On The Seventh Anniversary of the Syrian Regime’s CW Attack on Khan Sheikhoun and the Sixth Anniversary of The Syrian Regime’s CW on Douma City, Still No Accountability for the Killers

SNHR Reiterates its Calls for the CWC State Parties to File a Lawsuit Against the Syrian Regime Before the ICJ

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.