US designates Syrian officials for involvement in chemical airstrikes
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The US Department of State designated on Monday three Syrian officials for their involvement in “a deadly chemical” attacks against civilians in Ghouta in the Syrian capital Damascus in 2013, killing at least 1,400 people.
This came in a press statement by the US Department of State in which it said three Syrian regime military officials are designated for their involvement “in these airstrikes, pursuant to Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2022.”
The designated officials are Brigadier General Adnan Aboud Hilweh, Major General Ghassan Ahmed Ghannam, and Major General Jawdat Saleebi Mawas, who were banned from entering the UN.
The three officials, according to the statement, committed “gross violations of human rights, namely the flagrant denial of the right to life of at least 1,400 people in Ghouta.”
The US condemned “any use of chemical weapons anywhere, by anyone, under any circumstances.”
Additionally, it demanded the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fully declares and destroys “chemical weapons program and provide immediate and unfettered access for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) personnel in accordance with its international obligations.”
In August, United States Permanent Representative to the OPCW Ambassador Joseph Manso said that his country believes “the Syrian regime” has used chemical weapons at least 50 times during conflict in war-torn Syria.
On November 30 2021, the OPCW Director-General Mr. Fernando Arias stressed that the Syrian government did not cooperate with the OPCW team by not declaring about the fully stockpile of chemical weapons and it “still cannot be considered accurate and complete,” and also continuing to deny a visa to an OPCW weapons inspector.
The US stressed it will continue pursuing “every measure to find justice for victims and survivors of atrocities and to promote accountability for those responsible, including the Assad regime and its allies.”