France points arrest warrants for Syrian president, 3 generals alleging involvement in conflict crimes

PARIS — French judicial authorities issued worldwide arrest warrants for Syrian President Bashar Assad, his brother and two military generals for alleged complicity in conflict crimes and crimes towards humanity, attorneys for Syrian victims mentioned Wednesday. They embody a 2013 chemical assault on rebel-held Damascus suburbs.

A sufferer of the assault welcomed the transfer as a reminder of the horrors of Syria‘s civil war, and urged countries where Assad might travel to arrest him. While he is unlikely to face trial in France, international warrants for a serving world leader are very rare, and send a strong message about Assad‘s leadership at a time when some countries have welcomed him back into the diplomatic fold.

In addition to President Assad, the arrest warrants were issued for his brother, Maher Assad, the commander of the 4th Armored Division, and two Syrian army generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan, the lawyers said.

There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government on the warrants.

Jeanne Sulzer and Clemence Witt, lawyers at the Paris Bar who represent the plaintiffs, and non-governmental organizations behind the complaint, hailed the decision.

“It marks a crucial milestone in the battle against impunity,” Sulzer told The Associated Press. “It signifies a positive evolution in case law recognizing the grave nature of the crimes committed.”

The Paris prosecutor’s workplace has not publicly commented on the arrest warrants, which stay secret below French legislation whereas an investigation is ongoing.

“Legally speaking, this is a procedural act as the investigation into the 2013 attacks in Eastern Ghouta and Douma continues,” Sulzer mentioned. The 4 people named within the arrest warrants “can be arrested and brought to France for questioning,” she mentioned.

More than 1,000 individuals have been killed and 1000’s have been injured within the August 2013 assaults on Douma and Eastern Ghouta.

The investigation into the 2 chemical weapons assaults has been carried out below common jurisdiction in France by a particular unit of the Paris Judicial Court. It was opened in 2021 in response to a felony criticism by the survivors, and filed by the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression.

Mazen Darwish, the director of the middle, known as the warrants “a new victory for the victims, their families and survivors” of the 2013 assaults.

Assad’s authorities was broadly deemed by the worldwide group to be answerable for the Aug. 21, 2013, sarin fuel assault within the then-opposition-held Damascus suburb of jap Ghouta. The Syrian authorities and its allies have denied their duty and claimed the Ghouta assault was carried out by opposition forces attempting to push for overseas navy intervention.

The United States threatened navy retaliation within the aftermath of the assault, with then-President Barack Obama saying Assad’s use of chemical weapons can be Washington’s “red line.” However, the U.S. public and Congress have been cautious of a brand new conflict, as invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq had was quagmires.

Washington settled for a take care of Moscow for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons stockpile.

Syria says it eradicated its chemical arsenal below the 2013 settlement. However, watchdog teams have continued to allege chemical assaults by Syrian authorities forces since then.

Alaa Makhzoumi, a survivor of the chemical assault in Eastern Ghouta, mentioned the French determination is an “initial step towards achieving justice and fulfilling the rights of all martyrs and victims we lost that day.”

Makhzoumi, now a refugee in Turkey, mentioned she and her husband and son suffered respiratory issues after the assault, and her youthful son was born with delivery defects that she believes are linked to chemical publicity.

“The most important thing about this decision is to bring the chemical (attacks) issue back to the forefront,” she mentioned, at a time when worldwide consideration has drifted away from Syria following normalization agreements of a number of Arab nations with Assad’s authorities.

“I hope that all countries will contribute to the implementation of the decision by arresting Assad if they have the opportunity,” Makhzoumi mentioned.

In addition to France, complaints regarding the chemical assaults in Eastern Ghouta in 2013 and Khan Shaykhun in 2017 have been submitted to the authorities in Germany in 2020, and in Sweden in 2021, based mostly on witness testimonies, visible proof and details about the chain of command of the entities suspected of finishing up the assaults.

The quantity and detailed proof within the Eastern Ghouta case filed in France satisfied the judges that there’s “serious or corroborating evidence making it likely” that President Assad, his brother Maher and generals Abbas and Hassan, “took part in planning an execution of these attacks and bear individual criminal responsibility for the crimes,” the NGOs behind the criticism in France mentioned in an announcement.

Syria will not be a member of the International Criminal Court, that means it doesn’t have jurisdiction there. However, human rights attorneys up to now have urged prosecutors to open an investigation into crimes in the course of the nation’s civil conflict, arguing that the court docket may train jurisdiction over Syrian civilians compelled into Jordan, which is a member of the court docket.

So far, the court docket has not opened an investigation.

An investigative crew on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has repeatedly discovered that Syrian forces used chemical weapons, together with within the April 2018 assault on Douma. However, the OPCW doesn’t have any technique of prosecuting perpetrators.

____

Surk reported from Nice, France. Associated Press reporters Omar Albam in Idlib, Syria, and Mike Corder in The Hague contributed to this report.