by Shelby Vcelka

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

PARIS, France–

Last week, France opened the first criminal inquiry into allegations of torture under the regime of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. Based upon tens of thousands of photographs taken by Syrian defectors, the evidence of torture is quite convincing. However, the investigation is still in the early stages, as a French torture victim or the arrest of a Syrian official will be necessary to move the charges forward.

Syrian defector “Ceasar” (blue hoodie jacket) took many of the 55,000 photographs that depict torture conducted by the Assad regime between 2011 and 2013. The photos are the basis of a French investigation into the crimes committed by the Assad regime, the first in the world against the Syrian government. (Photo courtesy of Yahoo!)

International human rights advocates have hailed the measure as necessary, despite the move being largely symbolic in nature. The problem, advocates state, is not the evidence, but rather the ability to get a live witness in front of a French courtroom.

“Faced with these crimes that offend the human conscience, this bureaucracy of horror, faced with this denial of the values of humanity, it is our responsibility to act against the impunity of the killers,” the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said while announcing the investigation to international press. Mr. Fabius asked prosecutors to move forward with the investigation on September 10th, immediately after the French government authenticated the photographs taken by the defectors. A unit in the prosecutor’s office that specializes in mass crimes will be in charge of the investigation.

France, along with the United States, believes that Assad is part of the problem in Syria, and that he cannot be part of the solution in the Middle East. The French insistence on this is based on the photographs depicting mass torture taken by the defectors. These photographs, taken between 2011 and 2013, portray victims with eyes gouged out, starved, beaten and maimed, as well as corpses piled up by the thousands. The scale of the problem is believed to have grown, as more people have been killed by the Assad regime than by ISIS since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.

Earlier in the week, the U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, called for the Syrian civil war to be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigation. France is the first country to act since this call has been made, and has since stated that their probe should not prevent other countries from acting, nor should the U.N. feel discouraged from beginning their own investigations.

For more information, please see—

The Telegraph–France ‘opens war crimes inquiry against Assad regime’ in Syria: UN debate— 29 September 2015

Economic Times– France opens probe into Assad regime for ‘crimes against humanity’: Judicial source— 30 September 2015

New York Times– France Opens Criminal Investigation of Torture in Syria Under Assad— 30 September 2015

Toronto Metro– France opens investigation into alleged crimes against humanity by Syria— 30 September 2015

Yahoo! News– France opens probe into Assad regime for crimes against humanity— 30 September 2015

Author: Impunity Watch Archive