A man responsible for war crimes against university students in Syria is due to be part of the Syria’s Olympic delegation in Paris next month and should be banned from the Olympics, survivors and human rights groups said today.
Omar Aroub was a senior member of the National Union of Syrian Students (NUSS) leadership during the start of the revolution when he oversaw NUSS violations, recruiting students to suppress protests, detain and torture fellow students, providing them with weapons and instructing them to throw regime-opposing students out of dormitory windows. He is now Syria’s Vice President of the General Sports Federation as well as the Chairman of the Syrian Paralympic Committee.
Yesterday a new investigation into NUSS crimes at Damascus University by the Syrian British Consortium’s (SBC) describes how Union members committed torture, detention and gender-based violence at the University of Damascus between 2011 and 2013, while Aroub was a member of the national Executive Committee of the NUSS. Evidence shows the NUSS was in direct coordination with the wider State security apparatus and became a de facto security branch on campus.
Echoing the demands of survivors and families of victims, The Syria Campaign launches a petition today urging the International Olympic Committee to ban war criminals from attending the Olympics in Paris. In August last year, when Aroub arrived in France for a meeting of the International Olympic Committee, the IOC said they were not aware of his actions. Now, SBC’s fresh evidence provides all the proof needed to bring Aroub and other NUSS officials to justice.
Yaman Masri was arrested during an exam at the Faculty of Science at Aleppo University and detained and tortured for more than a year. It was the NUSS who informed the security services of his peaceful participation in protests at the University and aided his detention.
“I joined the revolution when my fellow students from the NUSS started raiding classrooms and dormitories on campus looking for anything that suggested anti-regime views. The violent crackdown got a lot worse after that and many students were killed at the hands of the NUSS and the security services.
“I cannot understand how a man responsible for such heinous crimes is preparing for the Olympics. Omar Aroub should be facing trial and punishment for his crimes. Instead, he is likely to be received as a dignitary by the IOC and the people of France. This is the chance for the world to stand by the victims of NUSS and show that war criminals cannot escape justice.”
SBC’s new report builds on other investigations by policy groups and researchers, leading to a body of evidence showing the role the NUSS played across the country. In 2020, former NUSS leader Ammar Saati was placed on the US sanctions list but today, the Union is serving as a tool to polish and propel Assad and the Syrian government’s image abroad.
Dr Yasmine Nahlawi, SBC’s lead investigator said:
“The Syrian regime used the NUSS in its brutal crackdown against civilians who demanded an end to decades of dictatorship. NUSS members orchestrated torture, murder, arbitrary detention and gender-based violence, causing trauma and shattering educational dreams of so many. More than a decade on, they should be held accountable for the war crimes they committed.
“We hope this new evidence will prompt new universal jurisdiction cases across Europe to investigate and prosecute criminally-responsible NUSS members.”
Notes to editors
A petition started by Yaman Masri, who survived NUSS crimes at Aleppo University, is being signed by people around the world. They are calling on the International Olympic Committee to ban Aroub from Paris 2024: https://act.thesyriacampaign.org/sign/ban-war-criminals-olympics/
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