The Hague – Syrian Network for Human Rights:

August 21, 2024, marks 11 years since the Syrian regime carried out its most notorious and unconscionable chemical weapons attack against civilians, in the Eastern and Western Ghoutas in Rural Damascus on August 21, 2013. A profound and pervasive sense of grief and mourning overcomes the Syrian people at this time every year, as we are reminded by the terrible memories and images of the victims and their suffering, and the unimaginable panic and terror these barbaric attacks created. The ghastly scent of death remains horribly fresh in our memories to this day. Even though more than a decade has passed since that terrible day, time has not eased the horrific memories of that monstrous and barbaric attack. Many of the survivors, especially those who were children at the time, continue to suffer the agonizing consequences in pain and trauma, all of which are made even more horrendous and heartbreaking by the fact that, despite the passage of so many years, the Syrian regime’s leadership and others involved have still not been held accountable in any way for perpetrating such unimaginable evil.

What happened on August 21, 2013?

On the night of Wednesday, August 21, 2013, the Syrian regime carried out roughly four separate attacks using chemical weapons against densely populated areas in the Eastern Ghouta and Western Ghouta (including Mu’adamiyet Al Sham town) of Rural Damascus. In these coordinated attacks, the regime used 10 rockets loaded with lethal poison gases; with each rocket having an estimated capacity of 20 liters, this means the 10 rockets carried a total deadly payload of 200 liters. The rockets, all loaded with large quantities of internationally outlawed Sarin gas, were fired using a rocket launcher after midnight as the civilians targeted were sleeping. Both factors signal that the Syrian regime had a premeditated and deliberate objective of killing as many residents as possible, with the calculated aim of silently, fatally gassing them in their sleep, thereby minimizing any chance of survival. Additionally, the weather in the region had been forecast to be relatively cool and calm between 02:00 and 05:00 that night, meaning those responsible knew that due to the stillness of the air, the heavy poisonous gas would naturally drift downwards rather than blowing away and would remain close to the ground, further increasing its lethality and providing an opportunity for the regime to kill and injure as many victims as possible. All of these factors lead us at the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) to believe that the Syrian regime had conceived a deliberately and meticulously orchestrated plan before that night to exterminate as many of the Syrian people as possible, including women and children, in one coordinated attack, knowing that the only ‘crime’ committed by those targeted was to have called for freedom and for an end to the regime’s despotic hereditary rule, and to have dared to reject its iron-fisted control and to disobey the orders of its security apparatus.

It is also important to remember that the area of the two Ghoutas was at that time under a crippling siege that had been imposed by the Syrian regime since the end of 2012, which blocked the entry of fuel and medical supplies. The resulting severe shortages of medicine and medical equipment also contributed to the massive casualty numbers from the chemical weapons attack.

All these factors outlined above led to many people being killed or injured. SNHR documented the killing of 1,144 individuals in that night’s attack, all of whom were asphyxiated by the chemical weapons used. The victims, whose names and personal details we have recorded, are divided into:

• 1,119 civilians, including 99 children and 194 women (adult female).
• 25 armed opposition fighters.

We also documented that 5,935 survivors of these unspeakable attacks suffered severe respiratory problems and suffocation.

The death toll from the Two Ghoutas attack accounts for 76 percent of all the victims killed in the chemical weapons attacks carried out by the Syrian regime between December 2012 and the last documented chemical weapons attack on SNHR’s database, which took place in May 2019 in al-Kbeina in rural Latakia.

On Tuesday, June 11, 2024, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) released its report summarizing the findings of an investigation into two alleged attacks reported by the Syrian regime’s government to the OPCW’s Technical Secretariat, which requested that they be investigated. The regime’s allegations are outlined below:

– On September 21, 2017, the Syrian regime’s government reported that ISIS had carried out an attack involving the use of munitions carrying unidentified toxic gases on August 9, 2017, near Qalib al-Thawr village east of al-Salamiya city in rural Hama. The regime claimed that, as a result of the attack, a number of regime soldiers exhibited symptoms such as suffocation and loss of consciousness.

– On November 24, 2017, the Syrian regime reported that an attack involving the use of mortar shells containing toxic gases had been carried out a few weeks earlier on November 8, 2017, targeting a regime army location in al-Bulbul area in the vicinity of Souran city in Hama governorate.

In this latest report, the FFM, whose mandate includes responsibility for determining whether or not toxic chemicals have been used as a weapon of war in Syria but not assigning culpability in any alleged attacks involving their use, summarized the findings of their investigations into the alleged two attacks. The FFM noted that as part of their investigations, the investigators had conducted field visits to sites related to the alleged incidents reported by the regime, and interviewed supposed eyewitnesses and victims, as well as reviewing and analyzing photos, video footage, and documents provided by the Syrian regime’s government, as well as reviewing open-source materials.

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR)

This week marks the seventh anniversary of the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons attack on Khan Sheikhoun city on April 4, 2017, and the sixth anniversary of the regime’s chemical weapons attack on Douma city on April 7, 2018.

