The U.S. Department of State designated three Syrian military officials for their involvement in the chemical attacks on Ghouta in 2013.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the attack killed at least 1,400 people, many of them children, according to an Oct. 24 news release.
“Today, we are taking action to promote accountability for the actions of three Syrian regime military officials involved in the Aug. 2013 airstrikes and use of sarin — a deadly chemical — on Ghouta, a Damascus suburb, which killed at least 1400 people,” Blinken said in a post on Twitter.
The State Department designated Brigadier General Adnan Aboud Hilweh, Major General Ghassan Ahmed Ghannam and Major General Jawdat Saleebia Mawas. The three Syrian military officials and their family have been barred entry in the United States as a result of the designation, the release reported. Blinken said this designation was made to promote accountability.
Two chemical attacks were launched on the morning of Aug. 21, 2013, on Damascus suburbs on both Eastern and Western Ghouta, according to a Human Rights Watch investigation. Sarin, a nerve gas, or a similar weapons-grade nerve agent was unleashed on the communities via rocket systems. During their investigation, the Human Rights Watch found the Syrian government was “almost certainly responsible” for the attacks, despite the government’s denial.
Blinken called on the Assad regime to fully declare and destroy their chemical weapons program and to provide access for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons personnel as dictated through international obligations. He reiterated the U.S. continues to “stand with and support the Syrian people in their demands for human rights and fundamental freedoms, security and peace,” according to the release.
