Statement from National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson on the 10 Year Anniversary of the Ghouta Chemical Weapons Attack

Ten years ago today, the Assad regime conducted a gruesome chemical attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta that killed more than 1,400 people, many of them children. The horrifying images from that early morning still haunt us to this day, and they drive this Administration’s efforts to rid the world of chemical weapons and to secure a safer future for all Syrians. No child, in Syria or anywhere else in the world, should live in fear of these heinous weapons.
 
On this somber date, we remember and honor all the victims and survivors of the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons against its own people. We continue to contribute to international work to verify the full elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons program and document violations of international law and human rights in Syria.
 
The Assad regime, backed by Russia, is hoping the world will forget the atrocities that have occurred in Syria. We will not. Syria and Russia must comply with their international obligations and stop obstructing the work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. And the global community will continue to seek justice for the victims and survivors of atrocities in Syria and to promote accountability for those responsible.

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