The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) convened an emergency meeting on Thursday to address concerns over Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile following the ousting of President Bashar Assad. The OPCW underscored Syria's obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention to fully account for and dismantle its stockpiles, including toxic substances like chlorine gas.
“Chemical weapons have been used in Syria on multiple occasions, and victims deserve justice,” OPCW Secretary General Fernando Arias González said, reaffirming the organization's commitment to holding perpetrators accountable.
The OPCW has previously documented multiple instances of the Syrian Armed Forces deploying chlorine gas during the country’s civil war, findings consistently denied by the Assad regime.
This emergency session is only the second of its kind in recent years. A similar meeting was held in 2018 after a chemical attack in Douma, near Damascus, killed at least 40 people.
The Assad regime falls
The session coincides with efforts by Syria’s transitional government, led by Mohammed al-Bashir, to assume power. Expectations are high that the new leadership will allow some of the OPCW’s 80 inspectors access to investigate the country’s chemical weapons facilities.
Arias González also expressed concern over potential risks to evidence posed by ongoing Israeli airstrikes near suspected chemical weapons sites in Syria. “Such actions could compromise investigations and lead to dangerous contamination,” he warned.
The OPCW, established in 1997 and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, includes 193 member states committed to the elimination of chemical weapons worldwide. Syria joined the organization in 2013 under international pressure after a chemical attack near Damascus killed hundreds.