The report’s revelations come weeks before another United Nations report is expected to confirm chlorine gas use by the Syrian regime.
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The United States has condemned the use of chemical weapons by Syria, after a probe by the United Nations found that Syrian government troops were responsible for two toxic gas attacks.
A yearlong investigation to determine who is behind deadly chemical attacks in Syria takes center stage at the United Nations this week when the panel presents its much-awaited findings. The inquiry was unable to reach a conclusion in six cases, though it said that three of those cases warranted further investigation. “We strongly urge all states to support strong and swift action by the Security Council”.
“Whoever uses chemical weapons in Syria needs to be held accountable”, he said. Those measures usually mean sanctions, and Chapter 7 can be militarily enforced. In 2013, the Syrian regime agreed to the removal and destruction of its chemical weapons and also joined the Chemical Weapons Convention. That averted a USA military strike in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta the previous month.
The U.S. representative to the OPCW, Kenneth Ward, accused Syria in July of engaging “in a calculated campaign of intransigence and obfuscation, of deception, and of defiance”, according to Foreign Policy.
“The United States will work with our global partners to seek accountability through appropriate diplomatic mechanisms, including through the United Nations Security Council”, he added.
The report, the first to name any culprit for the use of chemical weapons in Syria, also confirmed that Islamic State had…
UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon submitted the report to the members of the Security Council Wednesday.
The Security Council is due to discuss the report on Tuesday and could decide to impose sanctions on Syria or ask the International Criminal Court to take up the matter as a war crime.
Summarizing the study, OPCW director-general Ahmet Üzümcü said the majority of the 122 samples from “multiple locations” in Syria “indicate potentially undeclared chemical weapons-related activities”.
Instead, Russia brokered an agreement, codified in Resolution 2118, to have Syria turn over its chemical weapons as part of a process overseen by the OPCW.
The report identified two incidents in which the Syrian regime unleashed chlorine gas against its own population in Idlib province on April 21, 2014 and March 16, 2015.
“When it comes to proliferation, use of chemical weapons, such weapons of mass destruction, we can not afford being weak and the council will have to act”, he said.
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Vitaly Churkin, whose country is a strong supporter of the Syrian government, responded to predictions of confrontation by stressing that the US and Russian Federation created the investigative body to determine those responsible for chemical attacks in Syria.
