New evidence emerges on Syria torture doctor posing as refugee in Germany

New evidence has emerged of a Syrian doctor classed as a refugee living in Germany who formerly worked on behalf of the Syrian regime to torture and kill detainees, former detainees have revealed.

Alaa Mousa was a doctor in the military hospital in the Syrian city of Homs, who, along with his colleague Dr Shuaib Al-Naqari, used to visit the regime’s 261st military security branch every morning to torture and kill patients rather than to treat them, according to the Syrian opposition news site Zaman al Wasl.

The new evidence and witness testimonies come two months after Al Jazeera Arabic released a shocking documentary on Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s aides in Europe in March.

Mousa is reported to have fled Syria to Lebanon, where he acquired transport to Europe and filed as a refugee in Germany. According to reports, he resides in the small town of Bad Wildungen, where he has been seen working as an orthopaedist in a local clinic. He has been identified this week, however, by a number of former detainees and witnesses.

Syria: ‘I finally learnt how to enjoy the torture,’ says former prisoner

According to one source, the two doctors habitually gave their patients in critical conditions unknown pills which would cause them to collapse after half an hour. The bodies were then taken to the morgue in the military hospital the following day.

It went much further than that, however, with one former detainee, Mohamed Fajr, stating that Mousa tortured and killed his epileptic brother in front of him, starting by refusing to give the brother his medication for his chronic epilepsy, causing his condition to severely deteriorate after two days.

Fajr recalled that one morning, he asked Mousa and Al-Naqari for medical assistance for his brother, but when Mousa saw that he was from Baba Amr – a south-western area in Homs which was formerly held by the opposition forces – he instead kicked and struck the brother while calling him a terrorist. His brother was taken away the next day and was never seen again.

Over a month later, Fajr was released and discovered that his brother had been killed. After being forced to pay 200,000 Syrian pounds to the Shabiha – regime loyalist gangs – to receive the body, he saw clear signs of torture on his brother’s corpse in photos, including holes that were drilled into his skull leaving him unrecognisable.

He also recalled a friend’s account, who was also detained in the branch, stating that Mousa continued to inflict daily torture on the detainees. Methods included being shot in different parts of the body, having the bullets removed, and then leaving the wounds open and untreated. “This is your destiny, this is what you chose,” Mousa is reported to have told them.

Assad is in the dock as his henchmen go on trial for torture

Other horrific accounts of the doctor’s crimes were previously revealed in Al Jazeera’s documentary, with one Syrian detainee being brought into the hospital by the Shabiha, who told Mousa that he was an armed militant rather than a protestor. Mousa then proceeded to douse the detainee’s penis with alcohol and used a lighter to set it on fire, completely burning the organ and the scrotum.

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Throughout recent months, several former Syrian regime officials, fighters and agents who conducted torture and killings have been discovered to have fled to Germany during Syria’s ongoing nine-year-long civil war. Some have been identified and held for trial in Germany, such as the case of two former regime prison officials who are currently undergoing trial in a landmark decision to judge international criminal cases within the country. It is believed that there are many more regime loyalists posing as refugees who have not yet been identified.

Mousa reportedly does not regret his involvement and continues to have strong ties with the Syrian regime’s security services. An activist named Mohammed Al-Kurdi has confirmed that the doctor has lived in the German city of Kassel for four years. Several refugees have reported that he is actively collecting information on Syrian refugees and activists which he sends to the regime, and it has even been claimed that he publicly threatened a few refugees with their property and relatives back in Syria, referencing his close ties to the security services.