Crimes against humanity in Syria: Syrian charged in Paris with complicity

A 34-year-old Syrian was jailed Friday in Paris for complicity in crimes against humanity in Syria: French authorities accuse him of "alleged actions within Bashar Assad's army," with Assad himself the subject of three international arrest warrants.

The man in his thirties, who had been living "for several years in France," is being prosecuted for "intentional attacks on life, imprisonment or any other form of serious deprivation of liberty, torture, forced disappearances, other inhuman acts, committed in Syria between March 2011 and December 2015," according to the national anti-terrorist prosecutor's office, confirming information from sources close to the case to AFP. The preliminary investigation was launched after "a report by asylum authorities," the Pnat explained, which has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity.

For about ten years, these reports from the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) have been increasingly frequent, by the end of 2024, 60 percent of preliminary investigations by the unit for crimes against humanity had been opened following such reports.

In this case, the investigation, led by the Central Office for Combating Crimes against Humanity (OCLCH), led to the arrest of a suspect on Tuesday. After being held in police custody, the accused was brought before an investigating judge on Friday, who placed him under formal investigation. The suspect was then remanded in custody.

Cooperation

"As part of the investigation, the Pnat benefited from the cooperation of several European judicial authorities, UN investigative mechanisms, and Syrian and international non-governmental organizations," the prosecutor's office said.

In December, a presumed former member of Syrian intelligence linked to a detention center where torture was practiced was also placed under formal investigation in Paris for crimes against humanity and jailed. In that case as well, proceedings began with a report from Ofpra, in October 2020. The Pnat then opened a preliminary investigation for crimes against humanity committed in Syria between 2010 and 2013. These dates match the start of the civil war triggered by the brutal repression of peaceful demonstrations in 2011 under the Assad regime.

Assad himself is the target of three arrest warrants issued by French authorities for complicity in crimes against humanity and/or war crimes: During deadly chemical attacks in 2013, during the bombing of a civilian residential area in Deraa in 2017, and during the 2012 bombing of a press center in Homs.

Bashar Assad was overthrown on Dec. 8, 2024, following a lightning offensive led by a coalition of rebel groups, now dominated by Islamists who are in power in Damascus.