On December 19, 2024, the Netherlands contributed €500,000 to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) fund designated for Syria.
Despite the evolving political situation in Syria, the Netherlands has supported the OPCW’s work. This contribution will be used to support the activities of the Declaration Assessment Team (DAT), the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM), and the Investigation and Identification Team (IIT).
The Dutch contribution aims to support the complete elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons program, investigate allegations of chemical weapons use, and identify the perpetrators, in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), relevant OPCW policy-making decisions, and United Nations Security Council resolutions.
A signing ceremony was held between His Excellency Ambassador Henk Cor van der Kwast, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the OPCW, and OPCW Director-General Ambassador Fernando Arias at the organization’s headquarters in The Hague.
The Director-General expressed his sincere appreciation to the Netherlands for its timely and significant support for the OPCW’s work on the Syrian chemical weapons dossier. He noted that Syria’s evolving political landscape provides an opportunity for the OPCW to achieve the complete elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons program and contribute to the international accountability process for the previous Syrian government.
He emphasized that Syria must fully comply with its obligations under the CWC, 11 years after joining the OPCW.
Arias also stated that the OPCW Secretariat will continue its work in Syria and will require the support of state parties to provide additional financial and human resources to ensure the Secretariat’s ability to carry out its future missions in Syria.
The Netherlands has been a member of the OPCW since the Chemical Weapons Convention came into force in 1997.
Following the fall of the previous Syrian regime on December 8, 2024, the Director-General, in consultation with the Chair of the Executive Council, Ambassador Andrés Terán Parral of Ecuador, called for a meeting (EC-M 66) on December 12, 2024, under Rule 12(b) of the Council’s Rules of Procedure. The meeting aimed to receive updates from the Director-General regarding the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic concerning its chemical weapons program.
In 2014, the Declaration Assessment Team was established to engage the Syrian regime in resolving gaps and discrepancies identified in its declaration. The Fact-Finding Mission was also created that year in response to persistent allegations of chemical weapon attacks in Syria, aiming to establish the facts surrounding claims of toxic chemicals being used as weapons. The Investigation and Identification Team, established in 2019, is responsible for identifying the perpetrators of chemical weapons use in Syria.
Under Article X of the Chemical Weapons Convention, member states have “the right to participate in the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials, and scientific and technological information concerning means of protection against chemical weapons.”
On April 24, 2024, the OPCW expressed doubts about the Syrian regime’s declaration that it had eliminated its chemical weapons program. The organization raised concerns about ongoing chemical weapons development in Syria, despite its announcement in 2023 that it had verified the irreversible destruction of all declared chemical weapons stockpiles under its rigorous verification regime.
The Chemical Violations Documentation Center of Syria (CVDCS) underscores the importance of full implementation and compliance with the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which aims to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. This includes prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer, or use of chemical weapons by state parties.
The CVDCS also stresses the need to hold all parties involved in the hostile use of chemical weapons accountable and to achieve justice for the victims and their families.