In relation to the attack on Khan Sheikhoun city, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented the deaths from suffocation of 91 civilians, including 32 children and 23 women (adult female), and the injury of 520 others. In relation to the attack on Douma city in Rural Damascus ‘Rif Dimshaq’ governorate, SNHR documented the deaths from suffocation of 43 civilians, including 19 children and 17 women (adult female), and the injury of nearly 550 others.

SNHR has shared the information and data it gathered on these events with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI), which in turn concluded that the Syrian regime was responsible for both attacks, on Khan Sheikhoun and Douma, while the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) proved that chemical weapons were used in Khan Sheikhoun and Douma without ascertaining which party was responsible for the attacks. The OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), established in accordance with Security Council resolution 2235 in August 2015, proved that the Syrian regime was responsible for the Khan Sheikhoun attack, with its mandate coming to an end as the result of a Russian veto before the Douma attack. Eight years later, on January 27, 2023, the OPCW’s Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) issued its third report, which states that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that at least one Mi8/17 helicopter dropped two cylinders on apartment buildings in an area in the center of Douma city between 19:10 and 19:40 on April 7, 2018, in a military attack by Syrian regime forces. The helicopter, operated by the Russian-backed Nemer ‘Tiger’ forces, operated out of al-Dmair Airbase.” SNHR has contributed to all the reports released so far by the IIT, and fully supports its mandate.

On Thursday, February 22, 2024, the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) released its report outlining the findings of an investigation into allegations reported by the Syrian regime’s government to the OPCW’s Technical Secretariat on November 1, 2017. The regime alleged that ISIS used chemical weapons in an attack that took place in the south of al-Yarmouk Camp in Damascus governorate, requesting that the OPCW investigate this incident.

In this latest report, the FFM, whose mandate includes responsibility for determining whether or not toxic chemicals have been used as a weapon of war in Syria but not assigning culpability in any alleged attacks involving the use of chemical weapons, outlined the findings of their investigations into the alleged attack. The FFM noted that the investigators had, as part of the investigations, conducted a field-visit to the site in question, and interviewed eyewitnesses and victims of the alleged incident that was reported by the regime, as well as reviewing and analyzing photos, video footage, and the documents provided by the Syrian regime’s government, in addition to examining the chemical analyses of the samples received and collected, while also reviewing open source materials.

After examining and collecting all the information at hand, the report concludes, “Considering the time that had elapsed between the moment of the reported incident and the moment samples were collected… the presence of amino‑dinitrotoluene (ADNT) identified in the samples cannot be linked to a specific event that had occurred…” adding that “Based on the scope of analysis… the overall results do not provide an indication of the use of toxic chemicals as a weapon.”

Furthermore, the report noted that the FFM faced challenges in verifying the information collected about the incident due to discrepancies between the information provided by the eyewitnesses and that provided by the Syrian regime’s government on the incident. Even worse, the report adds that “The documents provided by the Syrian Arab Republic contained discrepancies in the number of casualties;” while the report also mentions a discrepancy between the number of individuals reported to have been present at the site at the time of the incident, the number of casualties, and the number of individuals seeking medical attention at the hospital. Moreover, the report notes that the FFM found no photos or video of the munitions that were allegedly used in the attack, adding that even the eyewitnesses’ description of the said munitions was inconsistent. The FFM also stressed that it could not find any link between the symptoms reported and “a specific factor or to a class of chemicals”.

Additionally, the eyewitnesses’ accounts were inconsistent with respect to the number of individuals treated following the alleged incident at the makeshift Yalda Hospital. Other inconsistencies in the accounts were also found in their narrating of the events and the description of the “gas” that was allegedly present at the site of the incident, including its color and odor, the report adds.

On Friday, February 23, 2024, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) released its fourth report. In the report, the IIT, whose mandate include identifying the perpetrators of the crime of using chemical weapons, outlined the findings of its investigation into who carried out a chemical weapons attack in Marea town in Aleppo governorate on September 1, 2015. This comes after the OPCW’s Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) had established that chemical weapons were used at that time in that location.

The report confirms that ISIS used sulfur mustard in Marea on September 1, 2015, between 09:00-12:00 local time, in the course of a sustained offensive to capture the town. Sulfur mustard was deployed, using one or more guns. The remnants and munition examined from the impact locations were conventional 122-mm caliber artillery projectiles. The report adds that at least 11 individuals showed “symptoms consistent with exposure to sulfur mustard”.

The report further stresses that such attack could not have been carried out without direct orders from ISIS’s executive echelon, namely the committee working directly under the so-called caliphate of ISIS. According to the report, the IIT investigation managed to link additional structures and individuals who were involved in the use and deployment of chemical weapons by ISIS, including Diwan al-Jund (i.e., the department in charge of combatant affairs), which was affiliated with ISIS, and its committee for military development and manufacturing. More particularly, four individuals were identified as the perpetrators, while two other ISIS affiliates were identified as the main drivers of ISIS’s chemical weapons programme.

The IIT’s findings matches the degree of certainty known as ‘reasonable grounds’, which constitutes the standard of proof consistently adopted by international fact-finding and investigation bodies. IIT’s report includes data from the OPCW’s FFM, state parties, interviews conducted by the IIT, analysis of samples, computer modeling, satellite imagery, maps for the frontlines, authenticated video and photo footage, and other relevant data.

