After Court of cassation's decision: will France become safe haven for war criminals?

 French jugde Aurélia Devos reflects on the impact of the Court of cassations decision in Le Monde:

[Seized on the case of Abdulhamid C., member of the Damascus secret services, arrested in the Paris region and indicted in February 2019 for "complicity in a crime against humanity", the criminal chamber of the Court of Cassation estimated , on November 24, that the French courts are incompetent on the grounds that Syrian law does not specifically sanction crimes against humanity. This judgment narrowly and restrictively interprets the law of August 9, 2010, which transposes into French law the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the concept of universal jurisdiction. France is one of the few European countries to impose this "double criminality" lock.]

Tribune. At the heart of the Paris court, there are men and women who face the worst that man can do. From war crimes to crimes against humanity, they no longer count the stories of pain, the unbearable images, the silent cries of the survivors. These magistrates and these jurists are not historians, they only want to do their job of rendering justice, they apply French law.

The crimes against humanity, war crimes and offenses pole, created in Paris in January 2012, is thus carrying out numerous investigations - more than 160 in 27 countries to date, compared to around twenty at its inception -, initiates trials, develops an active policy of detecting suspects on French territory.

France: franco-syrian man arrested for selling prohibited material to syrian army

 The man who is accused of having provided material for chemical weapons was arrested in the south of France where he met his family for the christmas holidays, reports Le Monde:

A Franco-Syrian, at the head of a shipping company, was indicted in France and imprisoned, suspected of having supplied equipment to the Syrian army, including components that could be used in the manufacture of chemical weapons , despite an international embargo.

The man, born in 1962 and living abroad, was arrested in the south of France, according to a source familiar with the matter at Agence France-Presse (AFP). "He had returned to France with his family for the holidays," she added.

At the end of his police custody, he was indicted on Saturday for "conspiracy to commit crimes against humanity, complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in war crimes", as well as " laundering of war crimes and crimes against humanity, ”a judicial source told AFP on Sunday. He was remanded in custody, added this source.

This is the first time that an indictment has intervened in an investigation in France into suspicion of supporting the Syrian army, according to the source familiar with the matter.

The acts with which he is accused began in March 2011, the start of the civil war in Syria, and would have continued until January 2018 or June 2019 depending on the crimes concerned, the judicial source said. The man is suspected of having provided support to the Syrian army through the acquisition of materials and components used directly for the surveillance and repression of the population, despite the international embargo.

France: Court of Cassation declares itself incompetent to jugde suspected syrian torturer

 Source Le Monde:

Will France be the refuge in Europe for Syrian war criminals? Will we see executioners and victims cross paths in the streets of Paris without the latter being able to initiate any prosecution whatsoever against those who massacred their families? In any case, this is the meaning of the judgment handed down by the criminal chamber of the Court of Cassation on November 24. In essence, the judges ruled that the French courts were incompetent to prosecute Syrians living in France for crimes against humanity committed in their country of origin, on the grounds that Syrian law does not specifically sanction crimes against it. 'humanity.

This judgment concerns the first case of indictment in France in the name of universal jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity. It targeted a Syrian named Abdulhamid C., arrested in the Paris region and indicted in February 2019 for "complicity in crimes against humanity". A member of State Security, he was arrested as part of a joint investigation in France and Germany into what has been called the "Caesar case". In 2013, a former Syrian military police photographer, known by the pseudonym "Caesar," fled his country with 55,000 photographs of bodies tortured, starved and tortured in the prisons of the Assad regime.

An investigation was opened in France in 2015 after the transmission of the "Caesar file" by the then foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, to the crimes against humanity pole of the Paris judicial tribunal. In Germany, it led to the trial of two former Syrian military intelligence agents, also known as "branch 215" or "branch Al-Khatib", in the court of Koblenz: the first is an officer, Anwar Raslan, the second, Eyad Al-Gharib, a subordinate. Al-Gharib was found guilty of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity and sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Raslan awaits judgment in the next few days.

