The authorities of Syria and France have reiterated this Friday their determination to thoroughly investigate and legally pursue the crimes committed with chemical weapons during the former Syrian regime, coinciding with the thirteenth anniversary of the attack launched on August 21, 2013, against Eastern Ghouta and Mouadamiyat al Sham, on the outskirts of Damascus.
According to a joint statement released by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both governments have paid tribute to the victims and expressed their condolences and support to their relatives, while again emphasizing their commitment to "accountability and justice, and the fight against impunity."
The same note recalls that Syria was the scene of more than 200 attacks with chemical weapons between late 2012 and the fall of the previous regime in December 2024. These attacks caused the death of more than 1,500 people, including women and minors, according to estimates handled by Paris.
In this context, the new Syrian authorities have formally requested to join the International Alliance against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons. France has welcomed this initiative, which it interprets as a sign of Damascus's commitment to strengthening accountability mechanisms and fighting against impunity.
The decision comes after the visit that French President Emmanuel Macron made to Syria on July 6 and 7, a trip that, according to Paris, has inaugurated a new phase in relations between the two countries, with the intention of overcoming the legacy of the previous period and moving towards a relationship based on cooperation and mutual respect.
France and Syria have also highlighted the work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to clarify aspects related to the former Syrian chemical weapons program, as well as to identify and verify the components that still persist and advance in their elimination in coordination with the current Syrian authorities.
Both governments have also celebrated that Syria has recently regained all its rights and privileges within the OPCW, and have expressed their support for the organization's efforts to close pending issues and strengthen the international regime for the prohibition of chemical weapons.
Damascus and Paris frame these actions in a shared objective: to preserve the memory of the victims, to strengthen the principle of accountability, and to prevent attacks of this nature from being repeated in the future.