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On the Anniversary of the Ghouta Chemical Massacre, Masar Forum Renews Calls for Comprehensive Accountability
Masar Forum issued a statement marking the anniversary of the chemical weapons massacre in Ghouta, commemorating the victims who were killed in the attack carried out in August 2013. The forum described the massacre as one of the gravest crimes committed against the Syrian people and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and universal human values.
The forum stressed that the passage of time does not extinguish the victims’ rights, nor does it reduce the crime to merely a page in the past. It emphasized that crimes against humanity and war crimes must not be subject to political bargaining or settlements based on forgetting and impunity.
Masar Forum called for the accountability of officials of the Assad regime, foremost among them Bashar al-Assad, whom the statement described as the head of the ousted regime and as residing in Moscow. It stressed that accountability must include everyone who issued orders, participated in carrying out the crimes, facilitated their commission, or concealed them, through independent judicial proceedings based on evidence and the law.
The statement underscored the forum’s commitment to the principle of comprehensive and non-selective accountability, and to pursuing anyone who committed, ordered, participated in, or concealed war crimes and crimes against humanity, regardless of their affiliation, position, or status.
The forum affirmed that the justice sought for victims of crimes committed by the Assad regime must also extend to victims of any violations committed by other parties. It warned that building a new Syria cannot be based on selective justice that criminalizes one side while ignoring another, nor on replacing past impunity with a new form of impunity.
The statement noted that preserving the memory of victims, documenting crimes, uncovering the truth, and holding those responsible accountable are not merely matters related to the past. Rather, they are essential conditions for preventing the recurrence of violations and building a state governed by the rule of law that protects all Syrian men and women.
The forum called for ensuring that no official, security or military apparatus, or armed group is above accountability. It concluded by reaffirming that **“justice is an inalienable right”** for the victims of the Ghouta massacre and for all victims of violations in Syria.
