On September 16, 2013, the United Nations Mission investigating allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria issued its report (S/2013/553) regarding the Ghouta incident on August 21, 2013.
The UN Secretary-General had decided to establish the United Nations Mission to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria, based on United Nations General Assembly Resolution (37/42) and Security Council Resolution (620-1988), with the aim of verifying “allegations of chemical weapons use” and collecting relevant data and conducting necessary analyses for this purpose.
The UN report confirmed that chemical weapons were used in Syria on a relatively large scale, targeting civilians, including children. It indicated that the environmental, chemical, and medical samples collected provided clear and convincing evidence of the use of surface-to-surface rockets loaded with sarin gas in Ain Tarma, Moadamiya, and Zamalka in Eastern Ghouta, Damascus.
The report noted the mission’s field visits to the concerned sites in the Moadamiya area on August 26, 2013, and Ain Tarma and Zamalka on August 28 and 29, 2013. During these visits, the mission conducted interviews with survivors and other witnesses, including injured victims, healthcare workers, and first responders. The mission also documented the munitions and their components, collected environmental samples for later analysis, evaluated the symptoms displayed by survivors, and gathered medical samples from the injured according to the strictest protocols available for such an investigation, which are crucial for the methodologies used in investigating the use of chemical weapons.
Witnesses reported that shelling occurred in the early hours of August 21, followed by symptoms such as shortness of breath, confusion, runny nose, eye irritation, nausea, vomiting, general weakness, and eventual loss of consciousness.
The report documented numerous surface-to-surface rockets capable of delivering significant chemical payloads. These rockets were carefully measured, photographed, and sampled. It was later proven that they contained sarin.
The Secretary-General expressed his profound shock and deep regret at the relatively large-scale use of chemical weapons, stating his belief that this act constitutes a war crime and a serious violation of the 1925 Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous, or Other Gases.
The report emphasized that the international community has a moral responsibility to hold those responsible accountable and to ensure that chemical weapons do not reappear as a means of warfare.
assad_regime chlorine_attack douma ghouta sarin syria United Nations
