The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Thursday restored Syria’s voting rights in the global chemical weapons watchdog, five years after it was stripped of such rights under ousted President Bashar Assad.
In A statement on its websiteThe watchdog cited “significant changes in circumstances” since the fall of the Assad regime as the reason for its reinstatement.
OPCW commends progress in disclosing chemical stockpiles
The OPCW Executive Council adopted the decision, co-sponsored by 67 states parties and adopted unanimously, at its Thursday session.
“Following the fall of the Assad regime, the new Syrian authorities committed to meeting Syria’s obligations under the Convention and have since taken concrete steps to cooperate with the Technical Secretariat to achieve this goal,” the OPCW statement said.
The Executive Council welcomed the progress made by Damascus in addressing outstanding issues related to its chemical weapons programme. This recent progress includes:
- Amending its initial declaration of chemical weapons
- drafting facility agreement
- Facilitate verification activities
- Taking initial steps towards destroying identified remains
OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias said, “The decisions provide a strong framework to advance the next phase of verification and destruction activities under the auspices of the Executive Council, and mark another milestone in OPCW’s efforts to achieve the complete and verified elimination of all remaining chemical weapons associated with the former Syrian Government.”
Why did Syria lose its voting rights over chemical monitoring?
Syria joined the monitoring group in 2013 amid a civil war that erupted after anti-government protests turned deadly. The decision was taken under Western pressure over poison gas attacks against the opposition.
At the time, the Assad administration claimed chemical weapons were present at 26 locations in the country, but the watchdog said it believed there were an additional 100 locations.
In 2021, the Arab country was stripped of some rights and privileges due to the Assad government’s “failure to declare the full scope of its chemical weapons program and confirm the use of chemical weapons on Syrian territory,” the watchdog said.
According to the watchdog, both the Assad regime and non-state actors, namely the so-called “Islamic State” terrorist group, are believed to have used chemical weapons.
Assad was ousted in a lightning rebel attack led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former Islamist militia leader who is now the country’s interim president. Shaara has been attempting to rebuild the country’s relations with the West since taking power.
Edited by: Zack Crellin
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