Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition
Department of Media and Communications
April 4, 2023
On April 4, 2017, the Assad regime perpetrated a horrific massacre in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rural Idlib using sarin gas, resulting in the deaths of 91 civilians, including 32 children and 23 women, and the injuries of 540 others. This marks the sixth anniversary of this atrocity.
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) emphasizes that these ongoing atrocities against the Syrian people continue without deterrence or punishment, due to the international community’s inability and suspicious silence. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has confirmed the regime’s responsibility for three chemical attacks during the revolution. Shockingly, the Assad regime has used chemical weapons 181 times against its own people since ratifying the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use and Manufacturing of Chemical Weapons in September 2013. These crimes demand accountability, including the application of Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, referral to the International Criminal Court, and action in accordance with UN Resolution 2118.
Over the past 12 years, the Assad regime has committed thousands of crimes, demonstrating its brutal and callous disregard for Syrian lives. The regime’s destructive actions, with the aid of its allies, have caused immense human suffering and complex crises that can only be resolved by overthrowing the regime and holding it accountable.
The SOC warns that remembering these massacres is particularly urgent as the Assad regime continues to use criminal tactics against the Syrian people. Ignoring these crimes and moving towards normalization with the regime would be an affront to the millions of Syrians who continue to make sacrifices.
The SOC holds the international community responsible for enabling the survival of the Assad regime in Syria through slow and procrastinating responses to the regime’s disasters and atrocities. This approach has emboldened the regime to commit more crimes against the Syrian people with a variety of weapons.
