Dutch police arrest Syrian immigrant accused of war crimes and ties to pro-Assad militias

Dutch authorities arrested a Syrian asylum-seeker on Tuesday accused of committing war crimes with a militia tied to the Assad regime.

The man who was not named by the Dutch Public Prosecution Service was accused of being a part of Liwa al-Quds, a militia that supported the Assad government through 2016 and fought near the northern border with Turkey.

The suspect, along with other members of his unit, the Syrian military security service, and the intelligence service of the air force, allegedly arrested a civilian in his home in the al-Nayrab camp.

The authorities launched an investigation after receiving a tip about the suspect in 2020.

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The fifth war crimes case in the Netherlands related to the Syrian war has been solved. A Syrian asylum-seeker was found guilty.

The arrest is a critical moment in the campaign to get justice for Syrians.

Two former Syrian intelligence officers were convicted in a landmark war crimes trial in Koblenz, Germany.

Universal jurisdiction, an international legal mechanism that allows Syrians and others living in countries such as Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden to submit complaints to the state's investigative war-crimes units for crimes they say are committed by Assad loyalists, has heralded both justice efforts.

Eyad al-Gharib, a former low-ranking intelligence official, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison on February 24, 2021, after being found guilty ofaiding and abetting 30 cases of crimes against humanity. He was found guilty in January of being the co-perpetrator of torture and overseeing the killings of 27 people.

Benedict said that the Dutch arrest would not have happened without Syrians who dared to share their stories and Syrian human rights organizations who have pursued justice for years.

The suspect will appear in court on Friday.