Syrian opposition Coalition welcomed UN Report over use of
Chemical Weapons by Bashar al-Assad's forces in Ghouta, August 21, confirming that
chemical weapons were used on 21 August 2013. The use of chemical weapons
represents a grave violation of international law and it demands a swift
international response.
''Today’s
report offers damning and irrefutable evidence of the chemical weapons attacks
in eastern Ghouta, which left over 1,400 dead, including more than 400 innocent
children.'' Coalition said in a statement. The report clearly shows that only
the Syrian regime could have carried out these attacks. It used surface-to-surface
rockets loaded with sarin gas to target opposition-held territory and
indiscriminately kill innocent civilians.
In authorizing these attacks, the Syrian regime has committed the
most devastating chemical weapons attack in the past 25 years. As the UN
Secretary-General has noted, these attacks are a war crime, and they demand a
unified and decisive response by the international community.
“The
international community cannot, in good conscience, allow the Syrian regime to
commit such atrocities with impunity. If the world does not act now, this war
will continue, and thousands more will die”, said Dr. Najib Ghadbian, Special
Representative of the Syrian Coalition to the United Nations. “The people of
Syria look to the UN Security Council to do everything in its power to stop
this conflict and hold the Syrian regime responsible for its criminal
actions."
The Syrian Coalition urges the Security Council to end the culture
of impunity in Syria, and to stop the Syrian regime from carrying out further war
crimes and crimes against humanity. The Syrian Coalition therefore reiterates
its calls on the Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal
Court and to employ all means within its power to stop the regime's campaign of
violence against its own people.
The UN Secretary-General has acknowledged that the
"international community has a responsibility to hold the perpetrators
accountable." Only decisive action by the Security Council will show that
international law cannot be violated without consequence.
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