ISTANBUL
A year after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s rule, the thousands of images smuggled out of Syria by a former regime officer known to the world as “Caesar” continue to haunt international memory.
The over 53,000 photographs – later called the Caesar Files – provided the clearest visual proof of systematic torture and mass killings inside the regime’s detention centers.
In 2014, Anadolu published these photographs, sparking global outrage and putting the Assad regime under intense international scrutiny. The shocking images provided undeniable proof of the regime’s systematic use of torture, starvation, and extrajudicial killings against prisoners.
Today, they remain key evidence in ongoing legal cases and a powerful reminder of atrocities that the world largely failed to stop.
In an interview with Anadolu, Syrian whistleblower Fared al-Madhan – the former head of the forensic evidence department of the military police in Damascus, who leaked the images – reflects on their role in exposing state crimes, the global response he describes as painfully inadequate, and how the files continue to shape legal efforts against former regime figures.
📌 EXCLUSIVE- Caesar: One year on, the Syria torture files still shape global accountability
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) December 8, 2025
◼️ Syrian whistleblower Fared al-Madhan, known as Caesar, recounts how he felt when the regime collapsed and outlines his hopes for justice for the Syrian people
📷 First published by… pic.twitter.com/Bgz5wpUWMu
Anadolu: When the torture in Sednaya prison became a global issue, what was your reaction?
Fared al-Madhan: “When the horrific methods of torture and the images from Sednaya Prison began to circulate worldwide, I was overwhelmed with pain and deep sorrow. I watched the suffering of Syrians materialize in every photograph leaked to the free world.”
“In my heart was a silent cry for every innocent soul that lost their life without mercy or humanity.”
But alongside the grief, he felt the first signs of accountability:
“I felt relief that the truth, which the criminal Assad regime tried so hard to bury, had finally emerged. Each time Sednaya’s massacres were discussed, I felt the victims’ screams were no longer unheard; their echo had reached a world that still believes in human dignity.”
“Justice had finally begun its path toward those who drowned Syria in the blood of civilians whose only ‘crime’ was demanding freedom and a decent life.”
Anadolu: Did the world confront the torture you revealed? Or was the reaction insufficient?
Madhan: “The international reaction was extremely limited compared to the scale of the crimes committed by the security apparatus.”
“Yes, the world was shocked by the brutality – the cruelty, the bloodshed, the inhumanity. But real, practical action on the ground was far less than what we hoped for.”
He said disappointment became the norm: “We felt abandoned many times. Sympathy never translated into action that could have protected the remaining detainees or bring justice for victims of torture. The failure was clear: silence, averted eyes, and no more than expressions of concern.”
He cited Washington’s failure to act after the 2013 chemical attacks, referring to the Assad regime’s strikes on the Ghouta district of the capital Damascus, which killed over 1,400 civilians: “Assad saw this as a green light to continue torture and murder – (Former US President Barack) Obama’s ‘red lines’ were the clearest example.”
Still, Madhan insists the record has permanently changed: “The Caesar Files are no longer a rumor or secret. It has become part of humanity’s collective memory. Truth and justice remain incomplete – they will remain so until perpetrators are tried in fair courts.”
Anadolu: Sanctions under the Caesar Act were linked to your revelations. How do you evaluate their impact?
Madhan: “The sanctions … were a natural consequence of exposing the crimes committed against detainees … They aimed to hold the regime – and everyone involved in torture and killings – accountable. They isolated the regime politically, diplomatically and militarily, and pressured it to negotiate with the opposition.”
He rejects claims that sanctions caused the humanitarian crisis: “They excluded food and medicine. The suffering Syrians endured was because of the regime’s corruption and its exploitation of the economic situation.”
He argues the sanctions struck at the heart of the system: “They were the main reason the Assad regime began to collapse. They paralyzed the regime’s machinery. Without the Caesar Act, Assad would have remained in power for decades.”
With the regime now toppled, he says, the sanctions have served their purpose: “Today, after our blessed revolution has triumphed, we call on the free people of America, in Congress and Senate, to lift the Caesar Act. The reason for the sanctions no longer exists with the fall of this tyrannical regime.”
Anadolu: How have the photos transitioned from visual documentation to legal evidence, especially in European trials of former regime officials?
Madhan: “Each image contains numbers, dates, and locations. Together, they form a structured forensic archive that can be used in national and international courts.”
The photos, he stresses, reveal not only torture but enforced disappearance: “Because the regime never acknowledged the victims’ fate, the images show that the crime was ongoing. They show intent behind systematic disappearance and elimination, which is a crime against humanity under international law.”
He pointed to landmark universal-jurisdiction trials: “As seen in the Koblenz trial in Germany, these images shatter the claims of immunity by showing that the crimes were systematic, not isolated.”
Germany’s Higher Regional Court in Koblenz held the first trial worldwide on state torture by the Assad regime in Syria.
In 2021-2022, relying in part on evidence from the Caesar Files, the court convicted two former intelligence officers for torture, murders, sexual violence, and aiding and abetting crimes against humanity.
Anadolu: Can the Caesar Files strengthen the Canada-Netherlands case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ)? What more needs to be done?
Madhan: “Yes, the photographs can be incorporated into the case as evidence that torture was state policy.”
Though the ICJ does not try individuals, he said the evidence has strategic reach: “This material can reinforce prosecutions in Europe by linking visual evidence – photos, videos, maps, satellite imagery, and documented material – with files related to chemical attacks, forming a unified legal picture of systematic state crimes.”
The next step, he argues, is enforcement: “Consolidating cases and activating arrest warrants against fugitive senior officials would transform the Caesar Files from shocking evidence into a continuous legal tool for accountability.”
A year after the downfall of the Assad regime, Madhan believes the future impact of the Caesar Files matters just as much as their past revelations: “They are documents that do not die … They preserve a truth that cannot be erased – no matter how systems change or how much time passes.”