Press Release:

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today released a statement in observance of the Day of Remembrance of all Victims of Chemical Warfare, noting that the Syrian regime still possesses a chemical weapon arsenal, with serious concerns about chemical weapons (CWs) potentially being used again in Syria. The group also adds that no fewer than 1,514 Syrian citizens have suffocated to death in chemical weapons attacks, including 214 children and 262 women, while 12,000 are still awaiting accountability for the Syrian regime.

The 9-statement stresses that the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons in hundreds of CW attacks, through all of which the regime has had continuous impunity for 12 years to date, has taken place under full and complete Russian protection and blessing. Russia is also directly involved in helping the Syrian regime with hiding its massive chemical weapon stockpile, which has ultimately led to the repeated use of chemical weapons over and over again.

The statement reveals that as of November 30, 2023, the SNHR has documented no fewer than 222 chemical weapons attacks in Syria on its database since the first documented use of this internationally proscribed weapon on December 23, 2012. A total of 217 of these 222 attacks were carried out by Syrian regime forces, while the remaining five were carried out by ISIS. As the statement further reveals, chemical weapons attack by Syrian regime forces have killed 1,514 individuals, divided between 1,413 civilians, including 214 children and 262 women (adult female), 94 armed opposition fighters, and seven regime soldiers who were being held captive in opposition prisons. These attacks also injured 11,212 individuals – 11,080 individuals were injured in regime attacks and 132 were injured in the five attacks carried out by ISIS. The statement also includes graphs summarizing the toll of attacks and resultant deaths, and their distribution by year and by governorate.

SNHR holds the head of the Syrian regime Bashar Assad, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces, responsible for moving and using chemicals weapons. In emphasizing this fact, the statement stresses that no act of this magnitude and significance, including many far less serious acts than these terrible attacks, can be carried out without his full knowledge and approval, especially given the Syrian regime’s highly centralized, rigidly hierarchical nature. Using chemical weapons is a calculated policy on the part of the Syrian regime based on an executive decision, in which its military and intelligence institutions are incriminated, in particular the leaderships of the General Military Intelligence Directorate, Air Force Intelligence Directorate, the National Security Bureau, and the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (especially Institute 1000 and Branch 450). As SNHR’s database attests, no fewer than 387 individuals, all high-ranking military officers, as well as security officials and civil and military workers, have been involved in ordering and perpetrating these attacks. All of these individuals have rightfully earned their place on the US and EU sanction lists.

Furthermore, the statement reveals that the Syrian regime still possesses chemical weapons, and emphasizes that it is SNHR’s well-founded belief that the regime has established new facilities specifically to store its sizeable chemical weapon stockpile, with serious concerns over the chemical weapons potentially being used again.

The statement calls on the 28^th session of the Conference of State Parties (CSP-28) held by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to make Syria a priority. The statement also calls on the State Parties to take collective measures in accordance with Article XII, Paragraph 3 of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), “in conformity with international law”. Moreover, this issue, and all of the related relevant data and conclusions, must be presented in a briefing to the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council in accordance with Article XII, Paragraph 4 of the CWC. The statement adds that responsibility should be swiftly ascribed to the UN Security Council, which should be called on to implement the relevant resolutions and to intervene in accordance with Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, considering that a state member has used weapons of mass destruction in a way that poses a serious threat to international peace and security, and to implement the resolutions it adopted in relation to this issue, in addition to making other recommendations.

Download the full statement

Press release: (Download the full report below)

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today issued a report entitled ‘29 Morally Bankrupt Governments, Headed by Russia, Voted Against the OPCW’s Resolutions’, emphasizing that many states worldwide must bring cases against the Syrian regime before the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the regime’s repeated violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

In the 15-page report, SNHR notes that the Syrian regime has carried out 184 chemical attacks since ratifying the Convention in September 2013. The report outlines the decisions adopted by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), identifying the states that voted against those decisions, or in other words the states that support the continuation of the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons program. Through this action, it notes, these states are, in effect, encouraging the regime to use weapons of mass destruction – chemical weapons – and emboldening it to carry out more chemical weapons attacks against the Syrian people.

As Fadel Abdul Ghany, SNHR’s Executive Director, says:
“The Syrian regime has unequivocally contravened the CWC on 184 separate occasions, as proven by many domestic, international, and UN bodies, including the COI, the UN-OPCW JIM, the OPCW’s IIT, HRW, Amnesty International, and SNHR. This massive body of evidence warrants a renewal of our calls to bring a case against the Syrian regime before the ICC for contravening the CWC.”

The report reveals that the OPCW adopted 10 decisions, through which it aimed to eliminate the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons program, destroy the facilities used by the regime to produce, manufacture, and store chemical weapons, preserve the rights of the victims, and hold those responsible for chemical weapons attacks in Syria accountable. These decisions are divided between eight decisions adopted by the OPCW’s Executive Council and two adopted by the OPCW’s Conference of the State Parties, with the report providing an outline of those 10 decisions.

