Amjad Yousef, a warrant officer in the Syrian Military Intelligence Directorate, has been designated by the United States for his role in committing gross human rights violations, specifically extrajudicial killings, during the Tadamon Massacre of unarmed civilians in 2013.
The Tadamon Massacre resulted in the execution of 41 individuals, according to a March 6 news release. The U.S. urged the Assad regime to end to all human rights violations and abuses, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial killings.
“I am taking action to hold accountable Amjad Yousef, a Syrian official involved in the April 2013 massacre of at least 41 civilians. The U.S. continues to promote justice for victims of the Assad regime and stands with the brave Syrians enduring twelve years of conflict,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken posted on Twitter.
Blinken said the U.S. would not waver in its support for the brave Syrians who risk their lives to hold the Assad regime accountable, according to the release. He said the U.S. will pursue every measure to find justice for victims and survivors of atrocities and to hold those responsible accountable, including the Assad regime and its allies.
“Accountability and justice for the crimes, violations, and abuses committed against Syrians are essential to a stable, just and enduring peace in Syria and the region,” Blinken said in the release.
It has been 12 years since the start of the Syrian conflict, during which time the Assad regime has been responsible for numerous crimes against humanity, the release reported. Footage of this 2013 massacre and reports of the ongoing killing and abuse of Syrians is a sobering reminder for why relations should not be normalized with the Assad regime unless enduring progress toward a political resolution occurs.
“The United States calls on the Assad regime to cease all violations and abuses of human rights, including but not limited to extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and torture,” Blinken said in the release.
In April 2022, The Guardian reported two academics, in collaboration with a group of researchers, managed to uncover the identity of the Syrian war criminal involved in the killing of civilians during the 2013 Tadamon neighborhood massacre in Damascus. They used open-source intelligence and social media to collect evidence, which was then used by German prosecutors to bring charges against him.
The Guardian article further sheds light on the difficulties confronted by individuals pursuing justice for war crimes in Syria, such as the unavailability of witnesses and the hazards encountered by those involved in the investigations.
