The Olympics is such a celebration of young people, of big dreams realised and collective joy. It reminds me of the energy that my youngest son Ayham had when he was growing up. He wanted to learn everything about politics since he was a young teenager, questioning freedom of speech in Syria under Assad’s rule. I learnt so much from him.
When the Syrian revolution started, he met many like-minded young people at university. He was part of peaceful protests to call for freedom and democracy. It meant something to be part of the student community at Damascus University and he made firm friends instantly.
His life was ended and dreams of a free Syria squashed when fellow students stormed his lecture hall and dragged him to a room of his university’s medical faculty, torturing him in ways it is too painful to recount.
He endured hours of violence at the hands of the National Union of Syrian Students (NUSS), who in coordination with Syria’s state intelligence services, became the regime’s de facto oppressors on campus. They tortured him so badly that he later died of internal bleeding in a government detention cell.
Now, more than 10 years on, Omar Aroub, the man who was a senior member of the NUSS leadership at the time, overseeing crimes of the worst kind, is getting ready for the Olympics.
He is now Syria’s vice president of the General Sports Federation, as well as the chairman of the Syrian Paralympic Committee.
He was awarded these titles through the blood of our children. It’s hard for me to believe that such a criminal is roaming free around the world while thousands of people remain detained or disappeared in Syria.
Aroub was instrumental in the crimes committed by the nation-wide student union which spread fear and turned students against fellow students at the start of the revolution. He recruited students to suppress protests, providing them with weapons and instructing them to torture, detain or throw students out of dormitory windows.
A recent report by investigators gives heartbreaking details of all the NUSS crimes committed in direct coordination with the wider state security apparatus at the same university where my son was killed.
My son was missing for months before I learned that he died days after his detention
My son was missing for months before I learned that he died days after his detention. Until I knew the truth I visited different detention centers most days searching for him. But when I met Ayham’s friend who survived detention alongside him, he told me about the last days of my son’s life. We talked about the big ambitious dreams my son had for his future and for the future of Syria.
He was a young man with Olympic-size hopes that inspired me to hope for something different — and that’s what I try to do to this day. His hopes were taken from him and I will forever grieve the beautiful boy they took from me. I am even denied the truth about where he was buried. I will always call for justice for the crimes he and so many others endured. Justice does not just mean standing trial, although this is of course vital for any kind of accountability.
Justice should also mean war criminals are not given podiums where they can flaunt their impunity.The International Olympic Committee knows the crimes Aroub committed and yet he is still allowed to be part of Syria’s delegation.
His presence on the team says to every one of his victims that war crimes are not just tolerated, they are awarded. It also sends a dangerous message to every head of state deliberating their relationship with the Syrian regime.
Some EU states might use Aroub’s Olympic PR stunt as a cover for their anti-refugee policies. It is fuel for their argument that parts of Syria are safe for refugees to return to.
The reality could not be further from the truth. There are signs that the Czech Republic is planning a fact-finding mission to Syria on behalf of the European Union to build a case for deporting those who have sought safety in Europe. But if their mission is truly fact finding, they will find evidence of ongoing human right abuses at the hands of the regime.
If Ayham was with me today he would be working day and night to demand an end to human rights abuses. He would be saying that people like Aroub belong behind bars and not at international events. Alongside other families and survivors, we have been calling for accountability for a long time. Today we demand that Aroub be banned from the Paris games. Together we can show him that he will be held accountable for his crimes.
Mariam al-Hallak is an activist and former educator now based in Berlin. She's a founder of the Caesar Families Association. Al-Hallak one of many Syrians who learnt of their loved ones' deaths in the Assad regime's detention centres through the so-called 'Caesar photos' — leaked images of thousands of detainees tortured to death in custody.
Mariam al-Hallak is an activist and former educator now based in Berlin. She's a founder of the Caesar Families Association. Al-Hallak one of many Syrians who learnt of their loved ones' deaths in the Assad regime's detention centres through the so-called 'Caesar photos' — leaked images of thousands of detainees tortured to death in custody.