The global chemical weapons watchdog voted to cancel Syria’s rights
On Wednesday, a member states at the global chemical weapons monitoring stripped Syria from its voting rights after discovery that its forces were frequently used poison gas during the civil war.
Many nations voting at the organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) reinforced a decision to instantly cancel Syria’s privileges at the agency. The suggestion was proposed by 46 out of 193 member countries on the OPCW’s governing Conference of States Parties, like Britain, France and the US. It proposal passed by 87 votes against 15, to achieve the required two-thirds majority of votes. There were 34 no vote of 136 countries participated. While, Iran, Russia and Syria were among the countries that are voting against.
An indication for Syria
Despite its indication, the step sends a political indication to Syria that the violation of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention that forbids all use of chemicals on the battleground would not be accepted. The representative of the Netherlands at the OPCW said on Tweeter: It gave a clear no against continued use and possession of chemical weapons.
As conclusion, frequent investigations by the United Nations and the OPCW’s special Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) said that Syrian government forces used the nerve agent sarin and chlorine barrel bombs in assaults between 2015 and 2018 that investigators stated they killed or wounded thousands.
Otherwise, Syria and its military ally Russia have frequently refused using chemical weapons during the war, which converted the once-technical agency on a crisis between competing political forces and deadlocked the UN Security Council.
