With the eighth anniversary of the largest chemical attack launched by the Syrian regime on its people during the past ten years, during which the Ghouta of Damascus was bombed with poisonous sarin gas, killing about 1,400 people by suffocation, demands are mounting to punish those involved in the regime’s crimes and to compensate the families of the victims.

In a statement today, Saturday, the Syrian National Coalition said that such attacks “still bear witness to the reality of the regime and its allies,” calling on the international community to restore its role in the Syrian file and assume its responsibilities. He also called on the active states in the Security Council to exert direct pressure to stop crime, hold criminals accountable, and support the political transition in accordance with international resolutions that provide for the formation of a transitional governing body with full executive powers.

The statement stated, “On the International Day of Remembrance and Honor for the Victims of Terrorism, in addition to the memory of the crime of the century, the Maarat al-Na’asan massacre, and the Great Darayya massacre, atrocities and massacres are competing, and the situation is still open to more possibilities of killing, abuse and displacement at the hands of the regime and its allies, without That the victims get their rights, without the criminals receiving the punishment they deserve.”

For its part, the Syrian Network for Human Rights called on the Security Council and the United Nations to impose sanctions on the regime and to prosecute those involved in chemical attacks in Syria, with the Syrian file being referred to the International Criminal Court. The network said in a report yesterday, Friday, on the eighth anniversary of the Ghouta attacks in Damascus, that “since 2011, Syria has witnessed about 222 chemical attacks, killing more than 1,500 civilians.” She stressed that the President of the regime, Bashar al-Assad, is primarily responsible for the chemical attacks, as the use of this weapon is not issued without his consent. The network called for those responsible to be held accountable and for the families of the victims to be compensated.

According to the report, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons “provided the regime’s responsibility for the use of chemical weapons in four attacks, and the Joint Investigation Mechanism established by Security Council Resolution No. 2235 proved its responsibility for five other attacks.” He added: “Based on this, the evidence and data possessed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Weapons must be relied upon in order to hold the Syrian regime accountable for its use of weapons of mass destruction, and most importantly, hold it politically accountable by not accepting its return to the international community, and considering it a rogue regime outside international law.” .

The network called on all countries of the world to fight and deter the regime, given its use of weapons of mass destruction, and to expedite serious pressure to achieve a political transition that leads to a democratic system that respects international law and human rights. It also called on the United Nations and the Security Council to impose economic, political and military sanctions on it as a form of moral compensation. To the families of the victims, to prosecute those responsible for the attacks, to verify the extent of their involvement in the use of chemical weapons, and to put them on sanctions and terrorism lists.

The network published in a lengthy report a statistic of the number of chemical attacks carried out by the Assad regime in the Syrian governorates, the number of victims who fell during them, in addition to the most prominent names responsible for the chemical massacres that were committed in various Syrian governorates over the previous years.

On September 11, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons refused to close the Assad regime’s file regarding the finding of chemical substances it possesses inside Syria, during the UN Security Council session to discuss the implementation of Resolution 2118 on the regime’s chemical weapons program.

The Assad regime had pledged to hand over its chemical weapons and stockpiles after the 2013 Ghouta chemical attack, under an understanding between the United States and Russia, but then launched dozens of other chemical attacks.

Today, Saturday, many Syrian regions are scheduled to witness various demonstrations and activities, in commemoration of the Ghouta massacre, and to demand accountability for the regime officials involved in it.