Moreover, the report identifies the governments that voted against the decisions adopted by the OPCW, stressing that a number of what the report describes as ‘morally bankrupt’ governments which voted once or more in favor of the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons in Syria, have thus emboldened the regime to use these weapons repeatedly, even after its ratification of the CWC. The report also notes that that these votes are a message of disapproval against the expansion of the OPCW’s mandate, against the reports released by the OPCW, which were based on rigorous methodology, and most importantly against the victims who were killed or injured by the Syrian regime’s unconscionable and repeated use of internationally outlawed chemical weapons, that is, weapons of mass destruction, against the Syrian people.

These states, the report further adds, share a number of common characteristics, such as dictatorial and oppressive leadership, opposition to fundamental human rights, and, in some cases, absolute loyalty to Russia and Iran, i.e., the Syrian regime’s two main allies. Still, however, those states constitute a minority which has been consistently defeated many times in votes. There are 29 states that voted against one or more OPCW decisions, including four who voted in support of the regime on decisions proposed both by the Executive Council and the Conference.

The report stresses that the most recent decision adopted by the OPCW, stripping Syria of its privileges as a state party in the CWC, will not be enough to deter the regime and its allies, noting that action must be taken by the UN General Assembly. In case the UN General Assembly is unable or unwilling to act, the report emphasizes, the democratic, liberal states of the world must demonstrate their adherence to international law in every way, shape, and form, and as such establish an alliance to achieve this.

The report calls on the OPCW to promote and support the OPCW’s team on Syria, which is facing ruthless opposition from Russia and many dictatorships around the world. This is particularly vital since the OPCW’s work on the issue of chemical weapons in Syria is arguably the most important task that the OPCW has yet had to address since its establishment. There is still much work to be done concerning Syria compared to the almost non-existent use of chemical weapons elsewhere in the world. The report also calls on the OPCW to modify the voting mechanism in order to allow the presence of civil society organizations, especially those actively working on the issue of chemical weapons.

The report also calls on the OPCW’s state parties to take action at all levels to deter the Syrian regime and end all forms of cooperation with it, as well as take action in light of the Syrian regime’s contravention of the convention before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), similar to the case brought by Canada and The Netherlands over the application of the UN Convention Against Torture, in addition to making other recommendations.

Download the full report

Press Release:

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights today released a statement marking the 10th anniversary of the Syrian regime’s largest chemical attack that targeted Two Ghoutas, in which the group stressed that although a decade has passed since the largest chemical weapon attack in the modern age, the criminal regime is still protected by its impunity.
The statement first summarizes the events of August 21, 2013, noting that the details of the chemical attack on the two Ghoutas demonstrate that the Syrian regime had a premeditated and deliberate objective of killing as many residents as possible, including women and children, with the calculated aim of silently, fatally gassing them in their sleep, thereby minimizing any chance of survival. The statement adds that the weather in the region had been forecast to be relatively cool and calm between 02:00 and 05:00 that night, meaning those responsible knew that the air would be still and the heavy poison gas would naturally drift downwards and settle at ground level rather than blowing away.
As the statement further notes, the 1,144 individuals killed in that night’s attack were asphyxiated by the chemical weapons used. Of those, 1,119 civilians, including 99 children and 194 women (adult female), while the remaining 25 were armed opposition fighters. Additionally, 5,935 survivors suffered severe respiratory problems and suffocation. The statement additionally observes that the death toll from the Two Ghoutas attack accounts for 76 percent of all the victims killed in the chemical weapons attacks carried out by the Syrian regime between December 2012 and the last known chemical weapons attack documented on SNHR’s database, which took place in May 2019 in al-Kbeina in rural Latakia.
The statement further notes that, as SNHR’s database attests, a total of 222 chemical weapons attacks have been documented in Syria since the first documented use of chemical weapons on December 23, 2012, up until August 20, 2023. Approximately 98 percent of all these attacks have been carried out by Syrian regime forces, while approximately two percent were by ISIS. The statement ads that the 217 chemical weapons attacks carried out by the Syrian regime resulted in the deaths of 1,514 individuals, divided into 1,413 civilians, including 214 children and 262 women (adult female), 94 armed opposition fighters, and seven Syrian regime troops who were being held in armed opposition prisons. The chemical weapons attacks carried out by the Syrian regime also injured 11,080 individuals, including five regime troops where being held in armed opposition prisons.
Meanwhile, ISIS carried out five chemical weapons attacks between April 9, 2013, when the group first emerged in Syria, and August 20, 2023, all of which took place in Aleppo governorate. A total of 132 individuals were injured in the chemical weapons attacks carried out by ISIS.
The statement also divides the 222 chemical weapons attacks according to the UN Security Council resolutions that addressed the use of chemical weapons – the Syrian regime carried out 33 attacks before Security Council resolution 2118 and 184 after, while 115 chemical weapons attacks were carried out after Security Council resolution 2209. Furthermore, the Syrian regime caried out 59 attacks after the establishment of the Joint OPCW-UN Investigative Mechanism (JIM) and Security Council resolutions 2235. The five attacks carried out by ISIS, the statement adds, all violated Security Council resolutions 2118, 2209, and 2235.
The statement holds the head of the Syrian regime and Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Army Bashar Assad responsible for moving and using chemical weapons. The statement stresses that far less momentous actions don’t take place without his full knowledge and approval due to the Syrian regime‘s highly centralized operational structure. Using chemical weapons, the statement adds, is a calculated policy for the Syrian regime based on a central, executive decision, in which the institutions of the military and intelligence are incriminated, in particular the leaderships of the General Military Intelligence Directorate, Air Force Intelligence Directorate, the National Security Bureau, and the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (especially Institute 1000 and Branch 450). SNHR’s data shows that no fewer than 387 individuals, who are high-ranking military officers, security officials, and civilian and military personnel, were involved in this attack. All of these individuals have rightfully earned their place on the US and EU sanction lists.
The statement calls on the UN Security Council and the UN to impose economic, political, and military sanctions on the Syrian regime under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, which would serve as a symbolic compensation for the families of the victims. The statement also calls on the UN Security Council and the UN to prosecute the individuals responsible whose names and details we have published, and to investigate the extent of their involvement in the use of chemical weapons and add them to the lists of sanctioned figures and terror sponsors.
The statement also stresses that the Syrian case must be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), and that all those involved must be held accountable. An alternative option would be to establish a special tribunal to try those involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Syrian people, to help put an end to the shameful impunity that has now been going on for over a decade.

