‘’A huge number of victims come to your mind when you try to remember that night,’’ says Haitham Al-Badawi, a member of the Association of Victims of Chemical Weapons and the director of the medical unit in Jobar during the chemical massacre in 2013. “Women, children, and men. You stand helpless, unable to help them with anything,” Haitham says in his testimony about that night. “The shelling began around 1:20 AM and stopped around 1:30 AM. Shortly after that, cases started arriving at medical points, cases we hadn’t dealt with before, and it was the first time we faced such a situation. They continued to arrive to the extent that we could no longer cope with them. Talking about the impotence they experience, he said, “The centers were not equipped for such cases. We didn’t have protective masks, and there was nothing to protect us from the gas. We, as medical staff, became victims and needed help. Some of us were martyred, and others were injured, while bodies and injuries kept arriving.” Al-Badawi continued to speak about that night, saying, “1,500 martyrs delivered by civilian cars, trucks, and vehicles that were not originally equipped for carrying the wounded. 1,500 is only the number documented, but the exact number of victims is certainly much higher.” The medical points ran out of their supplies of aid materials and lost their ability to accommodate the injuries. It was a catastrophic night for all of them. Al-Badawi said about that night, “I remember our friends and their images, trembling bodies, frothing mouths, involuntary movements, and our helplessness. I remember the women, children, and men falling upon the bodies of their kids and wives while trying to save them. I remember the pain and sorrow we went through that night, which still haunts us with insomnia today, especially due to the absence of justice and the political institutions that may have been complicit in turning a blind eye to the crime.” Heitham continued his talk on the Syria TV channel, saying: “For this reason, we have established the Association of Victims of Chemical Weapons, aiming to gather all survivors and victims’ families and to preserve the narrative of the story, as well as to maintain their rights and laws that ensure their protection. Through this, we strive to hold accountable the primary responsible party for that massacre before international justice, to bring peace to the survivors and families of the victims who suffered this massacre.”
