Zoom in STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATION BASED ON INSIDER PHOTOS Starting an investigation without suspects To investigate crimes under universal jurisdiction, French authorities must be able to prove the physical presence (for torture and enforced disappearances) or the residence (for the Rome Statute crimes) of a suspect in France. The Caesar investigation Developments in 2018 The Caesar investigation is still ongoing, in collaboration with other European countries, in particular Germany, following the creation in 2018 of the joint investigative team between the French and German authorities. Yet a structural investigation on Syria is currently ongoing, in which the accused were initially not identified. How? France first based its jurisdiction on the possibility some perpetrators came to France to claim asylum, proving de facto their presence in the country. In 2018, this structural investigation became part of a joint investigation with Germany (see below). Procedure A former photographer, codenamed Caesar, with the military police of the Syrian regime sought refuge in Europe after fleeing Syria with thousands of pictures of dead and abused bodies, attesting to the torture committed in the jails of the regime of Bashar al-Assad. In September 2015, on the basis of these pictures, the French ministry of foreign affairs requested that the Paris prosecutor of the French specialized unit for the prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture within the Paris High Court (Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris) open a preliminary investigation into crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture. France has jurisdiction over these alleged crimes if one or more of the victims is French, or if a suspect has established his habitual residence on French territory, or, in the case of the crime of torture, if a suspect is located on French territory. Investigations are ongoing. 25