“Plain violation of International law”

“Plain violation of International law”

צילום של ה- Human Rights Watch. מיכל גז שלא התפוצץ ונמצא בעקבות התקפת נשק כימי

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Human Rights Watch photo - unexploded gas canister found after chemical weapon attack
Human Rights Watch photo – unexploded gas canister found after chemical weapon attack

New evidence strongly suggests that Syrian government helicopters have dropped barrel bombs with cylinders of chlorine gas on three towns in Northern Syria.

In a press release from earlier this week the Human Rights Watch stated that the attacks, which took place between 16-31 of March, made use of the industrial chemical as a weapon, which is of course banned by the international treaty Syria signed in 2013, prohibiting use of chemical weapons.

Witnesses to the attacks interviewed by the Human Rights Watch, consistently describe the clinical symptoms of exposure to a choking agent (known also as a lung or pulmonary agent). Human Rights Watch has interviewed ten witnesses, including five medical personnel. Other evidence they collected includes video footage of the attacks and photographs of the remnants. The only party to this conflict that has helicopters and other aircrafts is the Syrian government, strongly suggesting that government forces dropped the barrel bombs containing embedded chlorine gas cylinders.

Israeli Intelligence sources have been saying all along that President Assad is hiding the major part of his country’s chemical weapons arsenal, and are now at a loss as to what exactly is happening. Only recently, on Feb. 4th, did the OPCW Executive Council adopt a decision expressing its concern regarding the results of a Fact-Finding Mission, sent to investigate the use of chlorine as a weapon in three villages in northern Syria as far back as April to August 2014. But data published on the OPCW on Feb. 9th, a few days after this decision, claims that Syria is virtually free of chemical weapons. According to this data 98% of the Syrian chemical stockpile has been destroyed. The US administration had reiterated this claim in various statements.

Now the deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, Nadim Houry, calls to “refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court” and says “Syria’s apparent use of chlorine gas as a weapon – not to mention the targeting of civilians – is a plain violation of international law.” Well, isn’t that obvious?