Download the full statement

Paris – Syrian Network for Human Rights:

As approved in the 20th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, held in 2015, November 30 of every year is known as the Day of Remembrance for All Victims of Chemical Warfare. This occasion is a token of recognition and memorialization by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of the suffering of the survivors of chemical attacks and of their right to effective support and advocacy. On this day, the state parties to the OPCW reaffirm their commitment to bringing about a world truly free of the threat of chemical weapons.
On such an occasion, it is both appropriate and essential to remember the chemical attacks that Syria has seen in recent years, and more importantly to remember the victims and survivors of those attacks who are still awaiting justice and accountability to this day.
As SNHR’s database attests, a total of 222 chemical attacks have been documented in Syria since the first documented use of chemical weapons on December 23, 2012 until November 30, 2022. These attacks are distributed by the perpetrator party as follows:
A. The Syrian regime has carried out 217 chemical attacks across Syria.
B. ISIS has carried out five chemical attacks, all of which took place in Aleppo governorate.

We can also divide the attacks according to the UN Security Council resolutions that addressed the use of chemical weapons in Syria:
A. The Syrian regime has carried out 217 chemical attacks, divided according to Security Council resolution as follows:
1- Before Security Council Resolution 2118, issued on September 27, 2013: 33 attacks.
2- Since Security Council Resolution 2118, issued on September 27, 2013: 184 attacks.
3- Since Security Council Resolution 2209, issued on March 6, 2015: 115 attacks.
4- Since the establishment of the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism and Security Council Resolution 2235, issued on August 7, 2015: 59 attacks.
B. ISIS has carried out five chemical attacks, all of which were in Aleppo governorate, all of which constituted violations of Security Council resolutions 2118, 2209, and 2235.

As a result of these attacks, a total of 1,510 individuals; divided between 1,409 civilians, 94 armed opposition fighters, and seven prisoners from Syrian regime forces died. Of the 1,409 civilians killed by the attacks, 205 were children and 260 were women (adult female). All of the victims who died as a result of these attacks were killed in attacks carried out by the Syrian regime. Additionally, 11,212 people were injured in chemical weapon attacks, 11,080 of whom were injured in chemical attacks by the Syrian regime, while the remaining 132 were injured in chemical attacks by ISIS.

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Press release: (Download the full report below)

Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) issued a report today on the ninth anniversary of the largest chemical weapons attack by the Syrian regime against Syrian citizens in the two Ghoutas of Damascus on August 21, 2013, in which SNHR reveals that this attack resulted in the deaths by suffocation of 1,144 individuals, including 194 women and 99 children, who constituted a third of all the victims, showing the Syrian regime’s deliberate intention to kill the largest number of innocent people.

The 12-page report notes that recent months have seen shameful efforts by Algeria, acting under Russian orders, aimed at returning the Syrian regime to the Arab League, despite the Syrian regime being responsible for carrying out 217 chemical attacks against the Syrian people. The report adds that the barbaric attacks on the two Ghoutas of Damascus remain the cruelest and most difficult of all these attacks, stressing that the Syrian regime’s apparent total impunity, in particular for its use of internationally prohibited chemical weapons, is one of the most prominent factors in leading many in Syrian society and among the peoples of the region to despair and to lose hope of ever attaining freedom or justice, and thus encouraging some to resort to joining extremist organizations and entering into a hopeless, endless cycle of violence and conflicts.

The report outlines the details of the two Ghoutas attacks and stresses that they showed the deliberate intention of the Syrian regime to kill the largest possible number of Syrians, including women and children, since the attacks, using large amounts of Sarin gas, took place in the early hours of the morning after midnight while people were asleep, thus minimizing their chances of survival, with the report noting that the relatively low temperature estimated in the area that night and the lack of any breeze there during the period between 02:00 a.m. and 05:00 a.m. indicates that those launching the missiles knew that the heavy poison gases would settle and remain close to the ground rather than being dispersed or blown away by any wind.

