French court to Issue Decision to Uphold or Cancel Arrest Warrant for Terrorist « Bashar al-Assad » ShaamNetwork June 25 2024
Western media sources said the Court of Appeal in Paris intended to issue its decision to cancel or approve a French arrest warrant against the “terrorist” Bashar al-Assad, who is accused of complicity in crimes against humanity in Syria.
AFP quoted an informed source as saying that the investigative judges had put forward « firm » arguments highlighting the conditions under which a foreign state could lift the personal immunity of another head of state in order to « open an additional avenue to combat crimes against humanity ».
« It is unanimously considered so far that making exceptions to lift the immunity of heads of state in office is reserved only for the benefit of international tribunals such as the International Criminal Court, » the Office of the National Counterterrorism Prosecutor said. The Office clarified that without questioning the existence of elements proving Bashar al-Assad’s involvement in the chemical attacks committed in August 2013, it wanted to see a Supreme Court decide on this matter.
French criminal investigative judges had issued arrest warrants for the terrorist Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher and two of his aides on charges of using banned chemical weapons against civilians in the city of Douma and the Eastern Ghouta region in 2013, which resulted in the death of more than 1,400 people.
Arrest warrants were also issued for Brigadier General Ghassan Abbas, Director of Branch 450 of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, and Brigadier General Bassam al-Hassan, Presidential Adviser for Strategic Affairs and liaison officer between the presidential palace and the Syrian Scientific Research Center. These arrest warrants cite legal qualifications for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The judicial action by the French investigating judges followed a criminal investigation by the Specialized Unit on Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes of the Paris Judicial Court into the two chemical weapons attacks in August 2013.
The investigation was opened based on a criminal complaint filed by the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) and Syrian victims in March 2021, based on testimonies from survivors of the August 2013 attacks. The complaint was supported by the Syrian Archive, the Open Society Justice Initiative, and the Civil Rights Defenders Organization, who joined the investigation as civil parties, as well as members of the Association of Victims of Chemical Weapons (AVCW).
In addition to first-hand testimonies from numerous victims and survivors, the criminal complaint, which takes the form of a civilian request, includes a comprehensive analysis of Syria’s military chain of command, the Syrian government’s chemical weapons program, and hundreds of documented evidence including photos and videos.
« By issuing these arrest warrants, France takes the firm position that the horrific crimes of ten years ago cannot go unpunished. We see France’s position, and we hope that other countries will soon take into account the strong evidence we have gathered over the years and demand that high-level officials for these crimes be held criminally accountable, » said Hadi al-Khatib, founder of the Syrian Archive and managing director of Mnemonic, the project’s host organization.
Steve Kostas, Senior Administrative Counsel at the Open Society Justice Initiative, commented: « This is the first time an arrest warrant has been issued for a head of state while in power, for war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed by another country. » « This moment is historic, and in this case France has an opportunity to establish the principle of no immunity for the most serious international crimes, even at the highest levels. »
« We hope that the arrest warrants will send a clear and loud message to survivors and all those affected by these attacks and other atrocity crimes committed in Syria, that the world has not forgotten them and that the struggle for justice will continue, » said Aida al-Sammani, senior legal adviser at Civil Rights Defenders.
The Centre explained that courts can use the principle of extraterritorial jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute atrocity international crimes committed on foreign territory under certain circumstances.
In other Syrian cases, the Paris Court’s specialized unit on crimes against humanity and war crimes has already issued seven arrest warrants in different cases against seven other senior Syrian regime officials, including last March against Ali Mamlouk, the head of Syria’s National Security Bureau.
In a statement, the Syrian National Coalition praised the French judicial procedure that stipulates the issuance of arrest warrants against the head of the regime, Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad and their aides, on charges of using chemical weapons against civilians in the city of Douma and the Eastern Ghouta area in Damascus countryside in 2013, which consolidates the principle of no immunity for perpetrators of war crimes.
Stephen Raab, the former US ambassador to international criminal justice, called on the French judiciary to uphold the arrest warrant issued against terrorist Bashar al-Assad on charges of complicity in crimes against humanity in the case of chemical weapons attacks that resulted in hundreds of victims in Syria in 2013.
In an article published by the French website « Mediapart », the human rights expert said that immunity should not be synonymous with impunity, as the Court of Appeal in Paris will issue its decision on the appeal in this case, on June 26.
International law traditionally recognizes the immunity of state officials for acts carried out in their official capacity, but France does not recognize Assad as Syria’s legitimate representative, he said, « and in 2012 recognized the National Coalition of Opposition Forces as the sole representative of the Syrian people. »
To be effective, he said, a ban on the use of chemical weapons must extend to Assad, who is suspected of bearing significant responsibility for violating the ban for decades.
Syrian activists and human rights activists considered that the statement, in which Syrian and international human rights organizations condemned the French judiciary’s decision to challenge the validity of the arrest warrant issued against Bashar al-Assad, as a good step, but it is not enough to achieve justice for their people and end the bloody crisis that the country has been going through for more than 13 years.
The National Counterterrorism Prosecutor’s Office in France had asked the Paris Court of Appeal to rule on the validity of the arrest warrant issued against terrorist Bashar al-Assad on charges of complicity in crimes against humanity in chemical attacks in Syria in 2013.
« Such a warrant must be issued by a higher court, such as the International Criminal Court, to avoid legal consequences, » the Prosecutor’s Office said, adding that the arrest warrant constitutes an exception to the principle of personal immunity enjoyed by the president, prime minister and foreign minister in their positions in each sovereign state.
He pointed out that the importance of this legal issue and its consequences require that it be decided by a higher court, before a possible trial, noting that the Investigation Chamber, and then the Court of Cassation, will have to decide whether the arrest warrant is valid or will cancel it.
The original article in Arabic from ShaamNetwork can be found here:
My thanks to @MotsemAlbakour for the translation.
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