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April 23 (UPI) -- A former Syrian military officer and a subordinate stood trial for war crimes in Germany on Thursday. Former Col. Anwar Raslan is accused of complicity in fostering torture and inhumane conditions that resulted in the deaths of dozens of anti-government activists in 2011 and 2012. Prosecutors said at least 4,000 were tortured.
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Subordinate Eyad al-Gharib is charged with aiding and abetting in crimes against humanity.
Their trial began Thursday in the High Regional Court in Koblenz. The pair were living in Germany as refugees when they were arrested a year ago.
Although the purported crimes occurred outside of Germany, prosecutors are trying them there under a principle known as "universal jurisdiction."
"It is a good first step, an important step, but it is not going to be sufficient to fulfill the demands for justice of the Syrian people," said Mohammed Al Abdallah, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Syrian Justice and Accountability Center.
Raslan defected in 2012, less than a year into Syrian's civil war and joined forces opposed to President Bashar al-Assad's regime two years later. Some legal experts say the trial could discourage other Syrian troops and al-Assad supporters from doing the same, and keep them from providing information that could lead to future war crimes trials.
The trial is expected to last as long as three years.
"The overriding message to all members of the regime in Syria and all over the world is that you can't be safe," said Stefanie Bock, director of the International Research and Documentation Center for War CrimesTrials at Germany's University of Marburg.