As the report reveals, 1,144 individuals were killed by suffocation that day, including 1,119 civilians, amongst them 99 children and 194 women (adult female), and 25 Armed Opposition fighters, while 5,935 other people were injured, suffering respiratory and suffocation symptoms.
In addition, the report reveals that this death toll constitutes approximately 76% of the total victims killed as a result of the chemical attacks launched by the Syrian regime since December 2012 up until the most recent attack using chemical weapons which SNHR documented in al Kbaina in Latakia suburbs in May 2019.

The report documents a total of 222 chemical attacks on Syria since the first attack using chemical weapons documented by SNHR on December 23, 2012, until August 20, 2022, with approximately 98% of these carried out at the hands of Syrian regime forces, and nearly 2% at the hands of ISIS, with the report also distributing the attacks by year as well as across the governorates. The analysis of the data showed that Damascus Suburbs saw the largest number of CW attacks of all the Syrian governorates experiencing 71 attacks, followed by Idlib governorate with 45.
As the report further reveals, the Syrian regime’s 217 chemical weapons attacks caused the deaths of 1,510 individuals, comprising 1,409 civilians, including 205 children and 260 women (adult female), 94 Armed Opposition fighters, and seven Syrian regime prisoners of war who were being held in the Armed Opposition prisons.
These chemical attacks also injured 11,080 individuals, including five Syrian regime prisoners of war who were being held in Armed Opposition prisons.
ISIS, meanwhile, carried out five chemical attacks since its establishment on April 9, 2013, up until August 20, 2020, all of which were in Aleppo governorate, and resulted in the injury of 132 individuals.

The report provides details of the distribution of the record of chemical attacks according to Security Council resolutions, with the attacks carried out by the Syrian regime divided into 33 attacks prior to Security Council Resolution 2118 and 184 attacks after it, while 115 more attacks were carried out after Security Council Resolution 2209, and 59 additional attacks after the formation of the United Nations Mechanism and the Security Council Resolution 2235. As for the five attacks carried out by ISIS, they constitute, according to the report, a breach to Security Council Resolutions 2118, 2209, and 2235.

The report ascribes the primary responsibility for moving and using chemical weapons to the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al Assad, who is at the same time the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Armed Forces. The report stresses that it is impossible even to carry out tasks far smaller than this without his knowledge and approval, noting that International Humanitarian Law takes into account the hierarchical nature of the armed forces and the discipline imposed by leaders and holds commanders criminally responsible on the personal level, not only for the actions and breaches they have personally committed but also for the actions committed by their subordinates. The report adds that the relationship of the head of the regime and its leaders and the strict and centralized chain of command mean that the head of the Syrian regime Bashar al Assad and the higher-ranking leadership officials are all directly involved through their responsibility for the use of chemical weapons of mass destruction in committing violations that amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Syrian people. With regard to the use of chemical weapons, the report reveals that the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Armed Forces, his deputy, the Director of the Air Force, the Air Intelligence Department, the commanders of military airbases and the squadron directors and brigades of the Republican Guard, in addition to the directors of scientific research units bear the greatest responsibility for the use of this weapon. The report notes that the SNHR’s database includes data on at least 387 prominent army and security officers, civil and military personnel in research and scientific studies centers which specialize in providing and supplying chemicals used militarily in Syria, who are accused of ordering or carrying out chemical weapons attacks in Syria, with the report identifying a few of the most prominent senior leadership officials amongst those involved particularly in the chemical attack on the two Ghoutas on August 21, 2013.

The report calls on the United Nations and the UN Security Council to impose economic, political, and military sanctions on the Syrian regime on the anniversary of its use of chemical weapons in the Eastern and Western Ghoutas of Damascus, as a form of moral compensation for the victims’ families, as well as to prosecute the individuals identified in this report, verify the extent of their involvement in the use of chemical weapons, and place them on the lists of sanctions and terrorism.
The report recommends that the Syrian case should be referred to the International Criminal Court and all those who are responsible for crimes should be held accountable, further asserting that Russia must stop using its veto, as it is a party to the Syrian conflict, and the UNSC states’ veto power should be withheld in cases where crimes against humanity and war crimes are committed, as well as making other additional recommendations.

Download the full report

Press release:
Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) released a report today marking the fifth anniversary of the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons attack on Khan Sheikhoun city in April 2017, and the fourth anniversary of its chemical weapons attack on Douma city in April 2018, entilted ‘The Syrian Regime’s Chemical Attacks on Khan Sheikhoun and Douma Remain with No Accountability for Five Years,” in which SNHR points out that Russia is practicing the same tactics in Ukraine which it has practiced in Syria concerning Chemical Weapons.

The nine-page report notes that five and four years respectively since the chemical attacks on Khan Sheikhoun and Douma, Syrians are still witnessing more entrenchment of the current, wholly unacceptable culture of impunity. The report recalls the death tolls for the two attacks, with the SNHR team documenting the deaths by suffocation of 91 civilians, including 32 children and 23 women (adult female), and the injury of about 520 individuals, when the regime used chemical weapons against Khan Sheikhoun city in Idlib governorate on April 4, 2017, and subsequently documenting the deaths of 39 civilians, including 10 children and 15 women (adult female), and the injury of about 550 individuals, when the regime used chemical weapons against Douma city in Damascus Suburbs governorate the next year, on April 7, 2018.

