The use of chemical weapons in Syria and the need for unity against them

Former OPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü details the challenges of investigating chemical weapons use in Syria, the failure of the UN-led Joint Investigative Mechanism due to a Russian veto, and the subsequent creation of the OPCW's Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) to attribute responsibility for attacks.

• The author contends that Syria's immediate admission to the OPCW in 2013 was a 'leap of faith' and suggests a progressive approach where membership followed the verifiable destruction of all chemical weapons stockpiles.
• The OPCW's Fact Finding Mission (FFM) confirmed the use of sarin, sulfur mustard, and chlorine in Syria, though its mandate was limited to establishing the fact of use rather than identifying perpetrators.
• The OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), established by UN Security Council resolution 2235 in 2015, identified the Syrian Government armed forces as responsible for chemical weapons use in three cases and an opposition group in one.
• The attribution mechanism for chemical weapons use suffered a gap at the end of 2017 after the Russian Federation vetoed the extension of the JIM's mandate at the UN Security Council.
• The Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) was created by the Conference of States Parties in June 2018 to fill the attribution gap; it has since concluded that Syrian armed forces were responsible for toxic chemical use in two cases.
• The Syrian declaration of its chemical weapons program is considered inaccurate and incomplete by the OPCW, as verification activities revealed undeclared chemicals and unresolved questions regarding munitions.

APA

Üzümcü, A. (2021). The use of chemical weapons in Syria and the need for unity against them. The Council on Strategic Risks. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2021/04/29/the-use-of-chemical-weapons-in-syria-and-the-need-for-unity-against-them/

Chicago

Üzümcü, Ahmet. The use of chemical weapons in Syria and the need for unity against them. The Council on Strategic Risks, 2021. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2021/04/29/the-use-of-chemical-weapons-in-syria-and-the-need-for-unity-against-them/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Üzümcü |first1=Ahmet |title=The use of chemical weapons in Syria and the need for unity against them |publisher=The Council on Strategic Risks |date=29 April 2021 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2021/04/29/the-use-of-chemical-weapons-in-syria-and-the-need-for-unity-against-them/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{zmc2021use, author = {Üzümcü, Ahmet}, title = {{The use of chemical weapons in Syria and the need for unity against them}}, publisher = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2021/04/29/the-use-of-chemical-weapons-in-syria-and-the-need-for-unity-against-them/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }