{"id":10029,"date":"2023-09-04T10:43:38","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T08:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/civitas-maxima.org\/?p=10029"},"modified":"2024-10-23T13:29:46","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T11:29:46","slug":"war-crimes-round-up-switzerland-weighs-in-on-elusive-quest-for-justice-over-syria-hama-massacre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/civitas-maxima.org\/fr\/war-crimes-round-up-switzerland-weighs-in-on-elusive-quest-for-justice-over-syria-hama-massacre\/","title":{"rendered":"War crimes round-up: Switzerland weighs in on elusive quest for justice over Syria Hama massacre"},"content":{"rendered":"

War crimes round-up: Switzerland weighs in on elusive quest for justice over Syria Hama massacre<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Geneva Solutions\u2019s monthly \u201cwar criminal hunt\u201d in collaboration with the Geneva-based NGO Civitas Maxima.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland\u2019s Federal Criminal Court (FCC) revealed this month that an international arrest warrant<\/a> was launched last year against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad\u2019s uncle in connection with war crimes committed in the city of Hama in 1982.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wanted notice for Rifaat al-Assad, issued in July 2022 by the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) on the FCC\u2019s orders, has only just been made public after being kept confidential to increase its chances of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 10,000 and 40,000 people are estimated<\/a> to have died during a massive crackdown on the west-central city to quash an uprising that challenged the rule of then-President Hafez al-Assad. Witnesses and victims have recounted how Rifaat al-Assad \u2013 the commander of government special forces at the time \u2013 was present during the brutal crackdown and ordered his troops to \u201cclean the town of the thugs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Assad, dubbed \u201cthe butcher of Hama\u201d, was staying in a five-star hotel in Geneva when Geneva-based NGO Trial International filed a complaint against him in 2013. His presence in Switzerland, however brief, was enough to trigger the exercise of universal jurisdiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it was only after a slow and lengthy investigation by the Swiss Office of the Attorney General that the federal prosecutor ordered the FOJ to issue the warrant in November 2021. The following month, the FOJ refused to do so, arguing that it couldn\u2019t issue the warrant since al-Assad was no longer on Swiss territory. The case rose to the FCC, which ordered the FOJ to issue the warrant the following year regardless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the course of this procedural back and forth, Rifaat al-Assad had been investigated for, charged, and convicted of financial offences in France<\/a>, where he had been residing. He was also under investigation in Spain<\/a> for other financial charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time the Swiss authorities managed to act definitively on the case and issue the international warrant, Rifaat al-Assad had already left France, avoiding a four-year prison sentence, and returned to Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether he will ever stand trial in Switzerland for his alleged crimes remains to be seen. This whole process also begs the question of why France and Switzerland could not have collaborated to prevent al-Assad from fleeing France right under the nose of the authorities. Nevertheless, for his victims, this warrant, thanks to the tenacity of a Geneva NGO, remains a significant step forward in obtaining accountability for these crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what else happened this month<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n