1.In transmitting simultaneously to the Security Council and the General Assembly the
report on the incident which took place on 21 August 2013 in the Ghouta area of
Damascus (see annex), the Secretary-General expresses his profound shock and regret at
the conclusion that chemical weapons were used on a relatively large scale, resulting in
numerous casualties, particularly among civilians and including many children. The
Secretary-General condemns in the strongest possible terms the use of chemical weapons
and believes that this act is a war crime and grave violation of the 1925 Protocol for the
Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of
Bacteriological Methods of Warfare and other relevant rules of customary international
law. The international community has a moral responsibility to hold accountable those
responsible and for ensuring that chemical weapons can never re-emerge as an instrument
of warfare.
