A Paris court sentenced three high-ranking Syrian officials in absentia to life in prison Friday for complicity in war crimes in a landmark case against the regime of Syria’s President Bashar Assad. The trial focused on the officials’ role in the alleged arrest, torture, and killing in 2013 in Damascus of Mazen Dabbagh, a Franco-Syrian father, and his son Patrick. The four-day trial included harrowing testimonies from survivors and searing accounts from Mazen’s brother. France and Syria do not have an extradition treaty, so the verdict is largely symbolic. International arrest warrants for the three former Syrian intelligence officials — Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud — have been issued since 2018 to no avail. They are the most senior Syrian officials to go on trial in a European court over crimes allegedly committed during the country’s civil war.
The court proceedings highlight the shedding of Assad’s status as a pariah that stemmed from the violence unleashed on his opponents. Human rights groups involved in the case hope that it will refocus attention on the alleged atrocities committed during the civil war. Clémence Bectarte, the Dabbagh family lawyer, stated that the verdict was the first recognition in France of the crimes against humanity of the Syrian regime. She sees it as a message of hope for all Syrian victims waiting for justice and a warning to states not to normalize relations with Assad’s regime. The trial began over the alleged torture and killing of the French-Syrian father and son who were arrested at the height of Arab Spring-inspired anti-government protests.
The probe into their disappearance started in 2015 when Obeida Dabbagh, Mazen’s brother, testified to investigators already examining war crimes in Syria. Obeida and his wife, Hanane, are parties to the trial along with non-governmental organizations. They testified in court on Thursday, emphasizing the need for accountability and justice for the victims of the Assad regime. Obeida expressed hope that the trial would set a precedent for holding Assad accountable for the hundreds of thousands of deaths and ongoing suffering of Syrians. Despite the absence of the defendants, the trial was significant in the fight against impunity, as noted by Brigitte Herremans, a senior researcher at the Human Rights Centre of Ghent University.
The trial is the first of its kind in Europe and serves as a powerful statement against the atrocities committed by the Assad regime during the civil war. While the verdict holds symbolic importance due to the lack of extradition treaties between France and Syria, it sends a message to the international community about the need for accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The testimonies of survivors and family members shed light on the human cost of the conflict and emphasize the ongoing struggle for justice for victims of the Assad regime. The trial marks a step towards holding high-ranking officials accountable and challenging the normalization of relations with regimes accused of human rights abuses. It is a reminder that even symbolic justice can have a meaningful impact in the fight against impunity and the pursuit of justice for victims of conflict and oppression.
