The U.N. Security Council chose to unanimously adopt a resolution Friday that will investigate who is to blame for chemical and chlorine weapons attacks in Syria that have killed hundreds of civilians. The resolution seeks to bring to justice those guilty of using chemical weapons in a country torn apart by a five-year civil war.
The United States and Russia primarily negotiated the resolution. The Associated Press reports that Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed on the final text for the resolution.
A chemical weapon killed hundreds of civilians in a Damascus suburb in August 2013 — just one of dozens of reports of chemicals weapons use in Syria.
Observers accuse President Bashar al-Assad of using chlorine-filled barrel bombs, an allegation the Syrian government denies. Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari Friday blamed terrorist groups, reported the AP.
However, the U.S. State Department and Western nations have consistently blamed the Syrian government for the use of noxious agents including chemical weapons.
The council approved a U.S.-drafted resolution in March which threatens sanctions, among other measures, against Syria for the use of chemical weapons.
“Pointing a finger matters,” U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power told the council, according to the AP. “This sends a clear and powerful message to all those involved in chemical weapons attacks in Syria that the [new investigative body] will identify you if you gas people.”
While chlorine is not an official warfare agent, its use as a weapon is illegal. Syria declared it had destroyed 1,300 metric tons of chemicals, according to AP, but did not declare chlorine in its weapons stockpile.
The ongoing civil war in Syria has killed a quarter of a million people since it began in March 2011, according to the United Nations. It is the single biggest driver of the world’s displaced population, with Turkey taking in 1.59 million Syrian refugees in 2014.
