French court upholds arrest warrant for Syria's Assad over war crimes

The Paris appeals court ruled that an international arrest warrant for Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad issued by France for alleged complicity in war crimes during Syria’s civil war is valid and remains in place, lawyers have said.

Jeanne Sulzer and Clemence Witt, lawyers who represented the plaintiffs and non-governmental organisations who filed the complaint against Assad in France hailed Wednesday's decision as a historic judgment.

In May, French anti-terrorism prosecutors asked the Paris appeals court to rule on lifting the arrest warrant for Assad, saying he has absolute immunity as a serving head of state.

"It's the first time that a national court has recognised that the personal immunity of a serving head of state is not absolute," the lawyers said in a statement.

French judicial authorities issued international arrest warrants last November for Assad; his brother Maher Assad, the commander of the 4th Armored Division; and two Syrian generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al Hassan, for alleged complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

They include a 2013 chemical attack on then-opposition-held Damascus suburbs.

Sarin gas attack

Victims of the attack welcomed France’s decision to issue arrest warrants as a reminder of the horrors of Syria’s civil war.

International arrest warrants for a serving head of state are very rare and the decision by the Paris court to issue one for the Syrian regime leader represented a strong criticism of Assad’s leadership at a time when some countries were welcoming him back into the diplomatic fold.

More than 1,000 people were killed and thousands were injured in the August 2013 attacks on Douma and Eastern Ghouta.

The investigation into the attacks has been conducted under universal jurisdiction in France by a special unit of the Paris Judicial Court.

It was opened in 2021 in response to a criminal complaint by the survivors, and filed by the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression.

Assad’s regime was widely deemed by the international community to be responsible for the sarin gas attack in the then-opposition-held Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta.

The Syrian regime and its allies have denied responsibility and said the attack was carried out by opposition forces trying to push for foreign military intervention.

Sentencing regime members

The United States threatened military retaliation in the aftermath of the attack, with then-President Barack Obama saying the use of chemical weapons by Assad would be Washington’s “red line.”

However, the US public and Congress were wary of a new war, as invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq had turned into quagmires.

Washington settled for a deal with Moscow for Syria to give up its chemical weapons stockpile.

Syria says it eliminated its chemical arsenal under the 2013 agreement. However, watchdog groups have continued to allege chemical attacks by Syrian regime forces since then.

Syria is not a member of the International Criminal Court, meaning the court does not have jurisdiction there. However, human rights lawyers in the past have urged prosecutors to open an investigation into crimes during the country’s civil war, arguing that the court could exercise jurisdiction over Syrian civilians forced into Jordan, which is a member of the court.

So far, the court has not opened an investigation.

In a separate case, a Paris court last month sentenced three high-ranking Syrian officials in absentia to life in prison for complicity in war crimes in a landmark case against Assad's regime and the first such case in Europe.