DAMASCUS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th November, 2019) Syrian President Bashar Assad has categorically denied in an interview with the RT broadcaster claims about the country's government forces running "torture units" that apply violent methods against dissenters.
Earlier, media has reported that Germany arrested two alleged former Syrian secret service officers, Anwar Raslan and Eyad al-Gharib, in February. In October, the two were reportedly charged with torturing and beating Syrians during interrogation at the onset of the Syrian armed conflict. The Germans alleged that there was a special torture unit, called Branch 251, near Damascus, claiming that 4,000 people went through it only from 2011-2012.
"We don't have torture units. We don't have torture policy in Syria. Why do we use the torture for? That's the question, why? Is it a psychological situation?! You just want to torture people in this kind of sadism? Why to torture? You need information?! We have all the information," Assad said.
He did not rule out that there could be an "individual incident that could be done by anyone for revenge, for any other reason," which happens everywhere in the world, but not a state policy.
"We never believe in that torture could make your situation better as a state, very simply. So, we don't use it," Assad stressed.
The conflict in Syria broke out in 2011 following the so-called Arab Spring protests that swept the region. The Syrian government regained control over most of the territories that were seized by terrorists in late 2017, however, counterterrorism operations still continue in a number of areas
