Jamil Hassan
Birth dateFebruary 1952 (age 74–75)
Birth placeAl-Qurniyah, Homs, Syria[1]
AllegianceBa'athist Syria
PartyBa'ath Party
Rank Major General
UnitSyrian Air Force
BattlesIslamist uprising in Syria
Syrian civil war
Native nameجميل حسن
OfficeDirector of Air Force Intelligence Directorate
Term start1 July 2009
Term end7 July 2019
PredecessorAbdul Fattah Qudsiyeh
SuccessorGhassan Ismail
Office 2Deputy Director of General Intelligence Directorate
Term start 22004
Term end 22009

Jamil Hassan (Arabic: جميل حسن) is the former head of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate and a former close adviser to President Bashar al-Assad.

Hassan oversaw a network of detention facilities including the Mezzeh Prison where inmates were tortured.[2]

Career

Hassan was appointed head of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate (SAFI) in 2009.[3] He served in that capacity until 2019.[4]

Sanctions

Hassan was sanctioned by the European Union on 9 May 2011 on the grounds that he was "involved in violence against the civilian population" during the Syrian civil war.[5] On 29 June 2011, the United States also sanctioned him due to his involvement in human rights abuses in Syria.[6]

Hassan gave an interview for The Independent in November 2016, disproving claims of his assassination. He stated that the tactics used in the 1982 Hama massacre would have ended the Syrian civil war much faster.[7]

Criminal investigations

Germany

In June 2018 German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that Germany's chief federal prosecutor had issued an international arrest warrant against Hassan for his alleged involvement in the torture and murder of hundreds of prisoners.[8]

France

In November 2018, French prosecutors issued international arrest warrants for three senior Syrian intelligence and government officials: Ali Mamlouk, Abdel Salam Mahmoud and Jamil Hassan. The warrants bring charges including collusion in torture, forced disappearances, crimes against humanity and war crimes.[9] Four days of hearings at the Paris Cour d'assises started on 21 May 2024, accusing the three men of involvement in the disappearance, torture and killing of two French citizens between 2013 and 2017.[10] Hassan was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia on May 25.[11][12]

United States

On 9 December 2024, after the fall of the Assad regime, the U.S. Department of Justice charged the 72-year-old Hassan and Abdul Salam Mahmoud, a brigadier general in SAFI, with conspiring to torture American and Syrian civilians at Mezzeh Prison between 2012 and 2019.[13] The indictment was the first time the U.S. criminally charged top Syrian officials for human rights abuses during the Assad regime.[14][15]

Personal life

He owned a house in an affluent area of central Damascus.[2] After the fall of the Assad regime he fled to Russia on a cargo plane, where he is living since.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Hassan, Jamil: Wanted by United States". Interpol.
  2. ^ Cuddy, Alice & Solh, Ghaith (21 December 2024). "Syria: Inside the abandoned homes of Assad's enforcers". BBC News. Archived 21 December 2024 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ "First circle". France 24. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  4. ^ Times, The New York (2025-10-15). "The Missing Enforcers of the Assad Regime". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-05.
  5. ^ "COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No 36/2012 of 18 January 2012 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria and repealing Regulation (EU) No 442/2011". EUR-Lex. Official Journal of the European Union. 19 January 2012. Archived 10 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  6. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Syrian, Iranian Security Forces for Involvement in Syrian Crackdown". United States Department of the Treasury. 29 June 2011. Archived 8 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  7. ^ Fisk, Robert (27 November 2016). "Tougher tactics would have ended Syrian war, claims the country's top intelligence general". The Independent. Archived 28 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  8. ^ Diehl, Jörg; Reuter, Christoph; Schmid, Fidelius (8 June 2018). "Germany Takes Aim at Assad's Torture Boss". Der Spiegel. Archived 8 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  9. ^ Jarry, Emmanuel (5 November 2018). "France issues arrest warrants for senior Syrian officials". Reuters. Archived 5 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  10. ^ Wikidata item Q126010156
  11. ^ Ayad, Christophe (25 May 2024). "Torture in Syria: Paris court sentences three senior officials from Assad's regime to life imprisonment". Le Monde. Archived 25 May 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  12. ^ "French court sentences 3 Syrian officials to life in prison in absentia for war crimes". Associated Press. 24 May 2024. Archived 24 May 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  13. ^ Singh, Kanishka (9 December 2024). "Two former Syrian intelligence officials face US war crimes charges". Reuters. Archived 10 December 2024 at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ^ Benner, Katie & Goldman, Adam (9 December 2024). "Syrian Military Officials Charged With War Crimes as Government Falls". New York Times. Archived 10 December 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  15. ^ "Criminal Charges Unsealed Against Two Former High-Ranking Syrian Government Intelligence Officials for War Crimes against Americans and Other Civilians". United States Department of Justice. 9 December 2024. Archived 11 December 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  16. ^ "Assad's Enforcers Brutalized Syria. Now They're Living Large, Lying Low and Evading Justice." (in de-AT). DER STANDARD. Retrieved 2026-03-05.