Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social

According to an overlooked BBC and NPR investigation published three weeks ago, the US government is funding and protecting officer Bassam Hassan in Beirut, preventing Lebanon from fulfilling Syria's extradition request. I am using Hassan’s case to highlight the bleak reality of justice in post-Assad Syria. Hassan was arguably the highest-ranking security official in Assad’s final years. He was the vital link between intelligence and defense chiefs, prepared Bashar al-Assad's daily security briefs, and managed external relations. His nephew founded the National Defense Forces (NDF), and his historical ties to the Scientific Studies and Research Center heavily implicate him in the chemical weapons massacre, prompting an international trial summons in 2023. Yet, for the US, his information regarding Austin Tice's remains outweighs accountability to millions of Syrians. It is painful that a figure far more significant than the recently arrested regime officials is openly in Lebanon, completely untouched, which reveals the White House’s true apathy toward Syrian suffering. However, the US stance might have been different if the Syrian government demonstrated a genuine commitment to justice, rather than merely seizing regime cronies' assets in opaque settlements. Where are NDF founder Saqr Rostom, Tadamon massacre perpetrator Fadi Saqr, or Captagon trafficker Naim al-Jarrah? The sovereign wealth fund seized their money, but the men remain free. We cannot expect America to care about Syrian victims when the Syrian state itself has other priorities. Two decades after the Holocaust, the Mossad tracked down Adolf Eichmann in Argentina and brought him to trial. I don't blame the West for disregarding our blood—that much is expected. My blame lies with our own. opensyr.com/ar/pages/p-40 bbc.com/news/articles/c81dld…