“The groups call on Swedish judicial authorities to open an investigation into these attacks,so that Syrian officials responsible for these war crimes can be put on trial under the principle of universal jurisdiction,” the groups behind the legal action said in a statement.
The Syrian government denies ever using chemical weapons against its own civilians in the course of conflict with rebel forces. The conflict,which began in 2011,has largely subsided with Assad having regained control of most key territory with Russian and Iranian military support.
According to the complaint,the Syrian government used chemical weapons in attacks on the opposition-held towns of Ghouta in 2013 and Khan Sheikhoun in 2017. Hundreds of civilians,including children,were killed.
“In the ten years since the first assaults on pro-democracy protesters in Syria,the government has used chemical weapons more than 300 times to terrorise the civilian population,” said Steve Kostas,a lawyer at the Justice Initiative.
“Swedish authorities can join their counterparts in France and Germany to jointly investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria and demonstrate that there will be no impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes,” he said in a statement.