Opposition calls on UN Security Council to punish Syrian regime for using chemical weapons

The opposition in Syria called upon the UN Security Council on Thursday to punish the regime for its war crimes. The head of Syria’s main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), Nasr Al-Hariri, made the call following the publication of a report by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria in which the regime is accused of using chemical weapons against civilians. The Security Council, said Al-Hariri, should hold an emergency session to review the report.

Speaking to journalists in Istanbul, Hariri said that the UN should adopt a genuine political process that begins with Bashar Al-Assad stepping down as President from the start of the transitional period. Furthermore, he suggested that the international body should not shy away from international resolutions and the Geneva statement on the political process in Syria, and not adopt Russia’s agenda.

The report by the UN Human Rights Council covers an investigation carried out in Syria from 1 March to 7 July. “Violence continues in Syria significantly,” it says, “and the regime’s violations affect all civilians.” Investigators add that the regime forces have deliberately targeted areas controlled by the opposition with chemical weapons. Sarin gas, it points out, was dropped on the town of Khan Sheikhoun near Idlib on 4 April, killing at least 100 civilians and wounding 500 others.

Read: Anadolu Agency files evidence at Hague over Assad’s chemical attacks