OPCW Executive Council convenes to discuss chemical weapons use allegations in Syria

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) Executive Council convened last week to discuss allegations that the Syrian regime, led by Bashar al-Assad, conducted a chemical weapons attack on its own people.

On April 4, a chemical weapons attack occurred in the Khan Shaykhun area of southern Idlib in the Syrian Arab Republic, the result of which reportedly left nearly 70 dead while injuring dozens more. OPCW’s Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) had already been investigating the use of chemical weapons in Syria stemming from an August 2013 attack in the town of Ghouta.

The organization’s Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü discussed immediate steps taken by OPCW’s Technical Secretariat to examine all available information and that the allegations of chemical weapons use appeared to be credible.

Üzümcü also discussed the organization’s fact-finding mission, which has collected samples from Khan Shaykhun and has since sent them to OPCW’s designated laboratories for examination. In addition, he stated OPCW experts are gathering testimony from various witnesses and sources.

“Our experts are fully aware of the significance of the task they are expected to fulfill and I am confident that they will do it in a professional and impartial manner using all available technical means,” Üzümcü said.

OPCW serves as the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Entered into force in 1997, the convention represents the most-successful disarmament treaty in history targeting an entire class of weapons. To date, approximately 95 percent of all chemical weapons stockpiles declares by OPCW’s 192 member states have been destroyed under the organization’s verification.