The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) indicted former Syrian Vice President Rifaat al-Assad on Tuesday, referring him to the Federal Criminal Court for trial. The OAG accused al-Assad of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity while serving as commander of the defense brigades and commander of operations in the Syrian city of Hama in February 1982.

According to the indictment, al-Assad ordered various violations of the laws of war to be committed during the Syrian Armed Forces’ military operation in Hama in February 1982. The OAG charged al-Assad with ordering homicides, acts of torture, cruel treatment and illegal detentions against civilians during the operation, which came to be known as the Hama Massacre. Syrian forces had been deployed to Hama in early February to suppress the Islamist opposition, particularly one faction of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the OAG estimated their month-long operation led to between 3,000 and 6,000 deaths in the city. The OAG claimed the majority of these casualties were civilians.

Advocacy group Trial International initially filed a complaint against al-Assad in Switzerland in 2013, and the OAG initiated criminal proceedings soon after. Al-Assad, who was residing in France, refused to testify before authorities in Switzerland and fled to Syria in October 2021 after receiving a four-year prison sentence by French courts for embezzlement. The OAG issued an international arrest warrant against him in November 2021.

Rifaat al-Assad, who is the uncle of current Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, has been called the “Butcher of Hama” for his involvement in the February 1982 massacre.

Some survivors of the Hama massacre have also acknowledged the symbolic strength of the indictment amid their long wait for justice. One of the three plaintiffs in the case said:

At the beginning, I could not even dream about having Rifaat al-Assad being brought to trial. The indictment shows that such powerful persons can be brought to justice and I want everyone to know what the al-Assad regime did to the Syrian people. My fight is for all the Syrians.

While the alleged crimes took place over 40 years ago, there is no statute of limitations for war crimes. The case was brought in Switzerland under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows for the prosecution of serious crimes against international law, even when those crimes were committed in another country. Al-Assad’s lawyers stated on Tuesday that al-Assad “has always denied any involvement in the acts of which he is accused in these proceedings.”