Violation Documentation Center

Special Report

Syria Is Choking Again

Syrian Regime Reintroduces Chemical and Poisonous Weapons
To Its Military Arsenal in 2014

18 April 2014

 

 

Introduction:

From the beginning of this year until the date of this report, VDC has been monitoring the use of chemical and poisonous weapons by the Syrian Regime. Considering the symptoms suffered by the casualties, it is believe that chlorine gas has been used in many sites and nerve-originated gases in other sites.

Methodology:

Violation Documentation Center (VDC) relies on a high-level methodology to document violations committed in Syria since 2011, drawing its information from highly-trained observers. It also contacts eyewitnesses directly and scrutinizes their testimonies for authenticity, looking for consistency with the course of military developments and blatant violations against civilians in Syria.

The interviews are conducted individually and directly with the witnesses.  They use non-guiding questions in order to document real incidents. When possible, the center aims to conduct two testimonies from two different witnesses about the same incident.

The information about attacks by chemical and toxic gases in particular is collected in a 'special form' that VDC has allocated since 2013.  This form has been developed specifically for monitoring and documenting such attacks.  VDC collects pictures, videos, maps of targeted sites and names of victims. VDC has issued many reports and statements on this subject.

 

A Table showing the use of chemical and toxic gases in Syria since the beginning of 2014:

The Method	The Target Civilian/Military	Victims	Casualties	Year 2014	The Area	#
Grenade	Military	4	10	13 Jan	Darayya, Damascus Countryside	1
Grenade	Military	4	20	2 March	Adra, Damascus Countryside	2
Grenade	Military	0	5	9 March	Jobar,Damascus	3
Unknown	Military	3	25	28 March	Harasta, Damascus Countryside	4
Unknown	Civilian	0	10	1 April	Jobar,Damascus	5
Grenade	Military	6	0	4 April	Jobar,Damascus	6
Unknown	Military	3	4	11 April	Harasta, Damascus Countryside	7
Air bombardment with explosive barrels	Civilian	1	100	11 April	Kafr Zita, Hama	8
Air bombardment with explosive barrels	Civilian	0	25	12 April	Kafr Zita, Hama	9
Air bombardment with explosive barrels	Civilian	0	13	12 April	Taman'a, Idlib	10
Air bombardment with explosive barrels	Civilian	0	25	14 April	Atshan, Hama	11
Air bombardment with explosive barrels	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	15 April	Zor al-Hisa, Hama	12
Unknown	Unknown	1	15	16 April	Harasts, Damascus Countryside	13
Air bombardment with explosive barrels	Civilian	0	7	16 April	Kafr Zita, Hama	14

 

These cases will be discussed subsequently, according to the available information and collected testimonies. Difficult access to some of these sites should be taken into consideration as most of the sites in question have no internet, electricity or mobile coverage.

According to the collected information, these sites that were attacked with chemical weapons are all witnessing intense confrontations between opposition and regime forces.

 

1- Darayya (outskirts of Damascus), 13 Jan 2014:
The center also documented the death of four fighters at this site.

2- Adra (near Damascus), 2 March 2014:

According to Maher, an activist from Jobar Media Center, an attack using chemical and toxic gases was observed in the n eighborhood of Jobar and resulted in many casualties with symptoms including sweating, shortness of breath and narrowed irises.

3. Harasta (outskirts of Damascus), 28 March 2014:
 

The Unified Medical Office in Eastern Gouta issued a statement that describes the symptoms displayed by the casualties.  These included:
" shortness of breath and fainting, as well as other unusual symptoms including a rapid heartbeat and expanded iris. Some casualties were put in intense care unit. The main enumeration of casualties was 25."

A Damascene resident[1] who lives in al-Abbasiyeen, a neighborhood adjacent to Jobar neighborhood, contacted the center for in order for the symptoms he suffered on that day to be documented. The symptoms he described to a member of our team via Skype were:

1. Shortness of breath
2. Reddish nose and mouth
3. Blurred vision
4. Acute weakness and fatigue

He added that he started using asthma spray after the attack, and VDC recommended an immediate visit to a clinic for appropriate treatment.

According to the information provided by Maher, the media activist in Jobar, six fighters were injured during the gas attack on this zone of combat.

4- Harasta (outskirts of Damascus), 11 April 2014

These videos show the many fighters being treated at a medical point.

According to our previous records of chemical and poisonous attacks in Syria, this is the first case of these weapons being used in Hama.  What distinguishes this case is the use of an explosive barrel to deposit chemical materials in civilian areas for the purpose of deliberate killing or of forcing the opposition forces to withdraw.  This strategy by the regime combines two of its most destructive weapons. The result was one martyr, an internally displaced woman, and about 100 casualties of whom 95% were civilians. 

Please see the Statement issued on 14-4-2014 be VDC, which detailed the circumstances of the attack.

On the very next day, the city was shelled with an explosive barrel that had been filled with chemical and poisonous materials, just like the day before. The activists took photos of the barrel on which the writing reads NORINCO, a Chinese company that, according to Wikipedia, manufactures military machines and chemical materials. It is also inscribed with ‘Cl2’, the code that is conventionally used to denote the poisonous chlorine gas.

