Office of the Swiss Attorney General (OAG) was indicted Former Syrian Vice President Rifaat al-Assad on Tuesday referred him to the Federal Criminal Court for trial. OAG accused al-Assad of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity while serving as commander and operational commander of a defense brigade in the Syrian city of Hama in February 1982.
According to the indictment, al-Assad ordered the Syrian army to commit various violations of the laws of war during the war. military operations The OAG charged al-Assad with ordering the murder, acts of torture, cruel treatment, and illegal detention of civilians during the operation. This operation later became known as “Operation”. hummer massacre. Syrian troops were sent to Hama in early February to crush Islamic rebels, particularly a faction of the Muslim Brotherhood, and OAG said the month-long Syrian military operation had killed between 3,000 and 6,000 people in the city. It is estimated that there were deaths. OAG claimed that the majority of these casualties were civilians.
Advocacy group Trial International filed charges against Assad in Switzerland in 2013, and the attorney general filed criminal proceedings soon after. Assad, who lives in France, refused to testify to Swiss authorities and fled to Syria in October 2021 after being sentenced by a French court to four years in prison for embezzlement. The Attorney General issued an international arrest warrant for him in November 2021.
Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of current Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, said:Hama’s Butcher” for their involvement in the February 1982 massacre.
Some survivors of the Hamer massacre recognize the symbolic power of the indictment amid a long wait for justice.One of the three plaintiffs in this lawsuit Said:
At first, I never dreamed that Rifaat al-Assad would be brought to justice. The indictment shows that such powerful people can be brought to justice, and we want everyone to know what the al-Assad regime has done to the Syrian people. My fight is for all Syrians.
Although the alleged crime took place more than 40 years ago, There is no statute of limitations for war crimes. The case was brought in Switzerland under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows serious crimes that violate international law to be prosecuted even if the crimes were committed in another country.Al-Assad’s lawyer said On Tuesday, President al-Assad said he had “always denied any involvement in the acts accused in these lawsuits.”
