The Syrian Network for Human Rights, an independent rights group, said it they recorded 125 breaches of UNSC resolution 2118, including 56 breaches of resolution 2209 by regime forces. It is worth mentioning that UNSC resolution 2118 states that “in the event of non-compliance with this resolution, measures shall be imposed under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.” Despite this, the Assad regime did not comply with this resolution and continued to violate the rights of the Syrian people and has not yet been held accountable or responsible.
Upon the UN Security Council’s adoption of resolution 2235 two weeks earlier, President Khoja welcomed all efforts to prosecute all those responsible for all chemical weapons attacks in Syria. He affirms that almost two years after the horrible massacre that left more than 1,400 victims dead and thousands more injured in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus in August 2013, the perpetrators are still at large committing more atrocities in all parts of Syria including more than 120 chlorine attacks on Syrian civilians since then.
“Resolution 2235 should have not ignored the fact that the real criminals are those officials in the Syrian regime, including Bashar al-Assad, who had the capability and full authority to order the attacks and who later only partially handed the crime weapons to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) under pressure paused by the adoption of UNSC Resolution 2118,” Khoja added.
“The UNSC was obliged under resolution 2118 to impose tougher measures against the Syrian regime under Chapter VII of UN Charter as the continuous use of chemical weapons on a smaller scale pose credible concerns that the conditions outlined in the resolution were not fully met.”
He emphasizes that it is an International responsibility to protect civilians in Syria from the atrocities of the regime and it looks forward to the new mechanism to bring to conclusion this painful and inhumane chapter in the Syrian people suffering if faith in the UN-led political solution is to be restored.
On August 7, UN Security Council adopted resolution 2235 (2015) giving the greenlight for the establishment of a Joint Investigative Mechanism to identify those responsible for the use of chemical weapons in Syria. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
