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.
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Fresh produce on display at a market in Raqqa, northern Syria. More than three quarters of young Syrians say they struggle to afford food and basic necessities. AFP -
A buried tank next to the 'Free Woman' statue in the town of Kobani, Aleppo province, is a monument to 10 years of violence in Syria. AFP -
A shepherd in Kobani, northern Syria, follows his goats past rubble and a building destroyed in the country's civil war. AFP -
A boy stands next to a damaged house in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, also known as Ain Al Arab, in Aleppo province. AFP -
A man rides a horse and cart past damaged buildings in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa. AFP -
A man extracts metal from the rubble of destroyed buildings in Raqqa. AFP -
A child plays in a park in Raqqa, northern Syria. AFP -
Syrian rebel fighters for the National Liberation Front walk along a trench on the front line of a battle with regime forces in Idlib province. The conflict in Syria has been going on for 10 years. AFP -
Children of displaced families living in an abandoned, damaged school building in Idlib play together. The school was heavily damaged in fighting between rebels and regime forces. AFP -
Syrians take part in an anti-government demonstration in Idlib city, north-west Syria. The message on the sign behind them says: "We shall continue our revolution as long as there are figs and olives." AFP -
Children at a displacement camp near the village of Qah, in Syria's north-western Idlib province. AFP -
A displacement camp near the village of Qah in Idlib province, near the Syrian-Turkish border. AFP -
A boy stands next to a destroyed house covered in snow in Jabal Al Zawiyah, north-western Syria. The area is mostly deserted because of fighting and shelling. AFP -
A child stands outside an abandoned school building in Idlib province. Families, mostly displaced from the Maaret Al Noman area, south of Idlib city, have taken shelter in the school. AFP -
A Turkish military vehicle advances along a snow-covered road in the Jabal Al Zawiyah area of north-west Syria. AFP -
A displaced family from Abu Al Duhur in eastern Idlib have taken shelter in a building damaged in air strikes by the Syrian regime. AFP -
A displaced family from Abu Al Duhur, Idlib province, are living in building badly damaged during Syria's 10-year civil war. AFP -
A member of the Syrian Civil Defence, or White Helmets, cuts off a slab of concrete hanging from the roof of a building damaged during bombing by pro-government forces in Idlib province. AFP -
Children play outside a makeshift classroom, run by humanitarian group Syrian Relief, at the Haranbush displacement camp in Idlib province. AFP
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.
