In a groundbreaking case, a Paris court sentenced three high-ranking Syrian officials in absentia to life in prison for complicity in war crimes, marking the first such trial against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad in Europe. The trial focused on the officials’ role in the arrest, torture, and killing of Mazen Dabbagh and his son Patrick in 2013 in Damascus. Despite being a symbolic victory due to France and Syria lacking an extradition treaty, the verdict was cathartic for the plaintiffs involved.
The three former Syrian intelligence officials – Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud – are the most senior Syrian officials to face trial in a European court over crimes committed during the country’s civil war. The international arrest warrants issued for them since 2018 have so far been ineffective due to the lack of an extradition treaty between France and Syria. The court proceedings were seen as an opportunity to refocus attention on alleged atrocities committed by the Assad regime.
The verdict was seen as a significant step in recognizing the crimes against humanity committed by the Syrian regime. Clémence Bectarte, the Dabbagh family lawyer, highlighted the importance of the verdict as a message of hope for all Syrian victims awaiting justice. The trial, which began with the disappearance of Mazen Dabbagh and his son in 2015, was initiated by Obeida Dabbagh, Mazen’s brother, who testified to investigators examining war crimes in Syria.
Despite the absence of the defendants, the trial was seen as a crucial step in holding perpetrators from the Assad regime accountable, even if the outcome was mainly symbolic. Brigitte Herremans, a senior researcher at the Human Rights Centre of Ghent University, emphasized the importance of the trial in the fight against impunity. Obeida Dabbagh expressed hope that the trial would set a precedent for holding Assad accountable for the hundreds of thousands of deaths and ongoing fear and terror experienced by Syrians.
The trial highlighted the alleged arrest, torture, and killing of the French-Syrian father and son during the Arab Spring-inspired anti-government protests that escalated into a brutal civil war. The hearings featured harrowing testimonies from survivors and searing accounts from Mazen Dabbagh’s brother, Obeida, and his wife, Hanane. Despite the defendants’ absence, the trial was seen as a critical step towards seeking justice for the victims of alleged atrocities committed by the Assad regime during Syria’s ongoing civil war.
As Assad begins to shed his longtime status as a pariah, stemming from the violence against his opponents, the trial served as a reminder of the atrocities committed and aimed to prevent the normalization of relations with his regime. Human rights groups involved in the case hoped that it would bring attention back to the alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Syrian regime. The symbolic victory of the trial in France was a message of hope for Syrian victims awaiting justice and served as a warning to states not to normalize relations with the Assad regime.
