Syria and U.S. courts issue rulings in cases involving war crimes and torture

Syria’s Military Criminal Court has issued its first verdicts regarding the sectarian violence that occurred on the Syrian coast in March 2025. One defendant received a death sentence, while others were sentenced to 25 and 20 years in prison; one defendant was acquitted. The violence, which resulted in an estimated 1,426 deaths, involved attacks on security headquarters by forces loyal to ousted president Bashar al-Assad, followed by mass killings of the Alawite minority. UN investigators have suggested that interim government forces and fighters loyal to former authorities likely committed war crimes during this period.

In a separate legal proceeding in the United States, former Syrian military official Samir Ousman Alsheikh faces sentencing in a Los Angeles federal court. A jury previously convicted Alsheikh of conspiracy to commit torture and three counts of torture related to his leadership at Adra Prison between 2005 and 2008. Prosecutors, citing victim testimony of severe physical abuse, have requested a minimum sentence of 80 years. Defense attorneys have requested a five-year sentence, citing the defendant’s age and medical condition.