In France, on the other hand, justice is trampling. The indictment of Abdulhamid C., confirmed by the investigating chamber in January, was therefore overturned by the judgment of the judges of cassation. The 32-year-old man, who was on bail after a year in detention, is now fully free. Entered France illegally in 2015, he obtained refugee status in 2018. He is suspected of having, on behalf of State Security, identified and arrested demonstrators to send them to the detention centers of the " Al-Khatib branch ”.

How did we get here ? The Court of Cassation only interpreted in a narrow and restrictive manner the law of August 9, 2010 which transposes the Rome Statute, founding the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the notion of universal jurisdiction in French law. "This law contains four obstacles intended to limit the universal jurisdiction of French courts and to closely control its use," explains Clémence Bectarte, lawyer at the International Federation of Human Rights. This is the need for the "habitual residence" in France of the accused person (except in matters of torture and enforced disappearance), the monopoly of prosecution granted to the public prosecutor's office (which prevents the filing of a complaint with constitution of a party). civil), the need for the ICC to decline its jurisdiction (abandoned following an amendment adopted in 2019) and finally the need for “double criminality” (except in genocide).

This last notion requires, for a French judge to be competent, that the country of the person targeted by the prosecution is a signatory to the Rome Statute or that the charges against him exist in the law of his country. It is on this last notion that the magistrates of the Court of Cassation relied in rendering their judgment: they point out that, in Syrian law, the notion of "crimes against humanity" does not exist.

The investigating magistrates and the indictments chamber, well aware of this pitfall, insisted that rape, torture and arbitrary detention were punishable by Syrian law. But the Court of Cassation opted for a restrictive interpretation: "It considered that the presence of these offenses in Syrian law was not sufficient to establish the concept of a crime against humanity," said Clémence Bectarte. According to her, additional explicit elements are needed, including the notion of a concerted plan. "

Will France be the refuge in Europe for Syrian war criminals? Will we see executioners and victims cross paths in the streets of Paris without the latter being able to initiate any prosecution whatsoever against those who massacred their families? In any case, this is the meaning of the judgment handed down by the criminal chamber of the Court of Cassation on November 24. In essence, the judges ruled that the French courts were incompetent to prosecute Syrians living in France for crimes against humanity committed in their country of origin, on the grounds that Syrian law does not specifically sanction crimes against it. 'humanity.

This judgment concerns the first case of indictment in France in the name of universal jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity. It targeted a Syrian named Abdulhamid C., arrested in the Paris region and indicted in February 2019 for "complicity in crimes against humanity". A member of State Security, he was arrested as part of a joint investigation in France and Germany into what has been called the "Caesar case". In 2013, a former Syrian military police photographer, known by the pseudonym "Caesar," fled his country with 55,000 photographs of bodies tortured, starved and tortured in the prisons of the Assad regime.

An investigation was opened in France in 2015 after the transmission of the "Caesar file" by the then foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, to the crimes against humanity pole of the Paris judicial tribunal. In Germany, it led to the trial of two former Syrian military intelligence agents, also known as "branch 215" or "branch Al-Khatib", in the court of Koblenz: the first is an officer, Anwar Raslan, the second, Eyad Al-Gharib, a subordinate. Al-Gharib was found guilty of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity and sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Raslan awaits judgment in the next few days.

In France, on the other hand, justice is trampling. The indictment of Abdulhamid C., confirmed by the investigating chamber in January, was therefore overturned by the judgment of the judges of cassation. The 32-year-old man, who was on bail after a year in detention, is now fully free. Entered France illegally in 2015, he obtained refugee status in 2018. He is suspected of having, on behalf of State Security, identified and arrested demonstrators to send them to the detention centers of the "Al-Khatib branch".

How did we get here? The Court of Cassation only interpreted in a narrow and restrictive manner the law of August 9, 2010 which transposes the Rome Statute, founding the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the notion of universal jurisdiction in French law. "This law contains four obstacles intended to limit the universal jurisdiction of French courts and to closely control its use," explains Clémence Bectarte, lawyer at the International Federation of Human Rights. This is the need for the "habitual residence" in France of the accused person (except in matters of torture and enforced disappearance), the monopoly of prosecution granted to the public prosecutor's office (which prevents the filing of a complaint with constitution of a party ). civil), the need for the ICC to decline its jurisdiction (abandoned following an amendment adopted in 2019) and finally the need for “double criminality” (except in genocide).

