The Chemical Violations Documentation Center of Syria (CVDCS) participated in a side event organized by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on July 9, 2024, during which a documentary film about a previous chemical weapons attack on the city of Marea in the Aleppo countryside was shown.
The session was chaired by His Excellency Ambassador Arnoldo Brenes Castro of Costa Rica, and was attended by the Director of the Chemical Violations Documentation Center of Syria (CVDCS), Nidal Shikhani, a representative of the White Helmets, Radi Saad, the Senior Legal Advisor to the Investigation and Identification Team, Valentina Falco, and an international law specialist, lawyer Ibrahim Al-Olabi.
The film was presented to the OPCW Executive Council, with the attendance of 41 ambassadors to the organization, as well as the former head of the Fact-Finding Mission, Mr. Leonard Phillips, the current head of the investigation mission, representatives from the Technical Secretariat, and a number of legal experts.
The documentary, titled “Justice On Hold: Black Poison” covers the mustard gas attacks on Marea in northern Aleppo on August 21, and September 1 and 3, 2015, and their impact on the victims to this day, despite the incident occurring nine years ago.
The film featured testimonies from victims, doctors, healthcare workers, and military personnel, recounting the events they experienced during the attacks on Marea.
It discussed the dangers of chemical weapons, the long-term effects of their use, and the repercussions on the victims.
The OPCW allocated about an hour and a half to show the film and discuss the details of the incident, with the attendance of Nidal Shikhani, Director of the The Chemical Violations Documentation Center of Syria (CVDCS).
The Chemical Violations Documentation Center of Syria (CVDCS) contributed to the production and translation of the film, in cooperation with Halab Today TV, playing a key role in reaching the victims, coordinating with them, and verifying all the information included.
Shikhani emphasized the need for the destruction of chemical remnants by experts from the OPCW and the accountability of those responsible for chemical attacks in Syria, including non-state actors (ISIS) and the Syrian government, which is accused of carrying out chemical attacks in various incidents. He noted that the states parties were present as a special platform to discuss the risks of using chemical weapons by non-state actors.
Shikhani highlighted the challenges faced by civil society organizations in documenting the use of chemical weapons, stressing the need to enhance the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, including supporting investigations and accountability through contributions from civil society and non-governmental organizations, and supporting the activities of the Investigation and Identification Team, including the OPCW’s Fact-Finding Mission.
Following the film screening, the discussion was moderated by His Excellency Ambassador Arnoldo Brenes Castro, who chaired the session featuring Nidal Shikhani, Radi Saad, Valentina Falco, and Ibrahim Al-Olabi. Ambassador Castro summarized the efforts of each speaker in documenting chemical weapons use in Syria.
The session was attended by ambassadors of the states parties to the OPCW Executive Council, including the ambassadors of the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Romania, the Western European regional group, and other countries such as New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, Tanzania, Congo, Bangladesh, Japan, China, Cameroon, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Latvia, Ireland, Angola, Guatemala, and Turkey.
The discussion began with a five-minute speech by Nidal Shikhani, who spoke about the center’s role in supporting the mandates of the OPCW (specialized in investigation and inspection), including judicial entities such as the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism.
Shikhani stressed the importance of holding the perpetrators accountable to ensure the implementation of the convention and the rights of the states parties, including achieving justice for the victims’ families.
Shikhani also noted the need for states parties to commit to the disposal and destruction of chemical weapons remnants.
Radi Saad, a representative of the White Helmets, spoke about his team’s work and their response to chemical attacks.
Saad highlighted the White Helmets’ role in supporting international investigation mandates, including the Fact-Finding Mission since 2015 and the Investigation and Identification Team since 2019.
Ambassador Castro then gave the floor to Valentina Falco, who emphasized the importance of civil society organizations in providing testimonies and evidence that helped international teams understand the nature of violations, and the crucial role civil society institutions played in supporting the OPCW’s investigation mandates.
In the speech by the international law specialist, lawyer Ibrahim Al-Alabi, he spoke about the importance of international criminal accountability and the means to achieve it, building on the significant efforts made by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and Syrian organizations. He emphasized that the state has an opportunity to be the first in history to carry out international criminal accountability.
Al-Olabi pointed out that there is a group of countries from different regions of the world that have formed a working group to study what can be done in this regard.
In conclusion, Nidal Shikhani called on the international community and states parties to consider how to achieve accountability to ensure the rights of states parties, noting that leniency in implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention opens the door to more violations and their expansion by various actors, threatening international peace and security.
Shikhani urged the states parties to consider establishing a mechanism for the destruction of chemical weapons remnants and a program to protect witnesses.
chemical_attack_syria ISIL ISIS MAREA opcw syria syria_chemical_attack
