On June 16, 2025, the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt/Main sentenced former Syrian doctor Alaa M. to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and murder committed during the Assad regime’s persecution of opposition members.

The court found Alaa M. guilty of crimes against humanity in ten cases, including torture, sexual abuse, and killing two patients in his care. The defendant performed surgery without anesthesia, mutilated patients’ genital areas, and killed victims through lethal injection and deliberate medical neglect. The court emphasized that violations occurred in a hospital wing reserved for opposition members. The conviction rests on both German criminal law and international criminal law under Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute. The crimes against humanity charges reflected the defendant’s contribution to the Assad regime’s widespread assault on civilians, while war crimes charges applied to acts committed in military detention facilities during non-international armed conflict.

The case triggered universal jurisdiction, enabling German courts to prosecute international crimes without territorial or national connections. This principle has gained relevance as the ICC faces enforcement challenges regarding Syrian crimes, largely due to Russia and China’s veto of a 2014 UN Security Council resolution that would have referred the Syrian situation to the Court.

Another regional German court handed down the first conviction for Syrian civil war crimes in 2021, based on universal jurisdiction. The defense has announced plans to appeal the verdict.