According to the testimonies of Dr. Hassan al-A'araj and the media activist Abu Mahdi al-Hamwi, who live in the city, an attack on the eastern district of the city with a barrel that had been filled with chemical and poisonous gases resulted in 25 casualties.

 

5- Taman'a (Idlib), 12 April 2014:

“On 12 April 2014, at 11:00 pm, we heard the roar of a helicopter. This had become commonplace since Morek Front was opened and the rebels seized the Main Highway; the regime air forces attack Taman'a almost every day. We heard an explosion and the Medical Team rushed to the location as usual to help the casualties. Suddenly, the members of the team stated falling, one after another, because of the gases. One of them screamed ‘chemical gases!’. When the others heard him they rushed to help, especially those who had masks. Thirteen civilians, including women, were injured to varying degrees. Critical cases were transferred to Talmins Hospital.”

Concerning the targeted location, he said it was the village centre near the western school.

 

We also contacted Mosab al-Shbeb, the observer of VDC in Idlib, who stated that the helicopters that attacked Taman'a and Kafr Zita had taken off from the Military Airport of Hama.

This video shows victims whose symptoms, such as acute coughing, were being treated by the medical cadre in the field hospital

 

6- Atshan (Hama) 14 April 2014:

“On Monday, at 08:30 am, a barrel dropped by a helicopter caused a massive explosion and an enormous cloud of smoke. Any of those who approached the area suffered symptoms like vomiting and coughing. There were 25 casualties, most of whom were transferred to Talmins Hospital as the medical points in the village are not equipped to receive so many cases."

Mr. Muhammad Abu Kamal located the site where the explosive barrel loaded with chemical and toxic materials was dropped, as shown in the picture below:   

1. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=273005399528174&set=vb.100004561474041&type=2&theater
2. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=273006532861394

 

 

7- Harasta (outskirts of Damascus), 16 April 2014:

In the course of 20 days Harasta was exposed to three chemical attacks by the regime forces, all of them parts of the military operation taking place in the city.  The symptoms suffered by the casualties, according to Dr. Hazem who was in charge of treating them, are of neurological origin. However, the doctor asserts that chlorine was not the gas used in Harasta.

Dr. Hazem said, "16 people were inflected by the toxic chemical gases, and one of them died. The symptoms they experienced were as follows:

• Severe suffocation
• Adynamia and limpness
• Rapid heart rate
• Expansion of the iris (corectasis)
• In some cases, agitation and muscular spasm

One of the injured arrived after his heart and breathing had stopped; his death was announced after he failed to respond to cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Standard treatment was given to the casualties, and we stressed the point that they should not use Atropine at all.

The Symptoms began to fade within two hours."

Two videos that were shot in the medical point in Harasta showed some of the people affected by the aforementioned symptoms.

*A shot of the video showing one of the victims (Harasta, 16-4-2014)

  8- 8- Kafr Zita (Hama), 16 April 2014:

Like Haraste, Kafr Zita was bombarded by explosive barrels three times during one week.

A video shows a doctor explaining what happened in the city and the symptoms suffered after the attacks. He also said that the toxic gas chlorine had been used.

Dr. Hasan al-A'araj said to VDC, "the middle of the city was struck by another attack from helicopters which dropped a barrel containing toxic gases on the middle of the city, which led to at least seven cases of suffocation among the residents, five of whom were transferred to another medical point to be treated"

Conclusion:

The aforementioned testimonies, photographs and videos from the field hospital strongly indicate  the possibility that weapons likely to be of a chemical nature had been used by the Syrian regime within the internal armed conflict in Syria.  This constitutes a war crime and a violation of Geneva Protocol 1925, which prevents the use of asphyxiating and poisonous gases during war.  It also breaches the commitments of the Syrian regime, whose accession to the Chemical Weapons conventions came into force on 14/10/2013 - Article I/b of this treaty provides that: "Each State Party to this Convention undertakes never under any circumstances: (b) To use chemical weapons"

 

We call again on relevant international parties as follows:

1: The United Nations Mission Investigating Chemical Weapons Use in Syria, headed by Professor Ake Sellstrom

We call for it to visit Syria immediately and gather samples from the locations where the chemical weapons were used.

 

2: The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and to the OPCW- UN Joint Mission in Syria -

We call for these to open an immediate investigation of this attack and consider the possibility that a member state has breached its obligations and to issue – as soon as possible - a statement explaining the measures being taken in this regard.

 

3: To The Security Council

We call on it to immediately intervene - under Chapter VII- to remove this weapon from the Syrian regime, which has returned the weapon to its military arsenal.

We also call for an immediate meeting to be held in order to issue a decree that: forces the Syrian regime to allow the Inquiry Commission access to all areas where the chemical weapons were used; opens an immediate investigation; stops the air and land bombardment against these areas so that evidence from the gas attacks is not destroyed; and refers the Syrian file to the International Criminal Court to determine criminal responsibility for the attacks and ensure an accounting process that puts an end to the prevailing climate of impunity.

 

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