Caabu Press Release: Bombing at Douma east of Damascus highlights abject failure of international community to protect Syrian civilians
17 August 2015
The bombing of the main market in Douma to the east of Damascus that killed over 100 civilians on 16 August has highlighted the abject failure of the international community to protect Syrian civilians. The city of Douma has been bombed and shelled for much of the last four years. It lies in the area of eastern Ghouta that was hit by chemical weapons in 2013. The whole area lying only seven miles from Damascus is under siege where civilians receive no aid at all. Residents speaking to Caabu described the horror of the scenes in a city that was hit by mortars for nearly all of Sunday as well as the airstrikes. One said “We would rather now be hit by chemical weapons and end it all. It is too much.”
Commenting on this Caabu’s Director, Chris Doyle said that “the international community sits by as Syrians are starved and when they are slaughtered. They are mere statistics not stories. Having failed them so reprehensibly in Syria, is it any wonder that thousands are seeking refuge in Europe. Increasingly we are treating them appallingly as refugees as well.” In an interview with Al Jazeera English, Doyle said that the Syrian regime’s massacres in Douma and elsewhere should serve as a reminder to the international community that, as brutal as ISIS has been, the regime remains by far “the largest killer of civilians in Syria.”
Serious questions must be asked of the international community. The allies of the Syrian regime including Russia and Iran must be compelled to exert all pressure to end these indiscriminate aerial attacks. The United Nations must stand united in demanding an end to such attacks and press for access to Douma and other besieged areas.
Notes to editors:
1) For more information or interviews contact Chris Doyle, on + 44207 832 1321 or +447968 040281.
