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Jamil Hassan

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Jamil Hassan
جميل حسن
Director of Air Force Intelligence Directorate
In office
1 July 2009 – 7 July 2019
Preceded byAbdel-Fatah Qudsiyeh
Succeeded byGhassan Jaoudat Ismail
Deputy Director of General Intelligence Directorate
In office
2004–2009
Personal details
BornFebruary 1952 (age 72)
Political partyBa'ath Party
Military service
Allegiance Ba'athist Syria
Branch/serviceSyrian Armed Forces
Rank Major General
UnitSyrian Air Force
Battles/wars1982 Hama massacre
Syrian civil war

Jamil Hassan (Arabic: جميل حسن) was the head of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate and a former close adviser to President Bashar al-Assad.

Hassan oversaw a network of detention facilities including the Mezzeh Prison where inmates were tortured.[1] He is reported to be under house arrest.[2]

Career

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Hassan was appointed head of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate (SAFI) in 2009.[3]

Sanctions

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Hassan was sanctioned by the European Union on 9 May 2011.[4][5][6] He was added to the European Union's sanction list on the grounds that he "involved in violence against the civilian population" during the Syrian civil war.[7] On 29 June 2011, the United States also sanctioned him due to his involvement in human rights abuses in Syria.[8]

Hassan gave an interview for The Independent in November 2016, proving the claims of his death false. He stated that the tactics used in the 1982 Hama revolt would have ended the Syrian Civil War much faster.[9]

Criminal investigations

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Germany

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In June 2018 German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that Germany's chief federal prosecutor had issued an international arrest warrant against Hassan for his alleged involvement in the torture and murder of hundreds of prisoners.[10]

France

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In November 2018, French prosecutors issued international arrest warrants for three senior Syrian intelligence and government officials: Ali Mamlouk, Abdel Salam Mahmoud and Jamil Hassan. The warrants bring charges including collusion in torture, forced disappearances, crimes against humanity and war crimes.[11] Four days of hearings at the Paris Cour d'assises started on 21 May 2024, accusing the three men of involvement in the disappearance, torture and killing of two French citizens between 2013 and 2017.[12] Hassan was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia on May 25.[13][14]

United States

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On 9 December 2024, after the fall of the Assad regime, the U.S. Department of Justice charged the 72-year-old Hassan and Abdul Salam Mahmoud, a brigadier general in SAFI, with conspiring to torture American and Syrian civilians at Mezzeh prison between 2012 and 2019.[15] The indictment was the first time the U.S. criminally charged top Syrian officials for human rights abuses during the Assad regime.[16][17]

Personal life

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He owned a house in an affluent are of central Damascus.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Syria: Inside the abandoned homes of Assad's enforcers". www.bbc.com. 2024.
  2. ^ "Военный обозреватель".
  3. ^ "First circle". France 24. Archived from the original on 4 June 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  4. ^ Bashar al-Assad's inner circle BBC News, 20 July 2012
  5. ^ Syria's Assad 'reshuffles security chiefs' UPI, 21 October 2010
  6. ^ List of 13 Syrian officials blacklisted by the EU Youkal Retrieved 21 July 2012 (Arabic)
  7. ^ "List of natural and legal persons". Official Journal of the EU. 19 January 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Jamil Hassan". Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  9. ^ Robert Fisk: "Tougher tactics would have ended Syrian war, claims the country's top intelligence general" The Independent vom 26. November 2016
  10. ^ „International Arrest Warrant: Germany Takes Aim at Assad's Torture Boss" Spiegel Online from 8 June 2018
  11. ^ „France issues arrest warrants for senior Syrian officials" Reuters November 2018
  12. ^ Eleonore Dermy (21 May 2024). "France begins its first war crimes trial of Syrian officials". Al-Monitor. Wikidata Q126010156. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024.
  13. ^ Ayad, Christophe (25 May 2024). "Torture in Syria: Paris court sentences three senior officials from Assad's regime to life imprisonment". Le Monde.
  14. ^ "French court sentences 3 Syrian officials to life in prison in absentia for war crimes". AP News. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  15. ^ Singh, Kanishka (9 December 2024). "Two former Syrian intelligence officials face US war crimes charges". Reuters.
  16. ^ "Syrian Military Officials Charged With War Crimes as Government Falls". New York Times. 9 December 2024. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  17. ^ "Criminal Charges Unsealed Against Two Former High-Ranking Syrian Government Intelligence Officials for War Crimes against Americans and Other Civilians". US Department of Justice. 9 December 2024. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
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