As he calls for help, they taunt him in Russian, his agonizing screams drowned out with laughter. In the background of the video, which was uploaded online, a nationalist Russian military song, “I am Russian Special Forces,” plays.
The victim of this painful amateur video is Mohammed, a 31-year-old Syrian construction worker and father of four young children, who disappeared on his way home from his job in neighboring Lebanon in March 2017.
Mohammed’s last words were those of the Shahada, a declaration of his Muslim faith.
Those who killed and beheaded Mohammed, scattered frescoes on his lifeless chest in Cyrillic. It said “for VDV and reconnaissance,” a reference to the Russian air forces.
The Kremlin denies any links with Wagner and insists that private military companies are illegal in Russia. Prigozhin had previously denied being linked to Wagner. Neither he nor any of his companies would speak to CNN in recent years, despite several attempts to seek comment for this report.
In 2019 President Vladimir Putin said, “These people risk their lives and overall this is also a contribution to the fight against terrorism … but this is not a Russian state, not a Russian army.”
The Russian military has been operating in Syria since 2015, and there is enough evidence to show that Wagner’s presence in the country is linked to Russian military deployment.
Abdullah, a refugee who fled Syria in 2017, has never spoken publicly about the murder of his brother before. He broke his silence in an exclusive interview with CNN, he says, to draw international attention to the tragedy that devastated his family.
In order to protect family members living in regime-controlled areas of Syria, Abdullah requested that CNN hide their full identity and the location of the interview.
Abdullah said, “My brother is gone, he will never come back.” “I want the world to hear about my brother’s case, so these criminals are held accountable.”
last phone call to family
In one of Mohamed’s last phone calls, in April 2017, he told Abdullah that he had been detained by the regime after returning to Syria, after working for nearly eight months in Lebanon. He said he was taken to Damascus and forced to join the army, but planned to leave.
Ten days later, Mohammed called to say that he was being sent to Holmes the next day and that he would run away at night.
This was his last call to his family.
“He said, ‘Give your best to my father and my mother, ask them to forgive me, I’m going to do something, I’m about to leave, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get back to you or not, ‘ Abdullah recalled.
He said that his brother had asked him to “take care of my wife”, adding: “I am entrusting you with my family.”
“It was the sort of thing, it was like he knew something was going to happen to him,” Abdullah explained.
Mohammed never met his youngest daughter.
With the Syrian civil war breaking out and poor internet and phone connections in their remote village, it was difficult for Mohamed’s family to find out what had happened to him.
It wasn’t until a video showing her torture surfaced online months later that her loved ones realized the real horrors that had come upon her.
“One day a boy from our town sent me a video clip, he said: ‘Watch the video, it could be your brother.’ Of course, I recognized my brother by his clothes, his voice, his appearance,” Abdullah said, his voice aching. “They were being tortured by soldiers, they weren’t Syrian, we didn’t understand what they were saying.”
Abdullah told other family members what he had seen in the video, but did not share it with them, fearing what it would do to his elderly parents.
“When I saw that first video, I still hoped he was still alive,” he said. “He was being tortured, but he was alive, he was shaking. We were hoping he was still alive and in the hospital.”
His father went to Damascus in search of his son in hospitals and prisons in the Syrian capital.
“About two months later, a second video surfaced when we thought our brother had died,” the soft-spoken 27-year-old, who now appears distraught, told CNN.
“When I saw the second video [which showed Mohamad being beheaded], I stayed in a room … I didn’t leave the room for three days. He was not only my elder brother. He was my friend. We were always together,” Abdullah said.
“My (other) brother developed a kind of psychological illness from the video.”
landmark legal case
Wagner’s forces have been used as spear-tips in Syria, but their shadowy presence allows Moscow to deny it somewhat.
CNN spoke to a source close to Wagner, who had visited wounded fighters on his return to Moscow. Furthermore, in the days following the attack, an independent Russian media outlet visited the mother of a fighter killed in Syria, confirming that her son was not a Russian regular soldier.
The Russian Foreign Ministry would only say that these contractors were working independently and had gone to Syria themselves.
As Wagner’s footprint has grown in the Middle East and Africa, a major launchpad has become the Russian military base in Latakia on Syria’s Mediterranean coast. CNN and other researchers have been monitoring the frequency of flights from Latakia to other theaters throughout the region. A document obtained by CNN details the agreement reached between Yevgeny Prigozhin and a Russian Air Force 223rd flying detachment to use their planes.
There is increasing evidence that Mohammed’s case may be just the tip of the iceberg.
The Russian government denied the allegations and insisted that the contractors in the CAR “are unarmed and do not participate in hostilities.” The CAR government also denied the allegations but said that the facts would be established by the investigation.
“The complaint … is an unprecedented attempt to fill the gap with impunity and respond to Russian suspects,” advocacy groups said in a statement.
“Syrian activists and victims of atrocities committed by all sides of the conflict in Syria have been working tirelessly since 2011 to seek accountability,” he said, adding: “To achieve justice and redress for the victims and their families. There are limited avenues for
The International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction in Syria, as the country is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, leaving countless victims of the conflict with few options to seek accountability.
In their pursuit of justice, Syrians are increasingly turning to European courts – particularly in Germany and France – under the concept of “universal jurisdiction”.
This gives a national court jurisdiction over serious crimes against international law, even when they were not committed on the territory of the country.
Clemens Bechtart, a lawyer for FIDH, said he opted to file the case in Russia because of the “unique opportunity in Russia to claim jurisdiction because of the strong legal basis … it is the natural court for this case.” ”
“We are talking about Russian criminals who could potentially be arrested in Russia if there was a political and judicial will to pursue the case. Universal jurisdiction should always be treated as a last resort. ”
So far there has been no stir over the lawsuit filed by Abdullah in Moscow.
A similar request by Novaya Gazeta to launch an investigation into its findings in Mohamed’s case was rejected by Russia’s main investigative body – the Investigative Committee – in 2019.
Abdullah never heard of Wagner. He says that he only wants to see his brother’s executioners held accountable.
“If no one had given them the green light, they wouldn’t have done anything like this,” he said. “We will not be like them and ask for it” [that] what happened to my brother [also] happens to them, [but] At least they deserve jail.”
Abdullah says his brother’s death has left him with many challenges, from caring for Mohammed’s wife and children to dealing with the trauma of the horrors seen in those videos.
It has also propelled him on a long and potentially dangerous quest for justice against a shadowy, faceless enemy. But he believes it is worth the risk.
“I’m not worried about myself,” he said. “I just want them to be held accountable, even if it cost me my life.”
CNN’s Aid Kurdi contributed to this report.
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