The US ambassador to the world's chemical weapons watchdog called on Russia on Wednesday to stop “actively and consistently” shielding its ally Syria from accountability for its use of the deadly weapons.
Joseph Manso's comments follow last month’s release of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) report that blamed Damascus for the strike on the rebel-held town of Douma in 2018, which killed 43 people.
“I would say that at the very minimum, by extension, Russia bears responsibility for these atrocities,” Joseph Manso told reporters.
At least one helicopter of the Syrian “Tiger Forces” Elite Unit dropped two yellow cylinders containing toxic chlorine gas on two apartment buildings in a civilian-inhabited area in Douma, the report states.
OPCW investigators said in the report they had also received “credible information, corroborated through multiple sources” that Russian forces were located at Dumayr airbase alongside the Tiger Forces when the attack on Douma happened.
Mr Manso said the report “in itself does not address all of the issues that you need to address in the context of holding regime members accountable”.
However, it will eventually lead to more accountability, he said.
The UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, said on Tuesday that an absence of accountability is a threat to international peace and security and “a danger to us all”.
Mr Manso also said his country will not normalise relations with the Assad regime and does not support others doing so until there is “irreversible progress towards a political resolution to the conflict in line the Security Council resolution 2254".
“We have not seen that progress to date,” he said.
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An affected man puts the aerosol mask on his child while his other daughter gives treatment to her other sister after a shelling attack on rebels-held Eastern Ghouta. EPA -
A child receiving oxygen through respirators following an alleged poison gas attack in the rebel-held town of Douma on Sunday, April 8, 2018. Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP -
Syrian civil defence volunteers, known as the White Helmets, work around destroyed buildings following reported air strikes on the rebel-held town of Douma. AFP, file -
A Syrian child who was injured in shelling on the town of Misraba receives treatment at a make-shift hospital in the besieged rebel-held town of Douma. AFP -
A Syrian man pushes out of a crowd after Syrian authorities distributed bread, vegetables and pasta to hungry Douma residents. AP -
Russia vetoes a UN Security Council resolution that would have set up an investigation into chemical weapons use in Syria on April 10, 2018. AFP -
UN vehicles carrying the team of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). AP, File -
Labels of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are seen inside a damaged house in Douma in Damascus, Syria April 23, 2018. Reuters -
The Syrian government unleashed a ferocious assault on the then-rebel stronghold of Eastern Ghouta on February 18, 2018 aiming to crush militant groups on the doorstep of the capital. Civilans were trapped and many died. AFP -
What appears to be white phosphorus incendiaries over Douma during regime bombardment of what was one of the few remaining rebel-held pockets in Eastern Ghouta. AFP, file -
A Syrian man helps evacuate an injured victim following Syrian government air strikes on the Eastern Ghouta rebel-held enclave of Douma, on the outskirts of the capital Damascus on March 20, 2018. AFP -
A woman gestures as she walks on rubble of damaged buildings after an airstrike in the besieged in eastern Ghouta. Reuters -
Syrians search for survivors following regime air strikes on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta region. AFP -
Syrian children sit before a mural on a wall bearing the logo of the Syrian Red Crescent in the Syrian town of Douma in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus on March 13, 2018. AFP -
A shepherd leads his flock away from Douma to safer areas in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus, on March 7, 2018. AFP -
People ride a horse along a damaged street at the city of Douma in Damascus. Reuters -
People walk on rubble of damaged buildings in the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta. Reuters, file
