13 years since the chemical massacre: Syria launches a pursuit of Assad regime officials
The Syrian Foreign Minister announced that the country is working to locate and prosecute senior officials of the fallen regime who were responsible for the use of chemical weapons against civilians. While memorial events are held across the country in memory of more than 1,400 victims, Damascus clarifies: "We will bring the perpetrators to justice."
Syrian Foreign Minister Asad al-Shibani announced on Friday that Syria is working to locate and prosecute senior officials from the Assad regime era who were responsible for chemical weapons attacks between 2011 and 2013. In a statement released on the 13th anniversary of the attack, al-Shibani said that Damascus is pursuing those involved in the attacks with the goal of bringing them to trial.
Al-Shibani claimed that Syria is taking practical steps to address the legacy of chemical weapons in the country, in cooperation with international partners.
"Syria continues to work to identify those responsible for the chemical weapons massacres, to bring them to trial, and to ensure justice is served," the Foreign Minister declared, clarifying that the process will be carried out in accordance with the law, with the aim of achieving justice for the victims and upholding the principle of accountability.
Since the beginning of the civil war in 2011, the Assad regime has been accused of repeated use of chemical weapons, barrel bombs, and the use of torture against its own people. As part of these punitive actions, more than 1,400 people were murdered, as al-Shibani reported back in 2018. In April 2017, more than 83 people were killed in a sarin gas attack, an event following which President Donald Trump launched dozens of cruise missiles at the bases from which the Syrian planes departed. Last month, coalition countries attacked Syrian bases once again following the renewed use of chemical weapons earlier this year.
Every year on August 21, Syrians mark the massacre, declaring that it will never be erased from their memory and demanding that the command and the perpetrators be held accountable. This year, memorial events are being held in several provinces across the country. According to data from the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the Assad regime has carried out a total of 217 chemical weapons attacks against residential areas that were under opposition control since the outbreak of the revolution.
