On Thursday, Syrian security forces 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 Kanjou al-Hassan, an officer in the former regime forces who held the position of director of the Military Justice Department and field court chief.
“Hassan was arrested in the village of Khirbet al-Ma’za in the countryside of Tartus along with 20 other members (of Mr Al Assad’s government) during a large-scale security campaign carried out by the Military Operations Department”, a day after deadly clashes erupted in the coastal province of Tartus between security forces that tried to arrest him and gunmen who sought to protect him.
The Syrian Security Forces released three photos of Kanjo, including two in uniform and one in civilian clothes during his arrest. Mr Hassan is the highest-ranking officer to have been arrested since Mr al-Assad was overthrown in a lightning offensive by rebels on December 8. He held the position of director of the military judiciary and head of the field court, and was responsible for many executions at Sednaya prison near Damascus, the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, under the regime.
In 2023, Al-Hassan was sanctioned by the UK government for “repressing the civilian population in Syria.” The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Al-Hassan was responsible for crimes in the country’s infamous Sednaya prison, where humanitarian organisations warned opponents of al-Assad’s regime were relentlessly tortured. ADMSP’s co-founder, Diab Serrija, said al-Hassan sentenced “thousands of people” to death during his tenure whilst simultaneously extorting around €143 million from relatives of the prisoners in exchange for information about their loved ones.
