The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons held a special session to push for access to Syria out of concern for its undeclared chemical weapons and ability to make military-grade biological weapons.
The Hague-based OPCW hopes to capitalize on Bashar Assad's ouster by removing the stockpile of toxic chemicals and enabling its investigators to identify those responsible for attacks that killed and injured thousands.
"We all know that Syria did not declare its full chemical weapons program," OPCW's Director General Fernando Arias told the executive council on Thursday, calling for his investigators to gain access. "We hope that the new circumstances in Syria will allow this chapter to be closed soon."
Urging Syria to fulfill its legal obligations under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, which the country joined in 2013, Arias also reminded the council that Syria has not declared its full chemical weapons program – and chemical weapons were repeatedly used in Syria.
“Chemical weapons have been used in Syria on multiple occasions and victims deserve that perpetrators that we identified be brought to justice and held accountable for what they did and that investigations continue,” Arias said.
“The ultimate goal is to achieve the complete elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons program," he said, "and to take part in the process of the international accountability of the former Syrian government and any other identified perpetrators."
OPCW found evidence that Syria used chemical weapons, despite the former Assad regime's denial, and that the Islamic State group used mustard gas against the town of Marea.
A technical team has worked for years to address what OPCW calls "gaps, discrepancies, and inconsistencies" in Syria’s initial declaration about its program when it joined the convention 11 years ago.
In parallel OPCW and other investigative bodies have documented and investigated the use of toxic chemicals as weapons in Syria. Arias told the council that OPCW plans to send a team of experts to Syria after relations are established with the country's new leaders.
