Attempting to Rehabilitate the Criminal is a Direct Involvement in the Crime
Today, The Syrian people remembers one of the most atrocious incidents in modern history, as today marks the fourth anniversary of the Syrian regime’s chemical attack on Eastern Ghouta and Western Ghouta on August 21, 2013. In addition, another major incident that involved sarin took place in Khan Sheikhoun city last April, which was to be excepted in light of the international community’s and the former American administration’s, as well as the current administration it seems, failure to uphold their commitments in front of the whole world considering that using chemical weapons is a red line. They have failed to stop the criminal, or even to confiscate their entire chemical weapons arsenal.
The Syrian Regime’s Black Record of Using Chemical Weapons
According to SNHR’s archives. The first use of chemical weapons was on December 23, 2012, in al Bayyada neighborhood, Homs city. Consequently, the Syrian regime continued with this path until the world woke up to the Two Ghoutas Attacks on August 21, 2013, even though there had been 33 attacks before, while not on the same scale.
The Syrian government agreed to the CWC treaty on September 14, 2013. The well-known Security Council Resolution 2118 was adopted on September 27. 2013. According to paragraph 21, measure under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter would be imposed in the event of non-compliance.
The Syrian regime didn’t care heavily for that, as the regime continued carrying out chemical attacks, where most of these attacks were through dropping barrel bombs loaded with a poison gas, likely chlorine, from Syrian regime helicopters, or through ground shells and hand grenades that are loaded with poison gases. Also, the regime resorted to small-scale attacks that don’t result in a large number of victims and wounded in a manner that would have embarrassed the decision-makers and compelled them to take action.
After tens of incidents of chemical weapons use, Security Council Resolution 2235 was adopted in August 2015, which established, for the first time, a Joint Investigative Mechanism whose mandate was to identify the criminal who used chemical weapons.