Ruba Habboush, Vice-President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), has expressed that survivors of the Ghouta chemical attack wake up each day as if they are reliving the ordeal of inhaling death, as the haunting memories of those terrifying moments remain entrenched within them. She underscored that history across epochs confirms that accountability eventually catches up with wrongdoers, even if delayed.
In an article published on the Syria TV website on Monday, Habboush further elaborated that a decade has passed since the Ghouta Massacre, where death arrived silently one night. Victims did not perceive the sounds of planes or bombings; rather, death silently seeped into their lungs while they slept. Habboush noted that the girl who miraculously survived the massacre has now grown into a young woman. However, she continues to wake up each night in terror, struggling for breath, grappling for a damp cloth to place on her face. She finds it impossible to discern whether the air is clean or tainted with sarin.
Habboush emphasized that the stain of innocent blood will forever haunt the perpetrators of this abhorrent crime. The victims’ families will find no solace, and the ache in their hearts will remain unassuaged if those responsible for their loved ones’ deaths are not held accountable. She highlighted that the impunity of wrongdoers leads to instability and sets the stage for potential eruptions of violence.
Habboush elaborated that even after a decade, the criminal Assad remains at large, living his life without consequence. He casually sips coffee on the balcony of his palace, overlooking Ghouta, seemingly relishing memories of the massacre where he suffocated countless victims. He conducts media interviews, boasting of his supposed triumphs over the bodies of children, utilizing all types of weaponry, including internationally prohibited ones, as if the atrocity had never occurred.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
