Human Rights Watch Investigation 'Strongly Suggests' Syrian Government Responsible For Chemical Attack (MAPS, DIAGRAMS)

 
In its most recent report on the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government against civilians on August 21, 2013, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that evidence seem to have confirmed the suspicion. 


HRW in a press release issued today, September 10, stated that the attacks on the two Damascus suburbs, which killed hundreds of civilians including many children, "appeared to use a weapons-grade nerve agent, most likely Sarin."
The report titled Attacks on Ghouta: Analysis of Alleged Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria presents the analysis of witness accounts of the rocket attacks, information on the likely source of the attacks, the physical remnants of the weapon systems used, and the medical symptoms exhibited by the victims as documented by medical staff.

HRW Emergencies director and author of the report, Peter Bouckaert, said “Rocket debris and symptoms of the victims from the August 21 attacks on Ghouta provide telltale evidence about the weapon systems used.” “This evidence strongly suggests that Syrian government troops launched rockets carrying chemical warheads into the Damascus suburbs that terrible morning.”
According to HRW, these weapon systems known and documented to be only in the possession of, and used by, Syrian government armed forces.

Source: Human Rights Watch

Having analyzed publicly available YouTube videos from the attacked areas and higher-resolution images of weapon remnants, HRW identified two separate surface-to-surface rocket systems believed to be associated with the delivery of chemical agents.
"The first type of rocket, found at the site of the Eastern Ghouta attacks, is a 330mm rocket that appears to have a warhead designed to be loaded with and deliver a large payload of liquid chemical agent. The second type, found in the Western Ghouta attack, is a Soviet-produced 140mm rocket that, according to reference guides, has the ability to be armed with one of three possible warheads, including one specifically designed to carry and deliver 2.2 kilograms of Sarin," the statement reads.

Although the Syrian government has blames the opposition for the chemical attack, there have not been discovered any evidence to support the claim, HRW says.

Source: Human Rights Watch

Furthermore, three doctors in Ghouta who treated the victims of the attacks told HRW that victims consistently showed symptoms including suffocation; constricted, irregular, and infrequent breathing; involuntary muscle spasms; nausea; frothing at the mouth; fluid coming out of noses and eyes; convulsing; dizziness; blurred vision; red and irritated eyes and pin-point pupils (myosis).
Such symptoms combined with the lack of traumatic injuries, are consistent with exposure to nerve agents such as Sarin, HRW reports, adding that there is laboratory evidence that Sarin gas has been used in a attack in April on Jobar, near Damascus.

HRW reminds, that the attacks on Ghouta are the first major use of chemical weapons in 25 years, since the Iraqi government used chemical weapons on Iraqi Kurdish civilians in Halabja.
Full HRW's report can be found here.