France issues arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in historic move
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France can prosecute alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world under the principle of universal jurisdiction
In a historic move, France has issued an international arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, accusing him of complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes over chemical attacks in 2013, news agencies reported on Wednesday (Nov 16) citing a judicial source.
The plaintiffs in the case also said that besides al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad and two other senior officials have also been included in the warrant.
The arrest warrants came in the aftermath of a criminal investigation into chemical attacks in the town of Douma and the district of Eastern Ghouta in Aug 2013.
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As per the official estimate, the sarin gas attacks saw more than 1,400 people suffocate to death. The incident during the conflict raging for over a decade led to global condemnation.
The organisation which filed a legal complaint hailed the move.
It said that this was the first time a sitting head of state had been named in an arrest warrant in another country for allegations linked to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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As quoted by Reuters, Mazen Darwish, who is the lawyer and founder of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), said that these are also the first international arrest warrants that have been issued over the chemical weapons attack in Ghouta.
The rights group SCM filed the case in France. In total, three international warrants were also issued for the arrests of Assad's brother Maher, the chief of the Fourth Division, the Syrian army's elite military unit, and two generals.
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A complaint was filed by SCM, Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and the Syrian Archive, which is an organisation documenting human rights violations in Syria.
In a statement to AFP, Darwish said that "It's a huge development" and "an independent jurisdiction is recognising that the chemical attack couldn't have happened without the knowledge of the Syrian president, that he has responsibility and should be held accountable".
Notably, France can prosecute alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
(With inputs from agencies)
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