Caesar (photographer)

Caesar is the code name of a Syrian photographer who is not known to the public and who published pictures that are supposed to prove the human rights violations committed by the Syrian government in the context of the civil war .

activity

Caesar worked as a military photographer in the Syrian military ; until 2011 he photographed accidents of soldiers, then in the civil war until 2013 the corpses of demonstrators and opposition activists. He realized that they were also murdered civilians. Through his friend Sami, Caesar contacted the French journalist Garance Le Caisne , to whom he sent the photos smuggled from his office. He got support from friends who are known as the Caesar group . Le Caisne published the photos after Caesar managed to escape in 2013 and he and his family were no longer in Syria.

Caesar was able to take around 50,000 pictures abroad, around 28,000 of which show abused and murdered prisoners in Syrian prisons. Some of it was on display at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City . In Germany, some photos were shown publicly in Nuremberg in the district gallery on the street of human rights .

Caesar has lived in Europe since his escape . The Syrian government is believed to know his true identity as there are only a limited number of military photographers in their troops.

Caesar's pictures serve as evidence in the world's first trial against two alleged perpetrators under the regime of Bashar al-Assad , which began on April 23, 2020 at the Koblenz Higher Regional Court . The two accused ex- secret service employees are charged with murder and torture under their responsibility. The French public prosecutor's office had also started an investigation, triggered by the publication of the pictures.

Others

The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of the USA, which came into force on June 17, 2020 (as part of another law), is named after the photographer . It threatens sanctions against non-US citizens who cooperate with the Syrian state, as long as the Syrian state does not comply with the also mentioned demands, which are intended to protect the civilian population.

Awards

• International Nuremberg Human Rights Award for the "Caesar Group" 2017

literature

• Garance Le Caisne : Codenamed Caesar - At the heart of the Syrian death machine . CH Beck, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3406692116 .

Web links

• International Nuremberg Human Rights Award: 2017 award ceremony

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fidelius Schmid, Martin Knobbe, Jörg Diehl: Syria: How Germany wants to clear up Assad's crimes. Der Spiegel , accessed April 23, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Hannah El-Hitami: Syria: "Caesar" photos provide evidence of torture - trial in Germany. Der Spiegel , accessed April 23, 2020 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Code name Caesar: anonymous photographer is Assad's public enemy number one. Welt.de , March 17, 2016, accessed October 3, 2017 . 
4. ^ ^{A b} archivist of death: Syrian photographer "Caesar" receives Nuremberg human rights award. (No longer available online.) Br.de , September 22, 2017, archived from the original on October 3, 2017 ; accessed on October 3, 2017 . 
5. ↑ International Nuremberg Human Rights Prize 2017 awarded to the "Caesar Group". www.nuernberg.de, September 24, 2017, accessed October 3, 2017 . 
6. ^ ^{A b} France opens probe into Assad regime for crimes against humanity. Retrieved May 14, 2020 (American English). 
7. ↑ Trial in Koblenz begins: world's first trial for torture in Syria. tagesspiegel.de , April 23, 2020, accessed on July 29, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Christoph Reuter: Trial against Syrian secret service employees in Koblenz: The problem of responsibility. Der Spiegel , accessed on May 19, 2020 . 
9. ↑ p. 52: Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019. www.govtrack.us, 2019, accessed on July 29, 2020 (English). 
10. ^ US Sanctions on Syria: What Comes Next? www.crisisgroup.org, July 13, 2020, accessed on July 29, 2020 .