This last notion requires, for a French judge to be competent, that the country of the person targeted by the prosecution is a signatory to the Rome Statute or that the charges against him exist in the law of his country. It is on this last notion that the magistrates of the Court of Cassation relied in rendering their judgment: they point out that, in Syrian law, the notion of "crimes against humanity" does not exist.

The investigating magistrates and the indictments chamber, well aware of this pitfall, insisted that rape, torture and arbitrary detention were punishable by Syrian law. But the Court of Cassation opted for a restrictive interpretation: "It considered that the presence of these offenses in Syrian law was not sufficient to establish the concept of a crime against humanity," said Clémence Bectarte. According to her, additional explicit elements are needed, including the notion of a concerted plan. "

Rifaat al Assad sentenced to 4 years imprisonment in appeal

 The uncle of current syrian president Bashar Al Assad has been sentenced to 4 years imprisonment in appeal by a french court for organised money laundering. Severel properties seized.

Read the reporting of french newspaper Le Monde:

This is the second "ill-gotten gains" case to be tried by French courts, after the one involving Equatorial Guinea's vice-president, Teodorin Obiang. The Paris Court of Appeal confirmed, Thursday, September 9, the conviction of Rifaat Al-Assad, uncle of the Syrian leader, Bashar Al-Assad, to four years of imprisonment for having fraudulently constituted in France an estate valued at 90 million euros.

Syrian torture doc Alaa M. indicted for crimes against humanity

 One year after his arrest, torture doctor Alaa M. is tried before the Higher Regional Court of Frankurt.

Read the reporting  of BILD with the details of the indictment bill:

It is about the most severe mental and physical cruelty: Alaa M. is said to have brutally tortured civilians as a doctor in three hospitals in Syria. According to the indictment, he is said to have set fire to male genitals and mistreated prisoners with medical devices.

Now the Federal Prosecutor's office has indicted the Syrian, who has practiced in Germany since 2015, in the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court - for crimes against humanity and serious and dangerous bodily harm.

According to the indictment, Alaa M. was up to mischief in hospitals in Homs and Damascus between April 2011 and the end of 2012, as well as in a military intelligence prison in Homs. His alleged victims: 18 prisoners - Alaa M. is said to have even killed one of them.

Suspected palestinian war criminal arrested in Berlin

The Federal Public Prosecutor General has ordered the arrest of a presumed syrian war criminal in Berlin.

The suspect was designated with the name Mouafak Al D. The suspect is an alleged member of palestinian milicias working for the Assad regime and is accused of war crimes in the camp of Yarmouk in the outskirts of Damascus.

See the reporting in BILD:

End of the line for the alleged war criminal Mouafak Al D., who fought for dictator Bashar Al-Assad in Syria and then fled to Berlin.

The Federal Public Prosecutor had D. arrested in Berlin today. The charge: war crimes, at least seven murders and dangerous bodily harm.

Mouafak Al D. is a Syrian Palestinian from the Yarmouk district in Damascus. Tens of thousands of Palestinians live in the refugee camp in the south of the capital. Yarmouk is controlled by Palestinian militias that are subordinate to the Assad regime, including the PFLP-GC and the Free Palestine Movement (FPM) group. Al D. was initially active in the Palestinian terrorist group PFLP-GC before he moved to the FPM and became a high-ranking commander there.

After the uprising against the Assad regime in 2011, the Yarmouk district was fiercely contested for years, the Palestinian-Syrian militias cordoned off the area, starved people and repeatedly massacred the civilian population on behalf of the regime. Also there: the FPM minions.

UK professor wants would-be russian spy to snoop after journalists and syrian activists.

