British police have opened a preliminary investigation into Syria's first lady Asma Al Assad for involvement in war crimes, international lawyers Guernica 37 said on Saturday.
The chambers said it submitted the filing with the London Metropolitan Police's War Crimes Unit, into allegations of "incitement and encouragement to commit acts of terrorism" in Syria by Ms Al Assad, as the war's 10th anniversary approaches.
Guernica 37 describes itself as a specialist legal company which works with governments following conflict, but also "transnational litigation involving the enforcement of fundamental human rights protection", according to its website.
About half a million people have been killed since the war began in 2011, and more than 5.5 million Syrians have become refugees seeking safety in other countries.
More than six million people fled their homes, but remained inside Syria – internally displaced people who exist in makeshift camps and in some cases, can no longer return to their communities for fear of persecution, or because the government has confiscated their land.
Guernica 37 said it had been investigating Ms Al Assad for "a number of months", and it was seeking accountability for people who carried out the war crimes and those who "promote, incite, encourage and glorify such acts".
"This is an important step in holding senior political officials accountable for their acts and ensuring that a state, through an independent and impartial legal process, takes responsibility for the acts of its own nationals," Guernica 37 said on its website.
London's Metropolitan Police Service told Sky News: "We can confirm that the Met's War Crimes Unit, part of the Counter Terrorism Command, received a referral on 31 July 2020 relating to the ongoing Syrian conflict. The referral is in the process of being assessed by officers from the War Crimes Unit."
In November, the chambers said it was helping the Dutch government collect testimony from Syrians after the Netherlands invoked the UN Convention against Torture, in a bid to hold the Syrian government accountable for chemical weapons attacks on its own citizens.
"The step taken by the Netherlands is of critical importance and could offer victims a realistic prospect of truth, justice and accountability on the international level," the chambers said in a statement at the time.
A number of other steps were taken by the international community to limit the Al Assad family’s influence.
The administration of former US president Donald Trump placed sanctions on members of the Al Assad family including Ms Al Assad and her parents, who still live in the UK, for consolidating power using charities run by her.
The sanctions included asset freezes and travel bans on Ms Al Assad and 17 other people and entities in relation to her and the Syrian President.
"Asma Al Assad has spearheaded efforts on behalf of the regime to consolidate economic and political power, including by her so-called charities and civil society organisations," Mike Pompeo, former US secretary of state said in December.
Former British prime minister Theresa May is known to have stripped 33 people from their British citizenship on terrorism grounds. Calls for the same fate to befall Ms Al Assad have been made for a number of years.
The Times newspaper, which first reported on the legal filing, said the proceedings could lead to Ms Al Assad losing her British citizenship, although it is unclear whether any decision on the matter would be implemented.
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
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Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
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Duterte Harry: Fire and Fury in the Philippines
Jonathan Miller, Scribe Publications
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Al Qudrah Lakes
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
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3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.