Gaziantep, Oct. 14 (SANA) Syria has submitted around 100,000 documents on the deposed regime’s chemical weapons program to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), as efforts continue to identify those responsible for past attacks, Nidal Sheikhani, director of the Chemical Violations Documentation Center in Syria, said.
More than 135 chemical attacks in Syria are listed by the fact-finding mechanism and remain under follow-up and investigation, Sheikhani said in an interview with Syrian al-Ikhbariya TV on Tuesday.
The documents detail the program’s operations, including the manufacture, storage and transportation of chemical agents, the roles of personnel at research centers and educational institutions, and those who issued orders to use chemical weapons.
OPCW receives documents and access to sites
Cooperation with the OPCW has helped uncover previously concealed chemical facilities, precursor materials, weapons remnants, missile warheads, and manufacturing and storage equipment. Witness lists requested by the organization’s Special Missions Unit, particularly its Investigation and Identification Team (IIT), were also provided, Sheikhani said.
OPCW Director-General Sabrina Dallafior praised the Syrian government’s efforts to address the program’s legacy, he added.
The center plans to work with the organization during October to investigate a previous chemical attack in Damascus. Sheikhani said the document handover and access granted to OPCW teams at sites and facilities would help identify those responsible and advance transitional justice.
Chemical attacks have caused more than 14,000 injuries and 3,234 deaths in Syria, in addition to congenital abnormalities, neurological seizures and lasting psychological effects among some victims, he said. The center has conducted more than 65 documentation projects and sent samples collected from victims, soil, trees and water to OPCW laboratories in The Hague.
Evidence points to attacks across Syria
Sheikhani said the attacks began with the targeting of Khan al-Assal in western Aleppo countryside in October 2012 and continued through an attack on Talat al-Kabina in Latakia countryside in 2019.
Sarin was used in attacks including those in Eastern Ghouta, Khan Sheikhoun and Lataminah in 2017, while mustard gas was used in attacks attributed to the Islamic State group, including those targeting Ma’arat Umm Hawsh in 2015, he said.
The deposed regime declared around 1,200 tons of toxic chemicals in 2014 under arrangements to dismantle its chemical weapons program but concealed materials and facilities, Sheikhani said. It later repeatedly used chlorine gas in areas including Aleppo, Tell Mannas, Jarjanaz and Eastern Ghouta.
Networks and shell companies in various countries were also established to import precursor materials and circumvent international monitoring and sanctions, he added.
The UN Security Council’s Joint Investigative Mechanism issued five reports in 2017 indicating that military aircraft belonging to the deposed regime were responsible for chemical weapons use, Sheikhani said. The center also worked with the OPCW’s Investigation and Identification Team to identify six attacks attributed to the deposed regime and the Islamic State group.
Securing remaining munitions and comparing them with evidence from past attacks, including yellow barrels and M4000-type bombs, could help identify the weapons used and those responsible for their manufacture, storage and transportation, he said.
Calls for international accountability
Sheikhani called for stronger international cooperation to pursue those involved, expanded cooperation with Interpol, and accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the International Partnership Against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons.
He stressed that crimes committed by the deposed regime do not expire with time and that continued investigations are essential to identifying those responsible and securing justice for victims and their families.
Syria regained all its rights and privileges in the OPCW on July 9, following a decision adopted by the organization’s Executive Council by consensus, amid progress in cooperation with its Technical Secretariat and efforts to address the legacy of the chemical weapons program left by the deposed regime.
N.J/MF
