Middle East Policy

In a historic unprecedented case (for a sitting head of state), the Paris Court of Appeal, earlier this month, upheld the Syrian president arrest warrant over the use of chemical weapons in Syria.  However, the French Public Prosecutor has appealed this decision to the Cassation Court. This move is widely deemed to be morally and legally wrong and disrespectful of victims' rights and the law and justice principles. It is also considered as a political move to protect the perpetrators at the expense of the human rights and the world's committed effort to stop the use of the weapons of mass destruction and the struggle against the crimes against humanity. This case and its issued arrest warrant of a sitting head of state is a sign that the Syrian plague has contributed to raising awareness of the suffering of peoples at the domestic level and to forming an international consciousness about this sensitive issue formerly deemed a domestic affair. There is a new margin ...

In an unprecedented development, the French judiciary has issued an international arrest warrants for the chemical weapons attacks performed by the Syrian government (regime) against civilians during the Syria war. The warrants target three top Syrian officials including the Syrian president.  Here is all you need to know about the first international (non-ICC) arrest warrant of a sitting head of another state for a grave crime against humanity and/or war crime by the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) .  This international precedent is stating that no sovereign impunity for grave crimes against humanity, as clearly indicated by the issuing judiciary, prompts two questions. First, would it be a followed precedent marking a change in the int practice? And the second question, how the following practice will define the initiating grave crimes?  One explanatory enquiry should follow here is about whether the western powers that practically i...