 A rather interesting story has been published by BBC: Edinburgh university professor Paul McKeigue has a careless e-mail conversation with a supposed russian spy; wanted information about  journalists and syrian anti-regime activists: 

A British professor corresponded for months with a man called only "Ivan", seeking assistance to discredit an organisation that helps bring Syrian war criminals to justice. He also asked "Ivan" to investigate other British academics and journalists. The email exchange, seen by the BBC, reveals how, a decade on from the start of the Syrian conflict, a battle is still being waged in the field of information and misinformation.

One chilly December morning there was a ping as an email from a professor at Edinburgh University dropped into Bill Wiley's inbox. The subject line read: Questions for William Wiley.

Wiley, who runs an organisation that salvages documents for use in war crimes trials from abandoned Syrian government buildings, recognised the sender's name.

Prof Paul McKeigue, an epidemiologist from Edinburgh University, had been in touch once before asking similar questions about Wiley's NGO - the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (Cija) - for a critical report he was writing with a professor from Bristol and a former professor who once taught at Sheffield.

Knowing what he did of McKeigue's view that Western-funded NGOs are acting on behalf of the CIA and MI6 to blacken the image of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, Wiley felt sure their report would accuse Cija of distorting the truth about torture and murder in Syrian jails.

Over the last decade Cija's undercover investigators have salvaged more than 1.3 million documents created by a bureaucratic regime that is obsessed with paperwork, even when it concerns the brutal killing of its own people. All that paperwork is being held in an archive at Cija's headquarters in a secret location in Europe.

McKeigue's email to Wiley repeated that he and his colleagues were investigating Cija, but he didn't ask questions about Cija's work. He only seemed to be interested in companies Wiley had registered in his name.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-56524550

Guardian: the balance of 10 years of war in Syria

The Guardian writes:

Ten years after it began, Syria’s horrific civil war has faded from the headlines. Reluctant to get involved, US and European politicians, and the western public, mostly look the other way. Russia plays a pivotal role, but on the wrong side. Interventionist regional states such as Turkey, Israel, and Iran prioritise selfish, short-term interests. The result is stalemate – a semi-chilled conflict characterised by sporadic violence, profound pain and strategic indifference.

Yet this epic failure to halt the war continues to have far-reaching, negative consequences for international security, democratic values and the rule of law, as well as for Syria’s citizens. Whether the issue is human suffering, refugees, war crimes, chemical weapons or Islamist terrorism, the war’s multiple, toxic legacies are global, pernicious – and ongoing.

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Syria is the world’s war. Here are 10 reasons why 10 years of unending misery and mayhem have harmed everyone:

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/07/ten-grim-lessons-the-world-has-learned-from-a-decade-of-war-in-syria

Raslan trial: co-defendant Eyad Al-Gharib senteced to 4,5 years

 The Koblenz court judging two syrian intelligence operatives has issued a verdict against Anwar Raslan's co-defendant Eyad Al-Gharib, writes german newspaper BILD:

He helped torture 30 people. Now Syrian Eyad A. (44) has to be imprisoned for four and a half years for complicity in a crime against humanity.

The State Security Senate of the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz sentenced him on Wednesday. It was the world's first criminal trial for state torture in Syria.

According to this, the court was able to prove to the former employee of the Syrian General Intelligence Service (subdivision 40) that he had helped other perpetrators “in the context of an extensive and systematic attack on the civilian population” to “seriously deprive 30 people of physical freedom and during Torture Detention ”.

Specifically, in September / October 2011, after the brutal dissolution of a demo in Douma (Syria), Eyad A. arrested fleeing demonstrators and brought them to prison in Department 251. While monitoring this transport, he saw that the prisoners were already being beaten at this point.

In prison, those arrested were then severely abused and systematically tortured with, among other things, beatings, kicks and electric shocks - he knew this and accepted that with approval. He also knew that the torture was part of a well-organized government effort to suppress the opposition. The prisoners were also denied medical care, personal hygiene and food.

Evidence: witness statements, expert statements - and his confession during an interrogation in August 2018.

The court assessed as mitigating the penalty that his statements led to a trial against an accomplice, that the act was committed in a strictly hierarchical, no-deviating command structure, that he acted as an assistant and, through his self-incriminations, contributed significantly to the evidence of the allegation .