French judicial authorities have issued international arrest warrants for former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and six senior officials over a 2012 bombardment in Homs that killed American journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik. The attack on February 22, 2012, targeted an informal press center in the rebel-held city, also wounding British photographer Paul Conroy, French reporter Edith Bouvier, and Syrian translator Wael Omar. The French investigation, conducted under universal jurisdiction, classifies the incident as potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The warrants also target Assad’s brother, Maher al-Assad, former head of the 4th Syrian Armoured Division, along with former security and military officials Ali Mamlouk, Ali Ayoub, Mohamed Dib Zaitoun, Ghassan Bilal, and Rafik Mahmoud Shahadah. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) have hailed the warrants as a “decisive step” toward justice, citing evidence that the attack was a deliberate attempt to silence foreign journalists covering the Syrian regime’s actions during the civil war.
Assad, ousted in December 2024 and believed to be in Russia, faces additional French warrants for chemical attacks in 2013 and a 2017 civilian bombing. While his current whereabouts are unconfirmed, these warrants signal France’s commitment to pursuing accountability for atrocities committed during Syria’s 14-year conflict, which has killed over 500,000 people and displaced millions.
