'My brother went to Syria to help refugees, instead he was tortured and killed with thousands still wrongly imprisoned'

 

 'In November 2012, a doctor from South London made his way to Turkey to treat refugees, he then went onto treat those injured from a hospital bomb after crossing into Syria.

 After this, Dr Abbas Khan, from Streatham, was "never a free man again" according to chief coroner, Peter Thornton.

 On November 22, 2012, the 32-year-old father-of-two was captured by Syrian officials and his family reported him missing.

 Just over a year later on December 16, 2013, Dr Khan's family received the news of his death - it has been eight years since.

 The time in between has been pieced together by Dr Khan's mum, Fatima Khan, who visited Syria in hopes of locating her son, as well as witness statements of those imprisoned with Dr Khan.



 What is understood is that the British orthopaedic surgeon, who had worked at Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, was wrongly captured and placed in an underground cell.

 During this time, he was tortured in a prison in Damascus for eight months.

 His resilient mother, Fatima, had gone to Syria to search for him and managed to locate him in the summer of 2013 after visiting a number of embassies.

 Upon meeting him, she found he had burns on his feet, a missing fingernail and weighed just 32kg - conditions in the cell were horrific, with mice, faeces and cockroaches.

 He told his mum that he had been imprisoned on acts of terrorism for treating dying civilians.



 In December 2013, the Syrian régime claimed he would be freed - but just days before his release he was found dead in his cell, with officials claiming he hanged himself.

 Fatima was told her son had killed himself.

 In 2014, a jury at his inquest returned the verdict that he had in fact been unlawfully killed - with Dr Khan's family always maintaining that he was murdered in custody.

 “Dr Khan was deliberately and intentionally killed without any legal justification,” said the jury forewoman.

 The same year, two Syrian prisoners came forward and said Dr Khan was "killed for the brutality he witnessed".

 The British Foreign Office also agrees that he was "in effect murdered" and just this month another witness came forward about the horrific treatment inside the Syrian prison.



 American medical aid worker Kevin Dawes was also detained just days after entering Syria in 2012, he spoke about what he suffered during his three and a half years in detention.

 Kevin met Dr Abbas Khan during his time there and said they were placed in adjacent cells.

 "We were able to speak to each other under the door. They would scald him with hot water and beat him. They did the same to me," he said.

 When Dr Khan's mum Fatima came to see him, he told her to alert the US embassy about Kevin's imprisonment.

 That is when his treatment improved, "I owe Abbas a lot," he said.

 But eight years since his death, there are still questions unanswered and justice is yet to be served.

 Although witness statements have been gathered and a case is being built, it's unclear whether the Syrian régime will ever be held accountable.

 But Dr Khan's sister, Sarah Khan, is hopeful.



 She said: "We've been collecting evidence the eight years, we're receiving new witness statements every few months from detainees who saw Abbas or those who have more details of his murder. We'll be submitting evidence to the Met. We're looking for a mechanism to be able to hold them accountable. There was a famous case recently in Germany which was successful, against a member of the Syrian régime guilty of torturing.

 Kevin Dawes statement is further proof of Abbas' incarceration in a military prison and his torture. We hope and pray for both Kevin and Abbas' family to receive the justice they deserve."

 Today is the eight year death anniversary of Dr Abbas Khan, and there are still thousands of foreigners unlawfully imprisoned in Syria.

 Sarah says: "Although eight years have passed, we feel no different in our want for justice. No family should have to go through what we have and unfortunately there are still hundreds imprisoned in Syria, being tortured and murdered. We will continue to search for evidence and witnesses to push our case. This isn't just justice for Abbas solely, if we succeed in bringing a case against a brutal régime and they are held accountable for their heinous crimes we will be protecting other humanitarian aid workers who put their lives at risk to save others." '