French prosecutors issued arrest warrants Wednesday for the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad; his brother, Maher al-Assad; and two other senior officials on charges of war crimes during the country’s deadly civil war. France’s arrest warrant for Assad is the first time a national court has issued a warrant for the sitting president of another country because of war crimes.
One professor at USC questioned whether the move is simply too little, too late.
“The damage is done,” said Laurie Brand, professor emerita of political science, international relations and Middle East studies. “I don’t expect this will mean a whole lot.”
The charges are over the use of banned chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, Reuters reported Wednesday. In 2013, the town of Douma and the district of Eastern Ghouta were hit by chemical attacks reportedly administered by Assad and other members of the Syrian government, leading to over 1,000 fatalities.
Alongside Assad, French judges issued warrants for ten other Syrian officials. These include his brother Maher, who was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as Ghassam Abbas, director of the agency that established Syria’s chemical weapons program.
The case comes after an investigation involving deep analysis of the Syrian military chain of command and first-hand witness accounts. It was instigated by legal complaints from various groups, including the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and the Syrian Archive, which documents human rights violations in Syria.
Mazen Darwish, who founded the SCM and filed the case in France, told the Agence France-Presse that this is a “huge development” as “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.”
The war in Syria began in 2011. Syrian forces fought back against pro-democracy protests participating in Arab Spring uprisings across the country. A brutal civil war ensued, with the Syrian government fighting various opposition factions. Soon after, the country almost fell into the hands of terrorists as the extremist group Islamic State made Syria their base.
Assad’s government has now regained control of Syria’s biggest cities following a ceasefire in March 2020 brokered by Russia and Turkey.
The devastation of the Syrian civil war has been far-reaching, with over 500,000 Syrians killed and 13 million displaced, according to the Syria Observatory for Human Rights. Syria also suffered a 7.8-magnitude earthquake earlier this year, causing tens of thousands of injuries and deaths.
France’s decision to take Assad to trial arguably adds another blow to this already-ravaged country. Brand thinks the timing of France’s decision is noteworthy.
“This could have happened years ago if there really was a concern,” Brand said. “Why does it happen now in the middle of the Gaza war?”
She believes this may be an attempt by major Western leaders to try and rehabilitate their image to Arab and Muslim audiences, after mounting criticism of their reluctance to pressure Israel into a ceasefire or “humanitarian truce” in Gaza.
“French ambassadors across the Middle East have complained and protested the position the French government has taken in the [Israel-Hamas] conflict,” Brand said. “So maybe condemning Assad for his crimes against Syrian civilians is a way for Macron to show he does care about some Arab lives.”
Syria agreed to join the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) global watchdog in 2013, promising to give up all chemical weapons. However, the attack in Eastern Ghouta was not the only time a chemical weapons attack has taken place in Syria.
In 2017, a joint inquiry by the United Nations and the OPCW found that the Syrian government used the nerve agent sarin in an April 2017 attack and has also used chlorine in multiple attacks since.
The Syrian government has vehemently denied using any chemical weapons, but as commander of the armed forces, Assad’s approval would be mandatory. “The president is responsible for many crimes in Syria - but with sarin gas it’s impossible to jump over the gap [of his involvement],” Darwish told Reuters.
It is unusual for a country to issue an arrest warrant for another sitting head of state, as they have immunity from prosecution. But international law brings exception to that immunity in cases of war crimes or genocide. Despite this, Craig Martin, professor of international public law at the Washburn University School of Law, does not think it will have a significant impact on Assad presently.
“It’s entirely within the French jurisdiction to exercise universal jurisdiction against someone accused of torture, war crimes or crimes against humanity,” Martin explained. “But Assad is the current head of state so he has some level of immunity.”
Martin said that if Syria took the case to the International Court of Justice, it is likely they would agree that France cannot prosecute another head of state in their domestic courts, and so the case may be dropped.
Assad’s visit to the United Arab Emirates last year heralded a step forward for Syria to re-enter the world stage. He has since traveled to China and was welcomed back into the Arab League. The country also received diplomatic support following the earthquake in February 2023, indicating a tentative thawing of relations between Syria and the international community.
Trials in absentia are permitted in France, meaning Assad could be trialed even without his physical presence. Martin believes that in practical terms, this won’t have a major impact while he remains current head of state. However, the arrest warrant could prevent him from traveling to France especially in the future, were he to step down as president.