A US citizen has won a $50 million lawsuit against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad over kidnapping, imprisonment and torture, nearly eight years after he was released from detention. This UNN reports with reference to Middle East Monitor.
Kevin Dawes, 41, an American freelance journalist, was detained by forces loyal to the Assad regime after crossing into northern Syria from Turkey in 2012. Dawes was then transferred to the Syrian military intelligence branch in Damascus. There he was kept in a windowless cell and repeatedly tortured.
Finally, in 2016, he was released. Russia, as an ally of Syria, mediated the release.
In October 2021, Dawes filed a lawsuit with the help of the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), accusing the Assad regime of abuse and torture.
According to the torture judge's ruling, the four-year ordeal left Dawes with permanent nerve damage and other physical ailments that continue to cause him "profound and prolonged agony.
Throughout his detention, the Syrian regime failed to notify the U.S. government of his imprisonment, giving another prisoner, British citizen Abbas Khan, the opportunity to inform his family during a prison visit regarding Dawes. A British investigation later revealed that Khan was later "willfully and deliberately killed," but Damascus denies the allegation and says he committed suicide while in custody.
"Many of the legal precedents cited in the judge's ruling were created from the cases of deceased friends. The magnitude of the Syrian tragedy cannot be underestimated," the American said after Tuesday's ruling.
It is reported that he can now access payment of the judgment through the U.S. Victims of State Terrorism Fund (USVSST), which is funded by proceeds from sanctions that the U.S. has imposed on states such as Syria and associated entities and individuals.