Douma victims remember horror and coercion

DAMASCUS

Survivors of chemical weapons attacks in Douma, a town in Damascus’ eastern Ghouta region, have accused Bashar al-Assad’s ousted regime of forcing them to lie to international authorities about the attacks.

The Assad regime’s August 2013 use of chemical weapons in Eastern Ghouta sparked global outrage and a U.S. threat of military intervention.

Under pressure, the regime signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, authorizing the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to operate in Syria, with Russian mediation.

Despite these measures, the regime continues to use chemical weapons, including an April 2018 attack in Douma during the siege of the city. According to UN data, the attack claimed the lives of around 50 people, mostly women and children, and left hundreds exposed to toxic gas.

Forced to survive underground

During the siege, Douma residents and opposition forces relied on a network of underground tunnels to survive. The makeshift shelters included a field hospital where doctors treated victims of the attacks.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr Mumtaz Al Hemesh, who worked at the hospital, told Anadolu that he faced enormous pressure from the ousted regime’s intelligence services to change his testimony on the use of chemical weapons .

As civilians were evacuated from Eastern Ghouta on “green buses”, Al Hemesh said regime agents warned him not to leave or his family in Damascus would be in danger.

Al Hemesh said he was placed under house arrest in a Damascus hotel until the last evacuation buses left. Interviews he gave to the Russian regime and media were edited to deny the use of chemical weapons, he added.

“When we went to testify before UN investigators, regime agents placed listening devices in our pockets,” Al Hemesh said. He criticized the international community for ignoring atrocities in the Eastern Ghouta region of Damascus and Douma and focusing only on the use of chemical weapons.

Abu Ali, a resident who lost his wife and four children in the 2018 attack, said the family took shelter in a basement when the chemical agent spread like powder in the whole area.

“I went out to get food for my family. When I returned, I saw people dying at the entrance to the shelter. Then I lost consciousness.

Ali said the regime forced him to deny the use of chemical weapons, leading him to claim in Russian and Syrian media that his family had died in the bombings.

He also said he was imprisoned for 18 months in various detention centers, adding that he was tortured for six years by an officer affiliated with the regime who sought to cover up the truth about the chemical attack.

“I want justice for my children,” Abu Ali said. Her children, killed in the attack, were Omer, 12; Ali, 11 years old; Mahomet, 10 years old; and Cudi, 8 years old.

He continues to suffer from heart problems caused by exposure to chemicals.

Evidence destroyed

Douma residents also accused the regime of erasing evidence of its use of chemical weapons.

Akram Killis, who was exposed to chemical agents and lost consciousness near his home, said the regime used construction equipment to exhume the bodies and staged the area to fool international inspectors.

“They told the detectives, ‘Look, there’s no body here,'” Killis said, adding that he suffered ongoing health problems, including hair loss and skin problems, due to the attacks.

Residents also revealed that the regime had planted fake chemical bombs at the scene to trap opposition forces. Survivor testimonies suggest that these staged props were presented to the media as part of the regime’s disinformation campaign.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on December 8, ending rule by the Baath Party, which had been in power since 1963.

The takeover came after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters captured key towns in a lightning offensive that lasted less than two weeks.

* Written by Seda Sevencan

The Anadolu Agency website contains only part of the information offered to subscribers of the AA Information Distribution System (HAS), and in summary form. Please contact us for subscription options.