As the report reveals, Russia backed the Syrian regime’s use of weapons of mass destruction, and the repeated use of chemical weapons in hundreds of attacks and enabled the regime to enjoy impunity for 11 years, due to all these crimes taking place under complete Russian protection and sponsorship; Russia is directly involved in the Syrian regime’s concealment of large quantities of chemical weapons on the grounds that it is a party to the Russian-US agreement in September 2013, as well as a guarantor of the Syrian regime’s destruction of all its chemical weapons. The report further notes that Russia is a partner in contributing to the chemical attack in Saraqeb on February 4, 2018, providing direct military support to the Syrian regime in at least three chemical attacks.

The report adds that Russia is a party to the conflict in Syria and is involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity, noting that Russia’s use of its veto in the Security Council paves the way for it to continue its crimes, recalling Russia’s use of the veto six times in the Security Council against draft resolutions related to the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The report stresses that the use of its veto was deliberate, with Russia using three vetoes to terminate the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) at the end of 2017 after the JIM confirmed the Syrian regime’s responsibility for the chemical attacks in Khan Sheikhoun in April 2017. Russia also vetoed a draft resolution calling for an investigation into those who used chemical weapons in Douma in April 2018.

As the report further notes, Russian forces have increased the intensity of their brutal attacks in Ukrain since their invasion of the country on February 24, 2022, to a level close to that of their attacks in Syria, adding that Russia uses the same tactic in Ukraine and Syria and there are international concerns over the possibility of Russia using weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine.

The report also notes that SNHR has documented a total of 222 chemical attacks on Syria since the first attack using chemical weapons documented on SNHR’s database on December 23, 2012, up until April 7, 2022, with 217 of these attacks – approximately 98% – carried out at the hands of Syrian regime forces, and the five other attacks – approximately 2% – at the hands of ISIS.
As the report further reveals, the Syrian regime’s attacks caused the deaths of 1,510 individuals, categorized as 1,409 civilians, including 205 children and 260 women (adult female), 94 Armed Opposition fighters, and seven Syrian regime prisoners of war who were being held in Armed Opposition prisons.
These chemical attacks also injured 11,080 individuals, including five Syrian regime prisoners of war who were being held in Armed Opposition prisons.
ISIS, meanwhile, carried out five chemical attacks since its establishment on April 9, 2013, which resulted in the injury of 132 individuals.

The report assigns direct responsibility for the movement and use of chemical weapons to the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al Assad, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Armed Forces, affirming that it is not even possible to carry out actions far smaller than this without his knowledge and approval, let alone such a major operation. The report notes that International Humanitarian Law takes into account the hierarchical nature of the armed forces and the discipline imposed by leaders and holds commanders criminally responsible at the personal level, not only for the actions and breaches they have personally committed but also for the actions committed by their subordinates. The report adds that the relation of the head of the regime and its leaders and the very strict and centralized chain of command all mean that the head of the Syrian regime Bashar al Assad and his senior leadership officials are all directly involved, through the use of chemical weapons of mass destruction, in committing violations that amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Syrian people. With regard to the use of chemical weapons, the report reveals that the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Armed Forces, his deputy, the Director of the Air Force, the Air Intelligence Department, the commanders of military airbases, and the squadron directors and brigades of the Republican Guard, in addition to the directors of scientific research units bear the greatest responsibility for the use of this weapon. The report notes that the SNHR’s database includes data on at least 387 prominent army and security officers, civil and military personnel in research and scientific studies centers that specialize in providing and supplying chemicals used militarily in Syria, who are accused of ordering or carrying out chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

The report stresses that it had been assumed that, after the United Nations and the OPCW’s accurate and highly credible investigations, the UN Security Council would move to take all forms of active measures, including the imposition of economic, political, and military sanctions, against the Syrian regime, which has violated all the relevant Security Council resolutions – Resolution No. 2118, Resolution No. 2209, and Resolution No. 2235. The report notes that, despite this reasonable assumption, this has not happened to date, even after the passage of five and four full years respectively since the two attacks, with the families and friends of the civilians who were killed and injured still waiting for justice and accountability for the perpetrators.
In addition, the report emphasizes, the international community must prevent the recurrence of its mistakes that allowed unspeakable evil to be perpetrated against civilians in Syria, in order to prevent the repetition of such horrors in Ukraine, and must correct the catastrophic mistakes that occurred in the chemical weapons file in Syria, starting with the promises of the ‘red line,’ and also including remedying the lack of any accountability for the Syrian regime and its Russian ally.

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Press release (Link below to download full report):
 
Paris- The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) issued a report today to mark the Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare, in which SNHR notes that the Syrian regime is the most prolific user of chemical weapons this century, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,510 Syrian citizens, including 205 children and 260 women, and injured 12,000 others who are still waiting for the Syrian regime to be held accountable, despite its carrying out at least 217 chemical weapons attacks against its own people, as the report reveals.
 
The 10-page report notes that the Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare, marked annually on November 30, which was first announced by the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention during its 20th session in 2015, was created as recognition by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of the suffering of chemical attack survivors and their right to effective support and assistance, and to commemoration, and to express the organization’s member states’ renewal of their determination to achieve the goal of achieving a world truly free of chemical weapons.
 
