On the 7th of April, 2018, the world witnessed a new attack that all initial indicators and evidence confirm was a chemical one.
More than 150 civilians were killed, including children and women, and hundreds were wounded as a result of this attack which targeted the town of Duma, in Eastern Ghouta. This heinous crime is a new incident of the systematic daily killing of civilians in Eastern Ghouta carried out by the Syrian government’s military machine, with the support of its Russian and Iranian allies.
We, as members of the Center for Civil Society and Democracy (CCSD), strongly condemn this attack as well as other repeated attacks on civilians in Eastern Ghouta. At the same time, we emphasize that the international community’s inability to find effective operational mechanisms for its decisions, as well as its inability to protect innocent civilians in various communities in Syria have allowed the Syrian Government forces to continue the pattern of using chemical weapons against civilians in opposition-held areas. We therefore call on the international community, headed by the Security Council, to take the following steps:
- The international community must shoulder its responsibilities to protect civilians in Syria, and hold accountable those responsible for these terrible crimes.
- The international community must not remain silent on the policy adopted by the Syrian government and its allies, which is either death or forced displacement.
- We reaffirm our demands to the Security Council for a comprehensive cease-fire on all Syrian territories, and to abide by its resolutions and to implement them immediately, without delay. In particular UN Resolution 2254 (2015), which would revive the political process and achieve political transition based on the Geneva Declaration.
