The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) issued a report on April 24, 2024, indicating the latest developments regarding the chemical weapons program in Syria, pointing out the organization’s concerns about the continued development of chemical weapons in Syria.
The report stated that the Technical Secretariat confirmed the destruction of all 27 chemical weapons production facilities declared by the Syrian Arab Republic, which were removed from its territory in 2014, affirming that the Secretariat continues its efforts to clarify all outstanding issues presented by the Syrian Arab Republic in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention through the Declaration Assessment and Publication Team for the Destruction of Chemical Weapons (DAT).
According to the report (EC-106/DG.5), the DAT team will continue to analyze the information gathered during the 26th round and will share the assessment results with the Syrian authorities during the next round of consultations.
The DAT team still has serious concerns about the presence of “unexpected” chemical materials in samples collected between 2021 and 2023 at several declared sites, indicating research, development, production, or weaponization activities of chemical weapons in Syria.
The report stated that the Technical Secretariat considers the declaration submitted by the Syrian Arab Republic regarding the removal and destruction of all chemical weapons “still not accurate” under the Chemical Weapons Convention, considering the identified gaps and inconsistencies.
The report also discussed the activities carried out by the Fact-Finding Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in Syria, in collaboration with the United Nations since 2015.
The report confirmed the future activities of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons mission in Syria to continue fact-finding and inspection operations, especially at the locations of Barzeh and Jamraya in the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.
The Chemical Violations Documenting Center of Syria (CVDCS) emphasizes the need to end all activities related to the production and storage of chemical weapons in Syria and to verify the Syrian regime’s declaration regarding the facilities involved in manufacturing these weapons and to investigate and verify undisclosed facilities and all related activities.
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