Position: Deputy Head of Air Force Intelligence Directorate
Association: The Assad Regime
Loyalty: Bashar al-Assad
Most Notorious Crimes:
- Served as Deputy Head of the Air Force Intelligence Directorate, overseeing units responsible for mass arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings.
- Supervised daily killings, intimidation, and detention of civilians in Aleppo and northern Syria.
- Linked to chemical weapons and conventional attacks on opposition-held areas.
Profile
Adeeb Namer Salameh is a long-time Syrian intelligence officer and one of the regime’s most notorious security figures. Born in 1953 in the village of Dhahr al-Maghar, near Salamiyah in Hama Governorate, Salameh graduated from the military academy with a specialization in air defense and rose through the ranks of Air Force Intelligence to the rank of Brigadier General. From 2006 to 2016 he headed the Air Force Intelligence Branch in the northern region based in Aleppo, a period during which his units became synonymous with arbitrary arrests, systematic torture, disappearances and killings. In 2016 he was promoted to Deputy Head of the Air Force Intelligence Directorate. His service was extended beyond retirement at the outbreak of the 2011 uprising because of his perceived loyalty and effectiveness.
Human rights reports, including from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, document widespread abuses committed under his watch. Salameh is accused of supervising daily killings, mass arrests, and torture at the Air Force Intelligence Branch in Aleppo and of staging false-flag bombings to portray the regime as a victim of terrorism. Families of detainees have reported extortion by Salameh and his subordinates, while his branch became infamous for dumping bodies of tortured detainees on roads near its headquarters. His name appeared on EU, UK and Canadian sanctions lists for direct involvement in repression and war crimes, and was publicly cited by U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power at the UN in 2016 as one of 12 Syrian officers responsible for attacks on civilians and torture of opponents.
Identity
Full Name: Adeeb Namer Salameh (أديب نمر سلامة)
Date of Birth: 1953
Place of Birth: Dhahr al-Maghar, Salamiyah, Hama Governorate, Syria
Nationality: Syrian
Career Timeline
Pre-2006: Rose through Air Force Intelligence after graduating from the military academy (air defense).
2006–2016: Head of the Air Force Intelligence Branch for the northern region (Aleppo and Idlib). Oversaw mass arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings.
2016: Appointed Deputy Head of the Air Force Intelligence Directorate
Post-2016: Continued to serve in senior Air Force Intelligence leadership; his service was extended despite reaching retirement age because of the war.
Crimes & Responsibilities
- Mass Arrests and disappearances: Directed large-scale arbitrary detentions of civilians and political opponents in Aleppo and the northern region.
- Torture and killings: Supervised systematic torture, extrajudicial killings, and dumping of victims’ bodies near branch headquarters.
- War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity: Named by EU, UK, Canada, and U.S. officials as personally responsible for grave abuses against civilians under international law.
Legal Proceedings & Sanctions
Listed under European Union, UK, and Canadian sanctions for repression, torture, and human rights violations. Publicly named by the U.S. at the UN as a war criminal. No international arrest warrant has yet been confirmed.
Current Status/Whereabouts
His precise whereabouts remain uncertain, though he is thought to remain in Syria’s coastal region.
