Syrian rebels have declared the start of a new era as they marched into the capital Damascus this morning. President Bashar Al-Assad, whose family has ruled the Middle Eastern country for over 50 years, has fled the country and the Syrian army command has confirmed to its officers that the Assad rule has ended.
Assad had maintained a strong grip on Syria despite protests and rebels joining hands to free the Sunni-majority country from an Alawite ruler. Even the slightest of protests evoked the strictest of responses from Assad’s forces. Assad had used chemical weapons to suppress the civilian unrest that had kept his government on the brink for over a decade.
The use of chemical weapons amounts to a war crime, as per international laws. At least 193 countries are signatories to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which aims to eliminate chemical weapons as a weapons of mass destruction.
Syria became a member of the convention in 2013 and declared they have removed all their chemical weapons. However, questions still remain about the completeness of Syria’s declaration.
Attacks On Ghouta
Ghouta bears witness to one of the worst chemical attacks in the history of Syria. The morning of August 21, 2013 captured a horror never seen before as the Assad regime carried out two chemical attacks on the opposition-controlled suburbs of Damascus. The attacks led to the death of hundreds of civilians, including children.
A surface-to-surface rocket system was used to carry out the attack, according to an investigation by Human Rights Watch. Sarin, an extremely potent nerve agent, was likely used in the attack as doctors said the victims showed symptoms of exposure to nerve gas – suffocation, nausea, frothing in the mouth, and fluids coming out of eyes and noses.
Denying responsibility for the attack, the Syrian government had put the blame on the opposition groups. HRW claims that it has found no evidence that supported the Syrian claim.
The severity of the attack could be understood from the visuals -available online – showing rows of bodies of dead adults and children wrapped in white shrouds.
In 2017, Assad had carried out another chemical attack on rebels in Khan Shaykhun. In response, then-US President Donald Trump had ordered strikes on Syria.
Fears Over Chemical Weapons
The Assad chapter may be over, but fears remain over the future of chemical weapons. US intelligence agencies assess that the forces had limited stockpiles, including sarin-loaded munitions, intended to be used against the rebels. The agencies are now monitoring the chemical weapons storage sites.
Torture Of Detainees
Syrian protesters were often picked up and tortured in jails. There have been reports of children being maimed and sexually abused by Assad’s forces and recruited for fighting by the rebels.
In a recent UN report, former detainees of the Syrian government have described the inhumane conditions they were kept in and the physical and psychological abuse unleashed on them. This includes beatings, stress positions, and sexual violence.
“Thousands of families bear the psychological toll of not knowing where their loved ones are. This is unimaginable psychological torture, yet the Syrian Government continues to intentionally withhold and cover-up information,” said Robert Petit, head of the UN International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), which prepared the report.
