Syria
Chemical weapons / Eastern Ghouta
Type of liability
Personne physique
Alleged perpetrator(s)
Bashar el-ASSAD, Maher e.-A., Ghassan A. and Bassam a.-H.
Nationality of alleged perpetrator(s)
Syrian
Legal classification of crime(s)
Crimes against humanity
War crimes
Source of the complaint
NGO
Ongoing proceedings
oui
Regime
4 - 113 CP
Summary of facts
On August 5, 2013, the Syrian government allegedly targeted two neighboring towns in the suburbs east of the Syrian capital.
Chemical weapons first struck the industrial town of Adra at around 1:00 a.m., then the larger town of Douma at around 5:00 a.m. The chemical weapons attack on Douma injured more than 400 people, including many women and children.
In the early hours of August 21, 2013, more than a dozen chemical rockets loaded with sarin, a highly lethal nerve agent, struck the neighborhoods of Ein Terma and Zamalka, in Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus. Alongside the shelling, attacks on nearby medical facilities were also carried out.
The chemical attacks caused more than a thousand deaths and thousands of serious injuries: this was the deadliest attack of the Syrian conflict, widely condemned by the international community. These attacks were allegedly carried out by the Syrian regime.
Amnesty International France recalls that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law.
Legal proceedings
In April 2021: a judicial investigation is opened and two investigating judges are appointed.<br />
2021–2024: the NGOs Open Society Justice Initiative, Syrian Archive, Civil Rights Defenders and Physicians for Human Rights, as well as several victims, join as civil parties.<br />
November 14, 2023: four international arrest warrants for “complicity in crimes against humanity” and “complicity in war crimes” are issued against the Syrian President, Bashar el-Assad, his brother Maher e.-A, head of an elite unit of the Syrian army, as well as two generals, Ghassan A. and Bassam a.-H<br />
December 21, 2023: the prosecutor appeals the arrest warrant issued against Bashar el-Assad on account of his presidential immunity.<br />
May 15, 2024: the hearing takes place before the Investigating Chamber.<br />
June 26, 2024: the Investigating Chamber rejected the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s application for annulment and held the arrest warrant to be lawful. This is the first time that a national court has held that the immunity of a sitting head of state is not absolute. The Public Prosecutor’s Office appealed to the Court of Cassation.<br />
July 25, 2025: the Court of Cassation does not admit any exception to the personal immunity of a head of state in the case of the commission of international crimes. The arrest warrant against Bashar el-Assad is annulled.<br />
September 2, 2025: the investigating judges issue a new arrest warrant against Bashar el-Assad, who is no longer head of state.</p>
Legal issues
Complaint
Names of NGOs / Victim(s)
Open Society Justice Initiative
Syrian Archive
Civil Rights Defenders
Association of Victims of Chemical Weapons
Legal basis for jurisdiction (article)
Sources
Libération, "Attaques chimiques en Syrie: plainte pour crimes contre l'humanité déposée en France"
JusticeInfo, "Assad brothers charged with complicity in crimes against humanity", 2023