However , said the Director-General, both the basement – where the gas expanded – and the upper floors, in which the cylinder was releasing fuel in high concentration, “ were lethal locations to stay ”. Fernando Arias, Director-General of the UN-backed OPCW , said the findings are laid out in the third report of an Investigation and Recognition Team tasked with ascertaining the perpetrators of specific instances of chemical substance weapons use in Syria. Noting that it relies on the voluntary cooperation of all Claims parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention – which includes Syria – he said they are expected to provide access to places being investigated, as well as related information, which Syria has largely failed to do .
‘Lethal’ event in Douma
Putting an emphasis on that the team is not the judicial body and does not have the authority to assign individual criminal responsibility, this individual said its mandate is rather to establish the facts and recognize the perpetrators . Recalling that every report produced by the OPCW follows the highest standards plus best practices used by international investigative bodies to reach solid conclusions, Mr. Arias said that the particular Team’s conclusions were based on analysis of different, numerous pieces of evidence. “ The report has become in your hands , ” he told the Security Council , adding that it will be to the UN and the international neighborhood to take further steps or even actions deemed necessary. As part of its work, the team considered the positions expressed by Syria and its partners regarding the Douma incident, including the scenario it turned out staged by terrorists with support from Western Declares.
Recounting the particular events that likely happened on 7 April 2018, Mr. Arias said the helicopter left the airbase between 19: 10 and 19: 40 local period, and dropped the chlorine gas cylinders soon after.
Identifying perpetrators
That includes witness testimony, medical records, chemical and ballistic studies, foreign expertise, computer modelling, satellite imagery and photography, among other sources. Mr. Arias noted that the new report elaborates within the conclusions reached by an OPCW fact-finding mission in 2019 , namely that high concentrations of chlorine gas were the source of the tragedy in Douma . Others were aware of the particular chemical’s presence and, knowing it was heavier than air flow, moved to higher floors from the building to try to find safety. Fernando Arias (on screen), Director-General of the Organization for that Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), briefs Security Council members on the situation within Syria.
Highest standards
UN Photo/Loey Felipe In response to the stalemate, OPCW recently deployed a “reduced” team to conduct “limited in-country activities” in Syria. Also briefing the Authorities on Tuesday was Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, that commended the OPCW for its professional and impartial initiatives to uphold the global norm against the use of chemical weaponry. Santiago Oñate Laborde, Coordinator of the OPCW Analysis and Identification Team, echoed support for his team’s impartiality and careful methodology.
Alternate scenarios
“The evidence collected and examined not only validated and corroborated [the fact-finding mission’s] findings, it also refuted all other alleged scenarios , ” said the Director-General. “There is an immediate need to not only identify, but to hold accountable, all those who would dare to use chemical weaponry in violation of worldwide law , ” she stressed, describing any such actions as unacceptable and the lack of accountability as a “danger to us all”. Some people in the residential buildings wanted refuge in the basement, thinking that location would offer better protection from the conventional air flow strikes that were occurring at that time. The Investigation and Identification Team took over that work and conducted its very own research between January 2021 and December 2022.
‘Danger to us all’
According to the report, he said, there is evidence that will, on 7 April 2018, at least one Syrian air force helicopter – operating under the control of the Government’s “Tiger Forces” – departed Dumayr airbase and dropped 2 yellow chlorine cylinders, striking two residential buildings . She said the organization’s efforts to clarify exceptional issues on Syria’s initial and subsequent declarations upon its chemical weapons programme – first requested in 2013, when the Council mandated its complete elimination – have once again not progressed since her last briefing , in January. Mr. Laborde said that, after examining various hypotheses, those scenarios had been ruled out, as they were not supported by any evidence . Mr. Arias appeared through videolink, alongside Santiago Oñate Laborde, head of the Investigation and Identification Team, in whose presence – and the trustworthiness of the team he prospects – is the subject associated with strong objections by several Council members.
