“Caesar” will share story, photos in public setting for first time at briefing

Media:  See Important Coverage Note Below

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep.  Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced that on, Thursday, July 31, Committee Members will be briefed by “Caesar,” a Syrian Army defector who was witness to and a documenter of Bashar al-Assad’s lethal brutality.  “Caesar,” who will be appearing in disguise at the briefing, has smuggled out of Syria more than 50,000 photographs that document the torture and execution of more than 10,000 dissidents and will be showing photographs to Committee Members.  This briefing will be the first public setting in which “Caesar” has shared his story.  The briefing, entitled “Assad’s Killing Machine Exposed: Implications for U.S. Policy,” will begin at 9:30 a.m.

On the briefing, Chairman Royce said:  "Over the past three-and-a-half years, the Assad regime has carried-out a campaign of unspeakable brutality against the Syrian people, including chemical weapons attacks, mass torture, and mass executions against even peaceful political opposition.  The slaughter’s systematic nature is shocking.  At this briefing, Committee Members will hear – and see — the sobering account of a first-hand witness of Assad's killing machine.  The primary briefer Thursday morning, the Syrian army defector known as ‘Caesar,’ has helped smuggle tens of thousands of photos of more than 10,000 tortured and executed Syrian political dissidents, some of them children."

What:
Committee Briefing:  Assad’s Killing Machine Exposed: Implications for U.S. Policy

When:
9:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 31, 2014

Where:
2172 Rayburn House Office Building

Briefers:
“Caesar” (an alias)
Syrian Army defector
(will appear in disguise)

Mr. David M. Crane
Professor of Practice
College of Law
Syracuse University

Mr. Cherif Bassiouni
Emeritus Professor of Law
College of Law
DePaul University

The Honorable Frederic C. Hof
Resident Senior Fellow
Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
Atlantic Council

Important Note on Media Coverage of briefing:

For the safety of “Caesar,” the primary briefer, only still photography will be permitted during the opening statement portion of the briefing and will be restricted to designated areas near the rear of the briefing room.  No video or audio recording will be permitted at any time during the briefing.   

The briefing will not be webcast.

VERY GRAPHIC images will be displayed during the briefing.

***See foreignaffairs.house.gov for updates.