President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition, Nasr al-Hariri, sent letters to 42 friendly states and international organizations to mark the seventh anniversary of the deadly chemical attack the Assad regime carried out against civilians in eastern Ghouta, killing 1,461 people, including 437 women and children.
Al-Hariri said that “the memory of the bloody summer of 2013 coincides with the decision of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, issued on July 9, 2020, in its ninety-fourth session, which affirms that the Assad regime did not cooperate with the international advisory group in implementing the agreement, and that it did not comply with its announcement of destroying chemical weapons.”
“The first report issued in The Hague on April 8, 2020 by the Inquiry Team and the identification of the perpetrators of the crimes of using chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic , and its findings that confirm the involvement of the Syrian regime’s air forces in the use of chlorine and sarin gases, explaining that these attacks are of a special strategic nature and can only take place upon orders from the supreme authorities of the military leadership in the Syrian Arab Republic.” the letter added.
Al-Hariri said that the Assad regime used chemical weapons more than 200 times against the Syrian people during the past years in a disregard to all international warnings, and in a violation of the resolutions of the General Assembly, Human Rights Council and Security Council, particularly Resolution No. 2118 (2013) issued after eastern Ghouta’s massacre.
“After the team of inquiry and identifying perpetrators issued its report, and after the Executive Council issued its decision, we are saddened by the passage of more time while the criminals – the killers of children by chemical weapons – are still free and committing more crimes against the innocent civilians.”
He called for implementing Item 21 of Resolution 2118, which provides for the imposition of measures under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter in the event of non-compliance with this resolution, including the transfer of chemical weapons without permission, or the use of chemical weapons by anyone in the Syrian Arab Republic.
Al-Hariri also called for supporting immediate accountability measures for those involved, and for the senior leaders of the Assad regime. He also called for pushing for a political transition in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2254 (2015), Geneva Communiqué (2012) and United Nations General Assembly Resolution 67/262. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
