THE HAGUE — A district court in The Hague handed down a 26-year prison sentence Monday to a former member of a pro-Assad Syrian militia, finding him guilty of crimes against humanity for torturing and sexually assaulting prisoners over a decade ago.
Judges determined that 58-year-old Rafik A. — whose surname was withheld by the court — served as an interrogator for the National Defense Forces in Salamiyah, Syria, during 2013 and 2014. That militia fought alongside the government of former President Bashar al-Assad, who was removed from power in December 2024.
Throughout the proceedings, Rafik A. consistently denied any involvement in the alleged crimes and claimed that witnesses who testified against him were lying.
Presiding judge Wim van Hattum outlined the court’s findings in a summary of the ruling, stating: “The suspect was engaged in torture, rape or other sexual abuse of eight victims in this case, either by committing the acts himself or by ordering others to do so.”
The conviction is historic on two fronts: it is the first time a Dutch court has found someone guilty of atrocities in Syria carried out by forces loyal to the Assad government, and it is also the first Dutch conviction in which sexual violence has been classified as a crime against humanity.
Similar legal proceedings against officials tied to the Assad era have been pursued in other European nations, including Germany.
Rafik A. had been residing in the Netherlands for several years under asylum seeker status before his arrest there in 2023.
Dutch law, operating under the principle of universal jurisdiction, permits courts to prosecute foreign nationals for serious crimes committed in other countries, provided that the accused or some of the victims have a presence in the Netherlands.
