Watchdog: Syria probably used chemical weapons 17 times
The head of the international chemical weapons watchdog told the UN Security Council that its experts have investigated 77 allegations against Syria, and concluded that in 17 cases chemical weapons were likely or definitely used.
Fernando Arias called it “a disturbing reality” that eight years after Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the assembly or use of such weapons, many questions remain about its initial declaration of its weapons, stockpiles and precursors and its ongoing program.
He said Thursday that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are going to be taking over a replacement issue at its next consultations with Syria — “the presence of a replacement chemical weapons agent found in samples collected in large storage containers in September 2020.”
Arias said he sent a letter informing the Syrian government that he intended to send an OPCW team to seem into this issue from May 18 to June 1, and requested visas but never got a response. He said he informed Damascus he was postponing the arrival to May 28.
With no reply from Syria by May 26, he said, “I decided to postpone the mission until further notice.”
Syria was pressed to hitch the Chemical Weapons Convention in September 2013 by its close ally Russia after a deadly chemical weapons attack that the West blamed on Damascus. By August 2014, President Bashar Assad’s government declared that the destruction of its chemical weapons was completed. But Syria’s initial declaration to the OPCW has remained at issue .
In April 2020, OPCW investigators blamed three chemical attacks in 2017 on the Syrian government. The OPCW council responded by demanding that Syria provide details.
When it didn’t, France submitted a draft measure on behalf of 46 countries in November to suspend Syria’s “rights and privileges” within the global watchdog. In an unprecedented vote on April 21, the OPCW suspended Syria’s rights until all outstanding issues are resolved.
Russia has sharply criticized the OPCW and its investigators, accusing them of factual and technical errors and acting struggling from Western nations.
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia maintained the attack on Thursday, accusing the chemical weapons watchdog of using information “from biased sources against the Syrian government,” of collecting evidence remotely and counting on “pseudo witnesses.”
He said the aim of the council meeting wasn’t to “interrogate” Arias by asking “uncomfortable” questions, as some council members said, but “to work collectively to enhance the deplorable situation that has evolved within the OPCW.”
“We got to talk frankly with the OPCW leadership so as to preclude further erosion of its authority and stop recurrence of the miserable situation that happened in April,” when it voted “to incapacitate… a sovereign state that faithfully complies” with the Chemical Weapons Convention, Nebenzia said. “We are concerned over increasing politicization of its work, initiated by our Western colleagues.”
The Russian ambassador said he was surprised that Arias expressed surprise that Syria wasn’t cooperating with the OPCW investigation team charged with determining responsibility for chemical attacks.
“It isn’t surprising that Syria never recognized the legitimacy of the group, neither did we,” Nebenzia said. “The group was established illegitimately. you can’t expect that Syria are going to be cooperating with it.”
Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward countered that “the facts of this case are clear.”
“There are 20 unresolved issues in Syria’s initial chemical weapons declaration, which is deeply concerning,” she said. “The UN and therefore the OPCW have attributed eight chemical weapons attacks to the Syrian regime. It’s clear that the regime retains a chemical weapons capability and therefore the willingness to use it.”
Woodward said the safety Council will still enforce Syria’s full cooperation with the OPCW, “and the whole and verifiable destruction of Syria’s chemical program.”
US Deputy Ambassador Richard Mills said “no amount of disinformation – espoused by Syria and its very small number of supporters – can negate or diminish the credibility of the evidence that has been presented to us by the OPCW.”
“The Assad regime – supported by Russia – continues to ignore calls from the international community to completely disclose and verifiably destroy its chemical weapons program,” Mills said. “Without accountability for the atrocities committed against the Syrian people, lasting peace in Syria will remain out of reach. The us , once more , involves justice and accountability as critical components to assist move Syria towards a political resolution to the conflict.”
