The Syrian National Coalition calls upon the U.N. Security Council to hold an emergency session on the latest crimes committed by Bashar Assad's regime against the Syrian people.
We urge the Security Council to condemn Assad's crimes and issue a resolution under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter pertaining to maintaining international peace and security to which Assad has undoubtedly become the biggest threat.
The Coalition emphasizes that the Security Council's failure to assume its responsibilities towards the unfolding situation in Syria would raise questions about its raison d'être. If the Security Council does not act firmly, it will lose all legitimacy.
Assad forces have committed clear massacres against hundreds of unarmed and defenseless civilians, shelling the eastern and western Ghouta areas with chemical agents. The Coalition calls upon the Friends of Syria to act immediately and not wait for the Russian veto to once again cover up Assad’s crimes. Countries who claim to be friends of Syria must come together to put an end to the Syrian tragedy by immediately restraining Assad.
The Coalition calls on the U.N. chemical weapons investigation team to head immediately towards the locations in Ghouta where Assad forces have used chemical weapons. Reports by activists in Ghouta have documented the death of around 1100 people due to chemical weapons attacks. Hundreds more are suffering from symptoms of exposure to chemical agents. Many of the victims are women and children. The U.N. team must visit these places, which are only a few kilometers away from where the team is based in the capital Damascus. We ask that the U.N. team visit Ghouta within the next few hours, listen to people’s testimonies, and gather necessary evidence.
Failure to reach those areas is a failure of the mission at its inception and another crime against the Syrian people.
Regime fighter jets bombed Jobar, Zamalka, Ain Terma, and Moadamiya, east of Damascus. This coincided with tank and rocket shelling on civilian areas with chemical weapons. Field hospitals and emergency care points are overwhelmed with injured civilians. These difficult situations continue as many areas remain under siege, with limited medical supplies and require an immediate humanitarian intervention.
The Assad regime has chosen, with all brazenness and audacity, to hit eastern Ghouta with chemical weapons, in conjunction with the start of the U.N. chemical weapons inspection team's mission. This attempt to confuse the situation must not take away from the significance of the inspection team’s mission.
The chemical weapon attack occurred alongside a regime advance by tanks towards Jobar and Moadamiya. This is the initial step of a plan to retake control of the liberated eastern Ghouta, which puts 1.6 million civilians at risk after a year of an ever worsening siege.
Free people and free governments of the world, international positions towards the Assad regime are relaxed, despite the severity of Assad's crimes. These positions betray Syrian women and children, just as they betray the revolution for freedom.
For two and half years, Syrians continue to die at the hands of an unjust tyrant who kills humans, animals and trees alike. Silence is betrayal.
On behalf of the free Syrian people, the Syrian Coalition calls upon the world to act to put a stop to the crimes of the Assad regime and to end the inhumane siege on Syrian villages and cities.
We ask for Mercy for our martyrs, health for our wounded, and freedom for our detainees.
Long live Syria and its people, free and with honor.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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