Alaa Mousa, commonly referred to as Alaa M. in German legal documents due to privacy laws, is a Syrian doctor who was convicted by the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court for crimes against humanity.
Alaa Mousa was born in 1984 or 1985 in Syria. He graduated medical studies in Syria and began working as a civilian doctor. As with all Syrian medical graduates, he was obligated to complete an internship at either civilian or military hospitals in order to receive his specialization certificate. He worked in military hospitals in Homs and Damascus â the most notable ones between 2011-2012 were hospital 608 in Homs and hospital 6012 in Damascus, in the early days of the Syrian civil war.
During his time working in military hospitals he was accused of committing torture and murder along with crimes against humanity, which included: torture of about 18 people among them a teenager who he set fire to his genitals and another detainee he gave a lethal injection after resisting beating. He performed surgery on prisoners without giving them the right amount of anesthesia and attempted to deprive opposition detainees of their ability to reproduce. He was also involved in systematic abuse, including physical and psychological torture, that often resulting in death of detainees.
In 2015 Mousa relocated to Germany. He entered the country with a visa for highly skilled workers along with thousands of Syrian refugees and medical professionals who run away from the conflict. He then worked in Germany as an orthopedic doctor. In June 2020 he was arrested by German authorities after being recognized by witnesses and survivors who reported about his past crimes.
On January 2022 his trial began at the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt. This case was conducted under GermanyâÂÂs universal jurisdiction laws, allowing prosecution for crimes committed abroad. The trial, which lasted three years, was the first time a trial on state torture in Syria had taken place worldwide. Mousa admitted being present while prisoners were tortured but claimed he was powerless to help them. He accused the prosecution witnesses of forming a "conspiracy" against him because he was a Christian.
On June 16, 2025 Mousa was found guilty of crimes against humanity, torture, war crimes, and two murders. During sentencing, Judge Christoph Koller described him as a sadist who "enjoyed harming people that he considered inferior and of lower value to himself". Mousa was sentenced to life imprisonment with preventive detention after 15 years.