While
the international community continues "huff and puff" and hesitantly
threatens to bring the house of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in, available
evidence strongly suggests Syrian government forces were responsible for
chemical weapons attacks on two Damascus suburbs on August 21, 2013, Human
Rights Watch -- the New York-based independent organizations
dedicated to defending and protecting human rights -- says in a report published Tuesday.
These attacks,
which killed hundreds of civilians including many children, appeared to use a
weapons-grade nerve agent, most likely Sarin.
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| Mother and Father weep over their child killed in Ghouta (via HRW) |
The 22-page report, “Attacks on Ghouta: Analysis of Alleged Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria,” documents the two chemical weapons attacks on the
opposition-controlled suburbs of Eastern and Western Ghouta, located 16
kilometers apart, in the early hours of August 21.
The report says:
Human Rights Watch
analyzed witness accounts of the rocket attacks, information on the likely
source of the attacks, the physical remnants of the weapon systems used, and
the medical symptoms exhibited by the victims as documented by medical staff.
“Rocket debris and
symptoms of the victims from the August 21 attacks on Ghouta provide telltale
evidence about the weapon systems used,” said Peter
Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch and author of the report.
“This evidence strongly suggests Syrian government troops launched rockets
carrying chemical warheads into the Damascus suburbs that terrible morning.”
The evidence
concerning the type of rockets and launchers used in these attacks strongly
suggests these are weapon systems known and documented to be only in the
possession of, and used by, Syrian government armed forces, Human Rights Watch said.
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| Via HRW |
Human Rights Watch analyzed
publicly posted YouTube videos from the attacked areas as well as
higher-resolution images of weapon remnants provided by a local activist in
Eastern Ghouta.
Two separate
surface-to-surface rocket systems believed to be associated with the delivery
of chemical agents were identified. The first type of rocket, found at the site
of the Eastern Ghouta attacks, is a 330mm rocket that appears to have a warhead
designed to be loaded with and deliver a large payload of liquid chemical
agent. The second type, found in the Western Ghouta attack, is a
Soviet-produced 140mm rocket that, according to reference guides, has the
ability to be armed with one of three possible warheads, including one
specifically designed to carry and deliver 2.2 kilograms of Sarin.
The Syrian
government has denied responsibility for the attacks and has blamed opposition
groups, but has presented no credible evidence to back up its claims. Human
Rights Watch and arms experts monitoring the use of weapons in Syria have not
documented Syrian opposition forces to be in the possession of the 140mm and
330mm rockets used in the attack or their associated launchers.
While Human Rights
Watch was unable to go to Ghouta to collect weapon remnants, environmental
samples, and physiological samples to test for the chemical agent, it has
sought technical advice from an expert on the detection and effects of chemical
warfare agents. The expert reviewed accounts from local residents, the clinical
signs and symptoms described by doctors, and many of the videos that were taken
of the victims of the August 21 attacks.
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| Via HRW |
Three doctors in
Ghouta who treated the victims told Human Rights Watch that victims of the
attacks consistently showed symptoms including suffocation; constricted,
irregular, and infrequent breathing; involuntary muscle spasms; nausea;
frothing at the mouth; fluid coming out of noses and eyes; convulsing;
dizziness; blurred vision; red and irritated eyes and pin-point pupils
(myosis). Some young victims exhibited cyaonis, a bluish coloring on the face
consistent with suffocation or asphyxiation. None of the victims showed
traumatic injuries normally associated with attacks using explosive or
incendiary weapons.
Such symptoms, and
the lack of traumatic injuries, are consistent with exposure to nerve agents
such as Sarin, Human Rights Watch said. There is laboratory evidence that Sarin
gas has been used in a previous attack in April on Jobar, near Damascus, when a
photographer for Le Monde newspaper who was present at the time
later tested for exposure to Sarin.
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| Victims of the August 21 attacks: A picture the world should never see again |
The use of chemical
weapons is a serious violation of international humanitarian law. Although
Syria is not among the 189
countries that are party to the 1993 Convention
on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling, and Use of
Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, it is a party to the 1925 Geneva
Gas Protocol. Customary international law bans the use of chemical weapons in
all armed conflicts.
The August 21
attacks on Ghouta are the first major use of chemical weapons since the Iraqi
government used chemical weapons on Iraqi Kurdish civilians in Halabja 25 years
ago, Human Rights Watch said.
“The increasingly
evident use of chemical weapons in Syria’s terrible conflict should refocus the
international debate on deterring the use of such weapons and more broadly
protecting Syria’s civilian population,” Bouckaert said.
