叙利亚前监狱长在洛杉矶被追加酷刑指控：被控在阿德拉监狱折磨囚犯
美国司法部加州中区联邦检察官办公室12月12日在加利福尼亚州洛杉矶市宣布，联邦大陪审团当天交回替代起诉书，指控叙利亚前政府官员 Samir Ousman Alsheikh 犯酷刑罪。替代起诉书在今年8月最初起诉所列的签证欺诈与企图入籍欺诈两项罪名之外，新增三项酷刑罪与一项共谋酷刑罪。
据法庭文件，Alsheikh 现年72岁，居住在南卡罗来纳州 Lexington，约在2005年至2008年间担任大马士革中央监狱（俗称阿德拉监狱）监狱长。检方指控，他在任内命令下属对政治犯与其他囚犯施加严重的身体与精神痛苦，有时还亲自动手。
据起诉书，Alsheikh 被控将部分囚犯送进监狱的「惩罚翼」（第13翼）：囚犯在那里被吊在天花板上、双臂伸展着挨打，还被施以一种名为「飞毯」的刑具——将身体从腰部对折，造成剧痛，有时导致脊椎骨折。
据司法部，Alsheikh 曾在叙利亚警察与国家安全机构担任多种职务，与统治叙利亚的阿拉伯复兴社会党有关联，2011年被时任叙利亚总统巴沙尔·阿萨德任命为代尔祖尔省省长。替代起诉书指控，他于2020年移民美国、2023年申请美国公民身份，并被控为取得美国绿卡而就其罪行撒谎。
加州中区联邦检察官 Martin Estrada 表示，这份替代起诉书中严重侵犯人权的指控令人不寒而栗，美国不会成为被控在国外犯下暴行者的避风港。司法部刑事司首席副助理司法部长 Nicole M. Argentieri 表示，Alsheikh 被控折磨政治异见者与其他囚犯，以震慑对阿萨德政权的反对，其后又被控撒谎取得绿卡；这类暴力对待的受害者在酷刑行为停止许久之后仍在承受痛苦。
如罪名成立，Alsheikh 就共谋酷刑罪最高面临20年监禁、三项酷刑罪每项最高20年监禁、两项移民欺诈罪名每项最高10年监禁。起诉书只是指控，Alsheikh 在被法庭证明有罪之前依法被推定无罪。本案由国土安全调查局（HSI）与联邦调查局（FBI）调查，承办检察官为助理联邦检察官 Joshua O. Mausner 与司法部审判律师 Patrick Jasperse、Alexandra Skinnion。（来源：美国司法部）
关联：叙利亚阿萨德政权垮台：反政府武装攻入大马士革，阿萨德出逃
Former Syrian Prison Chief Charged With Torture in Los Angeles: Accused of Abusing Prisoners at Adra Prison
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced in Los Angeles, California, on December 12 that a federal grand jury had returned a superseding indictment charging former Syrian government official Samir Ousman Alsheikh with torture. The superseding indictment adds three counts of torture and one count of conspiracy to commit torture to the visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud charges in the initial indictment against Alsheikh in August.
According to court documents, Alsheikh, 72, of Lexington, South Carolina, was the head of Damascus Central Prison, colloquially known as Adra Prison, from approximately 2005 through 2008. In that role, he allegedly ordered subordinates to inflict, and was sometimes personally involved in inflicting, severe physical and mental pain and suffering on political and other prisoners.
In particular, Alsheikh allegedly ordered some prisoners to Adra Prison's "Punishment Wing," where prisoners were beaten while suspended from the ceiling with their arms extended and were subjected to a device known as the "Flying Carpet," which folded their bodies in half at the waist, causing excruciating pain and sometimes resulting in fractured spines.
According to the Justice Department, Alsheikh held a variety of positions in the Syrian police and the Syrian state security apparatus, was associated with the Syrian Ba'ath Party that ruled Syria, and was appointed governor of the province of Deir Ez-Zour by then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. The superseding indictment alleges that Alsheikh immigrated to the United States in 2020 and applied for U.S. citizenship in 2023, and that he lied about his crimes to obtain a U.S. green card.
United States Attorney Martin Estrada said the allegations of grave human rights abuses in the superseding indictment are chilling and that the United States will not be a safe harbor for those accused of committing atrocities abroad. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, said Alsheikh is charged with torturing political dissidents and other prisoners to deter opposition to the regime of then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and that the victims of such violent treatment continue to suffer long after the physical acts of torture have ceased.
If convicted, Alsheikh faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy to commit torture charge, 20 years for each of the three torture charges, and 10 years for each of the two immigration fraud charges. An indictment is merely an allegation, and Alsheikh is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua O. Mausner and Justice Department Trial Attorneys Patrick Jasperse and Alexandra Skinnion. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Related: Assad Regime Falls in Syria as Rebels Enter Damascus and Assad Flees
来源：美国司法部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：位于洛杉矶市中心的爱德华·罗伊巴尔联邦大楼与美国联邦法院大楼，加州中区联邦地区法院所在地。Alexis Doine 摄，CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons（本图为原图裁切）。 / Photo: The Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and United States Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, home of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Photo by Alexis Doine, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).
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