On the evening of Saturday, 7 April 2018, the Assad regime, supported by its main ally, Russia, launched a brutal attack on the residents of the city of Douma in Damascus Countryside. The regime used ammunition containing chemical agents, which have not yet been identified. However, activists, medical workers, and first responders in the targeted area have confirmed that this attack has thus far resulted in more than 100 casualties, including children, women, and other civilians, and the number is on the rise.

This incident is yet another massacre the Assad regime and its allies commits in violation of all international laws, resolutions, and human rights. This comes only a few days after the first anniversary of the deadly chemical attack that took place in Khan Sheikhoun (Idlib). It is yet another massacre added to a long list of violations and crimes, without any accountability or steps taken by the international community to stop this Holocaust against the Syrian people.

We, in the Syrian Women’s Political Movement, call upon the international community to use all means available to it and to promptly take the necessary steps to put an end to the war crimes and crimes against humanity that the regime has been committing for years. Assad has been doing all this with full Russian military support on the ground and political support within international platforms. The time has come for the international community to assume its responsibilities, implement its decisions, and use all powers and means available to it to stop the crimes and bloodshed, instead of standing idly while watching the massacres being committed repeated due to the blatant complacency.

We call on the United Nations and all relevant institutions to send their regional teams, whether in Syria or neighboring countries, to reach the targeted area, to urgently and directly initiate an investigation, to collect samples and evidence, and to provide medical assistance to treat those who can be treated.

The ongoing silence of the international community and its failure to protect civilians in Syria is a disgrace for humanity, one that history will remember.

Syrian Women’s Political Movement

8 April 2018