(Paris) The Paris Court of Appeal validated on Wednesday the arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, accused of complicity in crimes against humanity for the deadly chemical attacks of August 2013 attributed to the regime, a “historic” decision according to the civil parties.
“This ruling is historic. This is the first time that a national court has recognized that the personal immunity of a sitting head of state is not absolute,” the lawyers of the civil parties, physical victims and NGOs reacted to AFP. , My Clémence Bectarte, Jeanne Sulzer and Clémence Witt.
“This is a victory marked by the courage and perseverance of the French and Syrian victims of chemical attacks in Syria, paving the way for a possible trial against Bashar al-Assad in France, which constitutes an immense step forward in the fight against impunity”, they added at the end of the deliberations held behind closed doors.
The investigating chamber thus rejected the request from the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT), which requested the cancellation of the mandate on the grounds of the personal immunity of the presidents in office.
The PNAT maintained that “unanimously, it is considered until now” that the exceptions to the personal immunity of heads of state in office are “reserved for the sole benefit of international jurisdictions”, such as the International Criminal Court (ICC ), and not courts of foreign countries.
“Without calling into question the existence of elements demonstrating the involvement of Bashar al-Assad in the chemical attacks committed in August 2013”, the anti-terrorism prosecution wanted “to see this question decided by a higher court”.
The lawyers did not immediately have details of the arguments of the investigating chamber.
The PNAT may appeal to the Court of Cassation, the highest court in the French judicial system, in the coming days.
Since 2021, seized by a complaint, investigating judges from the crimes against humanity unit of the Paris judicial court have been investigating the chain of command which led to the attacks perpetrated on the night of August 4 to 5 in Adra and Douma (450 injured) and on August 21, 2013 in Eastern Ghouta, where more than a thousand people, according to U.S. intelligence, were killed by sarin gas.
The investigations led to the issuance of four arrest warrants in mid-November for the alleged planning of these attacks.
They are targeting Bashar al-Assad, his brother, Maher, de facto leader of the Fourth Division, an elite unit of the Syrian army, as well as two generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan.
The PNAT contested the mandate targeting the Syrian head of state, but not the other three.
A trial, even in their absence, could at this stage take place in the coming years in Paris.
The investigations, entrusted to the Central Office for the Fight against Crimes Against Humanity and Hate Crimes (OCLCH), are based, among other things, on photos, videos or maps, submitted by the civil parties in particular, and testimonies from survivors. and defectors from military regiments.
Members of the civil parties of the Franco-Syrian victims, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), Open Society Justice Initiative, Syrian Archive and Civil Rights Defenders.
Shortly after these attacks, Syria agreed in 2013 to join the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), responsible for implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons which entered into force in 1997.
But the OPCW has since accused Bashar al-Assad’s regime of using chemical weapons, which Damascus denies.
In April 2021, Syria was stripped of its voting rights at the OPCW after an investigation accused it of being behind further poison gas attacks.
The conflict in Syria, triggered in 2011 by the repression of pro-democracy demonstrations, has left more than half a million dead, displaced millions of people and divided the country.
