... These most recent images are extremely disturbing; they are horrible to look at and they illustrate apparent actions that would be serious international crimes, and we have long said that those responsible for these kinds of serious violations in Syria must be held to account."

U.K.
As BBC News reported Foreign Secretary William Hague expressed similar sentiments, telling the House of Commons: "I've seen a lot of this evidence, it is compelling and horrific. And it is important that those who have perpetrated these crimes are one day held to account."

ACLOS Findings
(forthcoming... )