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On 31 March 2026, the Criminal Division of the Swiss Federal Criminal Court (FCC) issued an order to close the case agai...
Infographic of the Rifaat al-Assad case

Rifaat al-Assad dies without facing trial for Hama atrocities

21.01.2026 - (Last modified: 20.02.2026)
Rifaat al-Assad, former Syrian vice-president indicted in Switzerland for war crimes and crimes against humanity, report...
Infographic of the Rifaat al-Assad case
On 8 December 2024, after more than five decades of the al-Assad clan’s rule, Syria's history was turned upside down in...

Universal Jurisdiction Annual Review: Highlights in 2023

15.04.2024 - (Last modified: 16.04.2024)
TRIAL International, in collaboration with Civitas Maxima, the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), the European...
Universal Jurisdiction Annual Review 2024
(Geneva, 12 March 2024) – Former Syrian Vice-President Rifaat al-Assad will stand trial in Switzerland for war crimes an...
Ten years ago, to the day, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Switzerland, opened a criminal investigation for...
Screenshot video_PG Hotel Rifaat holding picture
A message from Benoit Meystre, Legal Advisor (International Investigations and Litigation program) and Philip Grant, Exe...
(Geneva, 16 August 2023) - The Swiss Federal Criminal Court (FCC) has ordered the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) to iss...

Rifaat Al-Assad case: 9 years of hope and uncertainties

13.12.2022 - (Last modified: 19.12.2022)
On the 13th of December 2013, alerted of his presence in Switzerland, TRIAL International filed a criminal denunciation...
Photo of destruction in Hama following the Hama Massacre in 1982
After 36 years of forced exile in France, Rifaat al-Assad has returned to Syria and escaped from the French justice syst...
An op-ed by Jennifer Triscone*   More than ten years after the start of one of the deadliest conflicts of the 2...
Exactly 39 years ago, Syrian armed forces began besieging the city of Hama as a retaliation for an attempted uprising by...