Overview

• French investigating judges signed seven arrest warrants on August 19 targeting Bashar al-Assad and six former senior officials in connection with the Homs attack.
• The case centers on the bombardment of an informal press center on February 22, 2012, which killed Marie Colvin and Rémi Ochlik and wounded Édith Bouvier, Paul Conroy, and translator Wael Al Omar.
• The long-running inquiry treats the strike as potential war crimes and crimes against humanity handled by the Paris Pôle crimes contre l'humanité.
• FIDH and the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression say evidence shows the regime deliberately targeted foreign journalists to stifle coverage.
• Enforcement is uncertain given Assad’s reported exile in Russia, with questions over immunity and extradition likely to shape any path to a French trial.