Facts
On 22 February 2012, a Syrian army bombardment in Baba Amr (Homs) led to the death and serious injury of several journalists operating from a media center there.
French photojournalist Rémi Ochlik and American war crimes correspondent Marie Colvin were both killed in the attack. Several other journalists were injured in the attack, including French journalist Edith Bouvier as well as Syrian and British journalists who were using the center as a base to report on the events in Homs in early 2012.
Procedure
This case was originally opened in 2012 as a homicide case but was reclassified in 2014 as a war crimes case.
The families of Ochlik and Colvin are civil parties in the case, together with French, Syrian and British journalists injured in the attack, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Reporters without Borders.
On 9 April 2018, documents filed in a United States civil case concerning Colvin’s death were declassified. They allegedly demonstrate the premeditated nature of the Syrian army bombardment of the media center in Homs that led to the death of Colvin and Ochlik and to the injuries to several others including Bouvier, Paul Conroy and Wael al Omar. These documents have been filed in the ongoing war crimes investigation in France.
On 30 January 2019, the US District Court in Washington DC held Syria’s government liable for the targeting and killing of Colvin and awarded a compensatory USD 302 000 000 to her relatives.
In November 2022, Syrian activists were heard by the investigators, following a request made by the civil parties.
On 17 December 2024, the French judiciary widened the investigation to a possible crime against humanity. The prosecutors’ office stated that new evidence pointed to “the execution of a concerted plan against a group of civilians, including journalists, activists and defenders of human rights, as part of a wide-ranging or systematic attack”.
On 2 September 2025, investigating judges of the French War Crimes Unit have issued arrest warrants for seven former senior Syrian officials: Bashar al-Assad, former Syrian head of state; Ali Ayoub, former Chief of Staff of the Syrian army; Ali Mamlouk, former head of Syrian General Intelligence; Ghassan Bilal, former head of the Security Office of the Syrian Army’s 4th Division; Maher al-Assad, former Major General and de facto commander of the Syrian Army’s 4th Division; Mohamed Dib Zaitoun, former head of the General Security Directorate; and Rafik Mahmoud Shahadah, former head of security for the Military and Security Committee in Homs. They are accused of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.