Syria: Key military official responsible for mass executions in Sednaya prison arrested

Syrian security forces yesterday arrested a top military official responsible for issuing mass execution orders in the notorious Sednaya prison during the rule of the ousted regime of Bashar Al-Assad.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) identified the man as Mohammed Kanjo Hassan, an officer in the former regime forces who held the position of director of the Military Justice Department and field court chief.

The Syrian Security Forces published three photos of Kanjo, including two in uniform and one in civilian clothes during his arrest.

The administration said Kanjo is responsible for executing thousands of young Syrian detainees in Sednaya, and will have a public trial. Reports issued by the Violations Documentation Centre indicate that Kanjo financially exploited the families of detainees, enabling him to amass a large fortune.

Since the fall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime on 8 December, thousands of Syrians have flocked to Sednaya prison in the hope of finding their forcibly disappeared relatives.

International reports indicate that thousands of detainees were killed in an organised and secret manner inside the prison, where the collapsed regime had carried out mass executions without trial between 2011 and 2015, at a rate of 50 people per week.

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