The verdict in Germany’s landmark Syria torture trial is a ray of hope for victims

The trial of Anwar Raslan was the first of its kind worldwide. The verdict was dubbed by the United Nations as a “landmark leap forward in the pursuit of truth” and “pioneering” by the German justice minister.

But what kind of impact can a ruling in a comparatively sleepy riverside town in Germany have on the lives of people, thousands of miles away in Syria where violence continues unabated?

What does it mean for the long and arduous search for justice in the war-ravaged nation?

On Thursday a court in Koblenz convicted the Syrian former intelligence officer of crimes against humanity for overseeing the “systematic and brutal torture” of 4,000 people, which resulted in at last 27 deaths at the notorious Branch 251 facility in Damascus.

He was handed a life sentence and is the most high ranking Syrian official so far to be convicted of such grave charges, which he vehemently denies.

Germany’s universal jurisdiction laws allow its courts to prosecute no matter where they take place. Raslan and a second defendant in the same trial – a low-ranking former officer who was convicted in February – had both claimed asylum in Germany after defecting. That triggered the investigations into their pasts.

The trial has become a rallying point for those attempting to seek justice for abuses committed during Syria’s conflict largely because it is so hard to get cases like these into courtrooms. This is despite widespread documentation of abuses (the Syrian Network for Human Rights [SNHR] believes at least 100,000 Syrians remain forcibly disappeared in Syria and an estimated 15,000 have been tortured to death since 2011).

One of the chief obstacles is that the Syrian government – which denies the use of torture, abuse and enforced disappearances - has no interest in investigating or prosecuting such crimes. When that happens the international community should be able to step in, in the form of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Since Syria is not a signatory to the Rome Statute which created the ICC, investigations can be triggered by the UN Security Council (UNSC). But that has been paralysed by vetoes from Syria’s allies including Russia.

So rights defenders, survivors and family members of those missing or dead have turned to increasingly creative means. Domestic courts, predominately in Europe, that can evoke universal jurisdiction have become the theatre of such efforts. And this is why Thursday’s verdict is so significant.

As Sara Kayyali, of Human Rights Watch (HRW) – which has been monitoring the trial – explains, while Thursday’s verdict does not set case precedent in common law, it does set factual precedent. Everything determined during the course of the trial can be used in future cases in Germany (a third defendant, Syrian doctor Alaa M, is expected to go on trial in Germany soon to face accusations of torturing an inmate at a prison run by military intelligence in Syria).

The verdict and the painstakingly documented evidence could also be cited by courts in other parts of the world. The two-year-long trial was also the first to include as evidence the so-called Caesar photos: images of alleged torture victims smuggled out of Syria by a former police officer. The forensic investigation into and verification of those images can now be cited in the future.

This verdict marks the first time such an ex-senior officer has been convicted of crimes against humanity. This means a court is saying that there is widespread systematic state-sponsored torture and mistreatment happening in Syria, a powerful statement in itself. The trial has also been an important test run for investigators and prosecutors according to Patrick Kroker, a senior legal adviser with the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), that has been supporting nine Syrian witnesses.

The use of universal jurisdiction in this way is still comparatively new. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Kroker called the Koblenz trial an important “learning experience”.

On a more basic level, as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Michelle Bachelet, pointed out the trial casts a “much-needed, renewed spotlight” on the kinds of torture that is happening right now in Syria’s prisons. Syria has increasingly dropped out of the news cycle in a malaise of misery fatigue.

It also sends a message back to perpetrators of such violence who remain in Syria, where a severe economic and humanitarian crisis is prompting fresh waves of displacement. “The verdict says: if you want to end up Germany, France or Greece, you are going have to reckon with your history of abuses,” Kayyali said.

That said the trial is not a magic wand. Survivors of Branch 251 have told The Independent they do not believe justice will be served unless president Bashar al-Assad and his closest cadres, as well as anyone from any faction that has committed crimes in Syria, face free and fair trials. It is not over until the torture and the violence stops.

Thursday’s verdict won’t necessarily do that, it won’t help trigger trials at the ICC. But it could encourage others to come forward to work to fill that accountability gap.

It proves that it is possible to convict someone on crimes against humanity committed in Syria on the basis of testimonies given by witnesses in a place like Germany. And that is something.