UN urges accountability on Syrian chemical weapons

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon demanded Monday that the perpetrators of the August 21 attack in Syria be brought to justice now that there is "clear and convincing evidence" that chemical weapons were used.

 

"The conclusion is that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic, also against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale," UN inspectors said in a report submitted to the UN Security Council in New York.

 

The report said surface-to-air rockets containing the nerve gas sarin were used in Ein Tarma, Moadamiyan and Zamalka in the Ghouta area of Damascus.

 

UN inspectors had no mandate to determine responsibility in chemical weapon attacks. But the UN Secretary General took a step further by demanding that perpetrators be brought to justice.

 

"The UN mission has now confirmed, unequivocally and objectively, that chemical weapons have been used in Syria," Ban told the 15-nation council.

 

"This is a war crime and a grave violation of the 1925 Protocol and other rules of customary international law. I trust all can join me in condemning this despicable crime," he said.

 

US National Security Advisor Susan E Rice said the US welcomed the report, saying it added "even more evidence to what we have already concluded."

 

The UN team collected a wealth of evidence that tested positive for signatures of sarin, Rice said in a statement. The evidence "reinforces our assessment that these attacks were carried out by the Syrian regime," she said.

 

UN inspectors visited Syria last month to investigate the attack, which the Syrian opposition and the United States say killed more than 1,400 people.

 

The results of the investigation come after a weekend deal between Washington and Moscow on how to rid Syria of its stockpiles of chemical weapons.

 

The agreement, which has averted the threat of imminent US military strikes, requires Damascus to declare its stock of chemical weapons by the end of this week, and give up that arsenal by mid-2014.

 

"If Assad fails to comply with the terms of this framework agreement, make no mistake, we are all agreed - that includes Russia - that there will be consequences," US Secretary of State John Kerry said.

 

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said his country, the US and Britain - all veto-holding members of the UN Security Council - would push for a resolution with "serious consequences" in the event of non-compliance by al-Assad's regime.

 

The resolution should also state clearly state "that those responsible for crimes committed should be held to account," said Fabius after talks in Paris with Kerry and British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

 

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow that the UN resolution would not mention the threat of force.

 

The US wanted the resolution to include the possibility of the use of force under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, Lavrov said. "But the document that we approved and that binds our leaders to act accordingly, contains no mention of that," he was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

 

French diplomats say a report that indirectly incriminates al-Assad would strengthen the hand of the US, Britain and France in demanding a tough UN resolution that includes punitive action under Chapter VII. But the diplomats said there was no automatic punishment mechanism in a draft resolution put forward by France and that any breaches would likely require another UN resolution.

 

Ban also said there should be "consequences" if Syria were to fail in implementing the US-Russian agreement.

 

Meanwhile, Iran, a strong backer of the Syrian regime, said it would be prepared to accept a leader other than al-Assad.

 

The priority is for Syria to return to stability, Iranian President Hassan Rowhani said. "Then we would accept whoever the majority of Syrian people vote for in an election," he said, according to the Fars news agency.

 

In Geneva, the UN's chief human rights investigator on Syria reminded the UN Human Rights Council that "the vast majority of the conflict's casualties result from unlawful attacks using conventional weapons such as guns and mortars," rather than chemical weapons.

 

Since July, the government has continued its heavy bombing and shelling campaigns across the country, said Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who heads the Commission of Inquiry on Syria.

  

According to UN figures, more than 100,000 people have been killed since March 2011, when peaceful protests against al-Assad's regime were repressed by force and quickly descended into civil war.

 

-Sapa