On August 21, 2013, hundreds of people were killed in a Sarin gas attack in Ghouta, a massacre that United Nations inspectors call “the most significant confirmed use of chemical weapons against civilians since Saddam Hussein used them” in Halabja in 1988.
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It has also emerged the murderous maniacs obtained nerve gas via Turkey.
In a 2013 agreement between Russian Federation and the United States, Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons and the security council supported a resolution under chapter 7 of the U.N. charter that would impose sanctions against anyone involved in chemical weapons attacks.
Mustard gas – the scourge of World War One – causes a person’s lungs to fill up with fluid and victims eventually stop breathing, leading to a frightful death.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said: “This UN report confirms for the first time what we have long believed: the Assad regime has been responsible for the use of chemical weapons in at least two attacks in Syria”.
The Foreign Policy report details discoveries of precursors for chemical warfare like soman and VX at several locations, including two on the outskirts of Damascus, according to a new 75-page review by the director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The Security Council is due to discuss the report on Tuesday and could decide to impose sanctions on Syria or ask the International Criminal Court to take up the matter as a war crime.
Ms Power said Jim’s findings mirrored “numerous other confirmed cases of chemical weapons use across Syria, and countless other allegations of such use, including as recently as several weeks ago”.
“The United States will work with our worldwide partners to seek accountability through appropriate diplomatic mechanisms, including through the United Nations Security Council”.
On Wednesday, the White House said it was “impossible to deny” that Syria had launched chemical weapon attacks, while calling for Assad’s regime to be held accountable.
The US ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power called the use of chemical weapons “a barbaric tool, repugnant to the conscience of mankind”.
Diplomats said the JIM is expected to continue its investigation into reported cases of chemical weapons use in Syria.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in a statement that Britain “will work hard to secure a United Nations resolution to condemn those in Syria for using chemical weapons, to reinforce our commitment to punish those responsible and to prevent any further use”.
Assad had claimed Syrian rebels or ISIS were responsible for the attacks, despite Britain, the USA, and France pointing out that only Damascus has helicopters.
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The inquiry, unanimously authorized by the U.N. Security Council, was established with the threat of U.N. Charter Chapter 7 sanctions against those responsible.
