Darwish (Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression), as well as the Center for the Enforcement of Human Rights International (CEHRI) in Vienna. INVESTIGATION OPENS AGAINST OFFICIALS FROM THE AL-ASSAD REGIME Following the submission, the prosecutor heard one of the complainants and initiated a criminal investigation. Names withheld Current status Context Ongoing investigation by the Austrian Prosecutor into international crimes committed by the Syrian intelligence services Suspects High-ranking officials of the Syrian intelligence services, including Military Intelligence, Air Force Intelligence and General Intelligence services Country of residence of suspect Ongoing investigation Facts The investigation concerns crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Military Intelligence, Air Force Intelligence and General Intelligence, including murder, extermination, torture, serious bodily harm and deprivation of liberty between February 2011 and January 2017 in 13 detention centers in Damascus, Daraa, Hama, and Aleppo. Read more about the case Syria Charges Crimes against war crimes humanity and Developments in 2018 Austrian authorities have initiated an investigation into the Syrian intelligence services after 16 women and men from Syria filed a criminal complaint to the public prosecutor in Vienna in May 2018. The group of torture survivors – which included an Austrian citizen – filed the complaint together with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), Syrian lawyers Anwar al-Bunni (Syrian Center for Legal Research and Studies) and Mazen 17