It is hoped that after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, families who found their loved ones in photographs by a whistleblower bearing the name “Caesar,” showing victims tortured to death by the regime, will benefit from the ongoing legal actions for justice against the perpetrator.
Newly found old photographs from the Baath regime’s collapse: “Caesar,” a military officer responsible for documenting corpses brought to military hospitals during the civil war, has gained renewed attention because of this.
The images reportedly contain around 11,000 victims aged 20-40 years, showing systematic torture and inhumane treatment of people by the regime.
Yasmin Mashaan, a founding member of the Caesar Families Association, spoke with Anadolu on the impact of the photographs on legal processes and the importance they hold for families of detainees.
These photographs have allowed members to identify loved ones; however, the search for those who were detained and tortured or whose whereabouts remain known continues.
“No family in Sednaya has been able to recover their loved ones’ bodies,” she said. “We are striving to learn the fate of the missing.”
Mashaan now calls Germany her home as she described the emotional pain of recognizing her brother in Caesar’s photos while four other siblings were lost in Syria.
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“Most important for families is to find out what happened in the last moments of their loved ones and get the justice they deserve,” she said.
“Despite the magnitude of the regime’s crimes, we continue our pursuit of justice with hope.”
Mashaan talked about the pain families endure when identifying their loved ones, because they only have the photograph of him.
“Evidence aside, the lack of funerals or transfers of bodies keeps reopening wounds,” she said.
According to her, they are working with the International Commission on Missing Persons to locate mass graves, recover bodies from there, and identify the corpses.