The report also notes that prior to 2011, there was a prevailing belief among many human rights defenders that no-one would dare to use chemical weapons after the adoption of the 1992 Convention on the Prohibition and Use of Chemical Weapons, and in light of the legal texts categorically prohibiting their use; despite these, however, the Syrian regime has been the only state globally to violate international law and use chemical weapons against the people over whom it rules.
 
As the report notes, re-normalizing relations with a regime proven by many local and international bodies to be involved in the use of weapons of mass destruction is an expression of support for the regime’s crimes, including the repeated use of these weapons. It should also be emphasized that this year’s Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare comes as the Syrian regime continues to refuse to admit its deliberate deception of the international community and the OPCW, its specialist institutions’ continued production of chemical munitions, and its continued development of its chemical weapons program even after it acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 2013. Since ratifying the CWC in September 2013, the Syrian regime has carried out 184 more chemical weapons attacks, as the report reveals, with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the Syrian Arab Republic confirming dozens of the incidents since 2013 in which chemical weapons were used by the regime, and noting in its report, issued in February 2021, that the COI had documented 38 chemical attacks in Syria, and assigned responsibility to the Syrian regime in 32 of these, with the COI further noting that each of these uses of chemical weapons constitutes a war crime. The Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) has also assigned responsibility to the Syrian regime for four attacks out of the six which it has identified.
 
As the report adds, the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons represented a great challenge to the international community, with the Syrian case being a primary motive and inspiration for a large number of countries in the world agreeing to expand the mandate of the OPCW, the first step of its kind since the OPCW’s establishment, so that it would include identifying the perpetrators of attacks using chemical weapons. Expanding the OPCW’s mandate to include identifying the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons was an important legal and human rights achievement, as the report states, with the beneficiaries to a great extent being the victims who were killed or injured by the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons against them.
The expansion of the mandate has resulted in the publication of two highly accurate and important reports by the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT), which confirmed the Syrian regime’s responsibility for four chemical attacks. Following the IIT’s second report, the OPCW adopted a decision in April 2021, under which it suspended some of Syria’s rights and privileges as an OPCW member state. On April 29, 2021, we issued a special report in which we talked about the decisions of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons regarding Syria, and based on all this, the report stresses, the Syrian regime and its backers must be ostracized and held accountable, rather than being considered as a suitable party with which to normalize relations.
 
The report documents 222 chemical weapons attacks in Syria since the first documented use of CWs was recorded on the SNHR database of chemical weapons attacks on December 23, 2012, up to November 30, 2021, confirming that 217 of these chemical attacks were carried out by the Syrian regime, while the other five chemical weapons attacks were carried out by ISIS.
As the report reveals, the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons attacks resulted in the deaths of 1,510 individuals, distributed between 1,409 civilians, including 205 children and 260 women (adult female), 94 Armed Opposition fighters, and seven prisoners from Syrian regime forces who were being held in an opposition prison. All these attacks also caused the injury of at least 11,212 individuals, including 11,080 individuals injured in chemical weapons attacks carried out by the Syrian regime, with an additional 132 individuals injured in chemical weapons attacks carried out by ISIS.
 
The report ascribes the primary responsibility for moving and using chemical weapons to the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al Assad, who is at the same time the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Armed Forces. The report stresses that it is impossible even to carry out actions far smaller than this without his knowledge and approval, noting that International Humanitarian Law takes into account the hierarchical nature of the armed forces and the discipline imposed by leaders and holds commanders criminally responsible on the personal level, not only for actions and breaches they have personally committed but also for actions committed by their subordinates. The report adds that the relationship between the head of the regime and its leaders and the strict and centralized chain of command mean that the head of the Syrian regime Bashar al Assad and the higher-ranking leadership officials are all directly involved through their responsibility for the use of chemical weapons of mass destruction in committing violations that amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Syrian people. With regard to the use of chemical weapons, the report reveals that the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Armed Forces, his deputy, the Director of the Air Force, the Air Intelligence Department, the commanders of military airbases and the squadron directors and brigades of the Republican Guard, in addition to the directors of scientific research units bear the greatest responsibility for the use of this weapon. The report notes that the SNHR’s database includes data on at least 387 prominent army and security officers, civil and military personnel in research and scientific studies centers which specialize in providing and supplying chemicals used militarily in Syria, all of whom are accused of ordering or carrying out chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
 
The report notes that the evidence and data possessed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons must be used as the foundation for holding the Syrian regime to account for its use of weapons of mass destruction. The report adds that the reports issued by the OPCW’s IIT, along with the reports by the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), as well as the reports in which the OPCW has confirmed the use of chemical weapons, together with the firm evidence these contain, constitute a solid and reliable basis for holding the Syrian regime to account judicially and, more importantly, holding it to account politically by rejecting any move to secure its return to the fold of the international community, and for classifying it as a rogue regime and an international outlaw and pariah. All the countries of the world must combat and deter the Syrian regime, given its use of weapons of mass destruction.
The report also calls on the IIT to identify the individuals within the Syrian regime involved in these crimes, as this is a form of accountability and support for the victims of the Syrian regime’s chemical attacks.
 

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