On Saturday, September 27, Damascus Investigating Judge Tawfiq al-Ali announced the issuance of an arrest warrant in absentia against Bashar al-Assad on charges linked to the events in Daraa (southern Syria) in 2011.
According to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), al-Ali said the warrant includes charges of premeditated murder, torture leading to death, and unlawful deprivation of liberty.
He added that the judicial decision opens the door to circulate the warrant through Interpol and pursue the case internationally. The measure, he explained, follows a lawsuit filed by families of victims of the Daraa events that took place on November 23, 2011.
What were the Daraa events?
The 2011 events in Daraa ignited the Syrian revolution against Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
In March that year, children in Daraa wrote anti-government graffiti on school walls. Security forces arrested and tortured them, sparking public anger and peaceful protests demanding their release and political reforms.
The former regime responded with violent repression, as security forces and the army used excessive force against demonstrators, leading to many deaths and injuries.
The crackdown pushed protests to spread across Syrian cities, with demands shifting from reforms to the overthrow of the regime.
The Daraa events are widely seen as the spark that set off Syria’s popular uprising, which later escalated into an armed conflict and years-long war that devastated the political and humanitarian landscape.
On December 8, 2024, Bashar al-Assad’s regime collapsed suddenly after the Syrian army crumbled under the strikes of “Operation Deterrence of Aggression” and withdrew from its positions, forcing Assad to flee to Russia.
The opposition at the time declared full control of Damascus, ending over five decades of Assad family rule.
Syria contacts Interpol
Abdel Baset Abdel Latif, head of the National Authority for Transitional Justice in Syria, confirmed that channels of communication had been opened with Interpol and other international bodies to pursue members of the Assad family, foremost Bashar and his brother Maher, on charges of grave violations against the Syrian people.
In a previous interview with Al-Arabiya, Abdel Latif explained that the Authority is working to prosecute perpetrators from the former regime through international legal channels, stressing that “those who fled abroad will not escape justice.”
He added that accountability will not be limited to army and security personnel but will also extend to anyone who supported or justified crimes, including institutions, businessmen, and propagators of narratives that condone extermination. He emphasized that Article 49 of the Constitutional Declaration criminalizes denial or justification of genocide.
On July 30, Syria’s Attorney General, Judge Counselor Hassan al-Turba, announced the launch of public proceedings against a number of defendants accused of committing crimes and violations against the Syrian people, within the framework of transitional justice and accountability, and to secure the rights of victims and their families.
The proceedings were launched against former Assad-era officials: Atef Najib, Ahmad Badr al-Din Hassoun, Mohammed al-Shaar, and Ibrahim al-Huweija.
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