German Kurdish group accuses Syrian president of war crimes, genocide

A Kurdish group in Germany has filed a complaint against Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, German prosecutors confirmed to AFP on Monday.

The Kurdish Community of Germany (KGD) accused Sharaa of “genocide and the gravest war crimes” in a complaint filed last week with the German federal prosecutor’s office.

“Al-Jolani bears joint responsibility for the genocide of the Yazidi Kurds in 2014 and for the systematic and ongoing violence against minorities in Syria and Iraq,” said Mehmet Tanriverdi, KGD vice president, in a statement.

The Syrian president, long known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, assumed provisional leadership of Syria after his rebel forces ousted longtime leader Bashar al-Assad late last year.

Sharaa was once closely tied to al-Qaida, and his Islamist militant group, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was removed from the U.S. list of terrorist organizations only last July.

But the Syrian leader has sought to break from his jihadist past and present a more moderate image since taking power from Assad after more than a decade of bloody civil war. He is expected at the White House on Monday to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The German Kurdish group denounces the international recognition Sharaa has received, including being invited by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to visit Germany and discuss the expulsion of Syrian citizens from the country.

The KGD said it had “serious concerns” about Germany allowing “an alleged war criminal to remain in the country.”

“Under the principle of universal jurisdiction, Germany has the ability — and the duty — to prosecute these perpetrators, regardless of where the crimes were committed,” the statement added.

The Syrian embassy in Berlin did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment on the complaint on Monday.