ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Prominent Syrian whistleblower Farid al-Madhan, widely known by the pseudonym “Caesar,” has been awarded a prestigious human rights prize jointly by France and Germany. Madhan, a former Syrian security officer had smuggled tens of thousands of images documenting torture and abuse in Syrian detention centers, contributing to the imposition of the stifling Caesar Act sanctions on the regime of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad.
In a statement on X late Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot congratulated Madhan for receiving the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, praising him for “fighting impunity at the risk of your life” and for helping “open the way to justice.”
“May this example continue to set back the horror,” Barrot added.
The prestigious prize is granted annually by the German and French foreign ministries on Human Rights Day, December 10.
In a press release, Germany’s foreign ministry quoted Minister of State Gunther Krichbaum as expressing his pleasure to have gone to Paris to “honor an outstanding example of civil courage.”
“His courageous commitment has made it possible to bring the crimes of the Assad dictatorship to the attention of the world,” Krichbaum added, noting that Madhan’s documentation of war crimes has played a key role in “bringing perpetrators to account and advancing the criminal prosecution of Syrian war crimes worldwide.”
Madhan, a former first lieutenant heading the Forensic...
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