Germany and France: The Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons should not pass without consequences

Germany and France stressed the need to hold the Assad regime accountable after an investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons concluded that the Assad regime used chemical weapons to bomb areas in Idlib in 2018.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a press statement, “For us, it is clear that a violation of international law with this frankness should not pass without consequences,” stressing that those responsible must be held accountable.

Maas added that “all member states of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are invited to respond to these continuous violations by Syria of the Chemical Weapons Treaty,” calling on these countries to “use the means available within the framework of the treaty to impose their respect.”

For his part, the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said that “the Assad regime’s use of these weapons in a documented and confirmed manner is unacceptable,” stressing the need to “respond in an appropriate form”.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons concluded, after conducting an investigation, that the Assad regime forces used chlorine gas, a chemical weapon, during an attack on the city of Saraqib in 2018.

The organization had published its first report about a year ago, noting that the Assad regime forces also dropped bombs containing sarin and chlorine in 2017 on the town of Al-Lataminah in northern Syria, in violation of the agreement to ban chemical weapons.

The member states of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will vote later this month on the possibility of imposing sanctions on the Assad regime, which may include suspending its right to vote, which would constitute the most severe punishment that the organization would allow if the Assad regime did not take measures in this regard.