OPCW fact-finding mission concludes investigation into allegations reported in Qalib al-Thawr and al-Balil, Syria

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — June 11, 2024 — The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) in Syria has concluded that the information obtained and analyzed is not sufficient to provide reasonable grounds to determine that toxic chemicals were used. as a weapon during reported incidents on 9 August 2017 in Qalib al-Thawr and 8 November 2017 in al-Balil, Hama Governorate, Syrian Arab Republic.

Incidents reported from the Syrian Arab Republic

• On 21 September 2017, the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic informed the OPCW Technical Secretariat of an incident that occurred on 9 August 2017 near the village of Qalib al-Thawr, in the eastern countryside of al-Salamiyah, in the governorate of Hama. Republic reported that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) launched AGS munitions containing unknown toxic gases, causing symptoms in several Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers, including suffocation, fainting and vomiting.

• On 24 November 2017, the Syrian Arab Republic reported to the Secretariat a mortar attack containing “toxic” gas targeting the SAA in al-Balil, in the vicinity of Souran in Hama Governorate, on 8 November 2017.

Conclusions of the OPCW fact-finding mission

The Mission obtained information on the two reported incidents from various sources, including interviews with witnesses, visits to places of interest related to the incidents, medical records as well as documents and correspondence exchanged with the Arab Republic Syrian.

The FFM has sought additional information from all available sources. In doing so, he faced difficulties in corroborating the information collected regarding the reported incidents. Furthermore, given several identified deficiencies, such as contradictions in reporting and lack of precise information, the FFM cannot provide a toxicological assessment of the reported exposure.

The information obtained and analyzed as a whole is not sufficient to provide reasonable grounds for the FFM to determine that toxic chemicals were used as a weapon during the reported incidents that occurred on August 9, 2017 in Qalib al-Thawr and November 8, 2017 at al-Thawr. Balil, Hama governorate, Syrian Arab Republic.

The FFM report has been shared with all States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention and is to be transmitted, in accordance with standard practice, to the United Nations Security Council through the UN Secretary-General.

Read the full report

Background

Following repeated allegations of the use of toxic chemicals for hostile purposes in several locations in the Syrian Arab Republic, on 29 April 2014, the Director General of the OPCW announced the establishment of the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission. OPCW (FFM). The establishment of the FFM was based on the general authority of the Director General of the OPCW to seek to uphold at all times the object and purpose of the Chemical Weapons Convention. This authority is reinforced by relevant decisions of the OPCW Executive Council and United Nations Security Council (UNSCR) Resolution 2118 (2013); and its acceptance by the Syrian Arab Republic. Its creation is also based on terms of reference agreed between the Secretariat and the Syrian National Authority.

The FFM is responsible for determining whether toxic chemicals have been used as weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic. Based on the findings of the FFM, the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) (as previously done by the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM)) collects and analyzes evidence that may help identify the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria. .

To date, the FFM has published 22 reports covering 74 cases of alleged use of chemical weapons. The FFM concluded that chemical weapons had been used or likely to be used in 20 cases: in 14 cases the chemical used was chlorine, in three cases the chemical used was Sarin and in three cases the chemical used was mustard gas. These reports were submitted to States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention and to the UN Security Council. All FFM reports are published on the OPCW website.

As the implementing agency of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 member states, oversees global efforts to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since its entry into force in 1997, it has been the most successful disarmament treaty, eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.

In 2023, the OPCW verified that all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the 193 States parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1997 – totaling 72,304 tonnes of chemical agents – have been irreversibly destroyed under the of the OPCW's strict verification regime.

For its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons, the OPCW was awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.

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