Lubna Kanawati represented the Association of Victims of Chemical Weapons in Syria at the event “We know who used chemical weapons in Syria, what’s the next step?’
The event was organized on the sidelines of the Seventh Brussels Conference by the Syrian Network for Human Rights in collaboration with Baytona and the White Helmets.
Kanawati emphasized that we miss a political will to establish a practical framework to hold chemical criminals and their regimes accountable. As an association working on documenting testimonies of survivors of chemical attacks, it has become part of the cases brought in European courts, which use universal jurisdiction.
She highlighted that the association members who believe in the sincerity of their cause do their best to move it forward and ensure accountability. She added that they put themselves at risk because of the absence of witness protection mechanisms. In contrast, the Assad regime and Russia are doing everything in their power to mislead justice, disclaim witness testimonies, and target them.
Speaking to Orient News, she highlighted, “There are concerns that normalizing relations with the Assad regime is regarded as a serious risk of erasing the traces of chemical crime. The Assad militia has worked to conceal the crime scenes and destroy graves of those who were killed by chemical weapons, and they need Arab and international cover-ups to deny their crimes.”
She further elaborated, “We, as the victims’ association, demand compensation and empathy for the victim’s families and survivors of the use of chemical weapons as soon as possible, because they have endured siege, displacement, and have lost everything. Now they are marginalised and facing difficult mental and social conditions.
The US Ambassador Stephen Rapp attended the event, the European Union representative Markus Leinonen, Ambassador Fatou Bensouda from the International Criminal Court, as well as Raed al-Saleh, the director of the Syrian Civil Defense, Lubna Qanouti from the Chemical Weapons Victims Association, and Fadel Abdulghani, the executive director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights.