The German legal action, against two Syrian torturers, can be an example for Europe

In Germany, the establishment of a trial against two Syrian torturers could become a revolutionary practice for judging crimes against humanity, even if committed outside national borders. Even in other European nations, such as France and Austria, preliminary investigations have been opened against Syrian crimes, but the peculiarity of the German system can allow a process that is announced as a novelty. In Germany the judicial system does not require that the victim of a crime or the suspect have German nationality, as a condition for the legal action to take place. The conditions for these circumstances to occur are due to the German willingness to host Syrian refugees fleeing the war and Assad's bloody regime; but, although the majority of Syrian immigrants were victims of repression, exponents of the Damascus government were also welcomed on German soil. In particular, two Syrian secret service officials, who have declared to have deserted and for this reason have requested hospitality from Germany. However the two have been recognized by several refugees who have denounced the repressive activity consisting of arbitrary incarcerations and particularly violent acts of torture, conducted since the early stages of the Syrian uprising, which then turned into a civil war. The number of opponents who would have been tortured with the complicity of the two defendants seems to be very high, there is talk of a few thousand people, enough to justify the indictment for crimes against humanity. Germany, in addition to the case of the two suspects that should lead to a historical trial, is also investigating 27 other officials of the Syrian regime for similar reasons, while Sweden would be 25 proceedings in progress, in Austria 24 and also Norway would be preparing to open one. The scope of this act appears to be very relevant, especially if extended to other EU countries by means of a directive to be transposed into national legislation. Europe could thus play a leading role in the defense of civil rights in a practical manner and with concrete effects, overcoming the numerous declarations of intent to which nothing was ever followed and which made the action of Brussels ineffective. The fields of application of such an understanding could put Europe at the forefront in the fight against arbitrary abuses against human rights and in their non-compliance; however, there is a need for convinced action by European states as a whole: Syria is now a subject that seems to be more easily vulnerable, because it does not have such economic bargaining power as to condition the current German action and in the future a potential European action or individual states of the Union. The principle with which the German judiciary moves could also be applied for example to Saudi Arabia, for repression in Yemen or China, for the management of the Uyghur issue, Chinese Muslims, or even for Turkey, a member of the 'Atlantic Alliance, for the Kurdish question. The reflection, evidently, must be articulated on distinct but contiguous plans: the first is of a nature, in fact, of international politics, because the possible convictions of members of countries more relevant than the Syrian one, could trigger diplomatic reprisals; the second is part of the more practical management of any convicts and the actual legitimacy of such sentences, certainly not from the moral point of view but from the legal point of view, moreover the custody of the condemned or otherwise the execution of the sentence seem to be a subject susceptible to contrast with the countries of origin of the people found guilty, which could trigger retaliation against citizens of the countries that issued the sentences. These arguments also put the German action in a different perspective, which is a duty against Syrian officials, but which would probably have been more cautious towards citizens of other countries. The fact remains that for Europe, taking inspiration from Germany, it could be an opportunity not to be missed to finally be able to exercise a leading role on the diplomatic stage, also in consideration of the changed international conditions, which see the United States, the main European ally , in search of a progressive isolation, which requires new structures and greater independence of action and direction from the European Union.