On November 14, 2023, French investigating judges issued an arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and three other high-ranking Syrian security officials, including the president's brother, Maher Al-Assad, head of the 4th Division, an elite army unit, and two generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam Al-Hassan. This was a judicial first: Never before has a national court – and not an international one like the International Criminal Court in The Hague – issued an arrest warrant for a sitting state leader. The Syrian president is accused of complicity in crimes against humanity for chemical attacks carried out against civilians in Syria in August 2013.
On Wednesday afternoon, May 15, the Examining Magistrate's Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal is due to consider, behind closed doors, the validity of this arrest warrant concerning the Syrian president, at the request of the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office (PNAT), which has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity. The PNAT believes that "the issuance of this warrant raises a fundamental legal question about the immunity ratione [concerning acts performed in an official capacity] enjoyed by heads of state." It would like "to see this question decided by a higher court." In practice, the PNAT's request takes the form of a motion for annulment, which will be pleaded at the hearing on Wednesday by the Public Prosecutor's Office. The three other arrest warrants are not subject to the motion.
For the plaintiffs, this request for annulment is as much a matter of law as politics: There is a strong apprehension, particularly at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that it could set a precedent and open the door to a form of reciprocity, with foreign courts issuing arrest warrants for the French President. The plaintiffs believe that the PNAT's position is an "aberration" in that it amounts to protecting a defendant against the victims' interests.
The request "hinders the extraordinary efforts of victims and survivors seeking justice and reparation," said 65 NGOs and organizations, several of which are plaintiffs in the case, in a joint statement. "It is now time to call into question the personal immunity of the current head of state with regard to international crimes," and France must "send a firm message to the world: The use of chemical weapons is prohibited, and all perpetrators of these crimes will be brought to justice," the statement said. Mazen Darwish, founder and managing director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), one of the four NGOs admitted as plaintiffs, believed that "the function of the aboutpresident must not be used as a bulwark. "This is essential to preserve security and peace in the world."
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