Fifth anniversary of Khan Shaykhun chemical attack | SOHR renews its call for holding accountable all perpetrators of war crimes in Syria

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) renews its call for bringing the real criminals who were involved in the chemical attack on Khan Shaykhun city in Idlib province in north-west Syria region to justice. SOHR stresses that stability in Syria cannot be reached without holding to account all criminals, perpetrators of violations and all those who aided and abetted killing and torture of Syrian people.

 

On the fifth anniversary of the heinous attack on Khan Shaykhun, SOHR would like to point out that the suffering of Syrian people has been escalating, with the real perpetrators of the chemical attack remain at large enjoying “freedom” in light of disrespect of laws and lack of effective judiciary.

 

Also, SOHR would like to bring to mind the horrific scenes of people killed by internationally prohibited chemical weapons, and the tens of eyewitnesses are still suffering deep psychological, mental and physical effects due to the most violent attack ever in Syria since the beginning of the conflict.

 

We, at the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), assign full responsibility for Khan Shaykhun chemical attack to the Syrian regime, and stress that the law criminalising torture, which has passed recently by the regime, cannot be a way to disclaim its responsibility for killing thousands of innocent Syrian people, including children, women and elders.

 

We express our sorrow for the ongoing killing and humiliation practiced against the Syrians, just for adopting believes and stances opposing the Syrian regime policy, hoping that conflict among the bodies of the national opposition will be put aside, so that Syrian people can obtain peace, enjoy freedom and democracy and get rid of marginalization and violence.

 

We also appeal to the United Nations and the international community to intensify their efforts and take an action to put an end to all human rights violations in Syria, and to exert pressure on all warring parties to break the deadlock, solve the stifling crisis and fulfil the demands which Syrian people have been calling for.

 

SOHR confirms that real justice can be achieved only when perpetrators of war crimes are referred to international courts to ensure fair trials, not by just condemning violations without holding criminals accountable.