#opcw

[icymirss]

As US and OPCW Move On, Brazil Puts Syria Cover-Up On The Record

In a rare protest, Brazil has challenged the chemical watchdog's admitted suppression of findings that undercut Trump's pretext for bombing Syria in 2018.

In just two days this month, the new government of Syria was handed a pair of major victories toward reversing the country's longstanding pariah status in the US-dominated global order.

At the NATO summit in Turkey, President Trump announced the removal of Syria from the list of states accused of sponsoring terrorism. Trump's decision will ease decades of sanctions that have crippled Syria's economy and helped oust Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. It also marks a public relations victory for Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the insurgent leader who replaced Assad in Damascus. Al-Sharaa, previously known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, is a former ISIS deputy leader and the founding leader of the Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda, both designated by the US as terrorist organizations.

The following day, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) gave Syria's ruling Al Qaeda offshoot another stamp of international approval. The Executive Council of the world's top chemical watchdog restored the voting privileges that Syria lost in 2021 over allegations that the Assad government used chemical weapons and hid elements of its arsenal.

The two decisions have a direct tie. The widespread narrative that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its own people was invoked to justify the US-led regime change war that ultimately led to Assad's overthrow.

Yet while the Trump administration and OPCW are granting Syria's new rulers a clean slate, not everyone is ready to turn the page, or accept the conventional story about the former government's purported chemical attacks.

The OPCW leadership faces continued scrutiny over a cover-up that calls the Syria chemical weapons allegations, and the OPCW's own independence and scientific integrity, into question. During this month's session of the Executive Council, the Brazilian government lodged a rare formal protest over the OPCW's manipulation of an investigation into an alleged April 2018 chemical attack in the Syrian town of Douma.

At issue for the Brazilians was the suppression of a critical finding in the OPCW's Douma probe. As I reported in May, the OPCW, after years of stonewalling, recently acknowledged concealing the "highly protected" assessment of German military toxicologists who ruled out chlorine gas as the cause of dozens of deaths in Douma.

The toxicologists' censored findings, along with other buried evidence, undermined the OPCW's public claims that there was a chlorine attack in Douma, and that the Syrian government was responsible. The suppressed evidence instead pointed to a false flag, as one of the toxicologists even speculated. After keeping this from the public, the OPCW published reports on the Douma incident that aligned with the first-term Trump administration and its British and French allies. These states bombed Syria in April 2018 over what they alleged was a Syrian government chemical attack in Douma. ...

The Brazilian government's high-level rebuke is not the first time that the OPCW has been challenged over the suppression of the toxicological findings. Yet each time the issue has been raised, OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias has refused to even acknowledge it, let alone respond.

Brazil's intervention is unique because it was made during a formal session of the OPCW's policy-making organ, the Executive Council. Accordingly, it had to be recorded in the Organisation's official records and posted publicly... Arias has yet to offer a response. ...

Brazil is well-placed to challenge the OPCW's politicization. The watchdog's founding director-general, José Bustani, is a veteran Brazilian diplomat who personally resisted another attempt to instrumentalize the organization for a US-led regime change campaign in the Middle East. In 2002, the Bush administration engineered Bustani's ouster for trying to facilitate Iraq's entry into the Chemical Weapons Convention, which impeded the White House's plans for war. Bustani stood his ground even after then-US Under Secretary of State John Bolton threatened to harm his children. Nearly two decades later, Bustani tried to testify at the UN in protest of the Douma cover-up, but the US and its allies blocked him from speaking. By contrast, these same states have continued to heap praise on Arias as he's joined them in stonewalling accountability for the Douma deception.

Continue reading at: https://www.aaronmate.net/p/as-us-and-opcw-move-on-brazil-puts

[icymirss]

OPCW Admits It Suppressed Key Dissenter in Douma Chemical Cover-Up

In its defeat at an international tribunal, the OPCW has acknowledged that it shunned an inspector who challenged the Douma chemical cover-up. OPCW whistleblower Dr. Brendan Whelan details the closing chapter of his bid for justice.

The wheels of justice turn slowly but grind exceedingly fine, they say. A recent ruling from the Geneva-based Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation (ILOAT) ordered my former employer the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to reverse its decision to sanction me for alleged breaches of confidentiality and to pay damages. After six years of legal wrangling, the time-worn adage has rung true.

But it isn't an absolute win or a victory in the true sense. My success at the ILOAT was a correction to a single wrongdoing in the context of a much larger continuing deception being perpetrated by the world's chemical watchdog and Nobel Peace Laureate.

Neither was it my success. As much as anything, it was a triumph for those who, during the last eight years, have supported the inspectors who challenged the OPCW over its investigation into the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria, in April 2018. I was part of that probe, and a witness to how it had been manipulated, ostensibly to serve a pre-ordained conclusion....

Without these people, who, for their stance, were targeted systematically with smears and ad hominem attacks on their integrity, the OPCW cover-up would have remained the dark secret of those who perpetrated it and those knowledgeable of it but too scared or unwilling to speak out....

When I call out the OPCW in the context of the Douma scandal, I am referring to a very specific and tiny element within the Organisation that I believe has been coopted to serve the interests of powerful external actors. The sell-out is the machinations of just a few; individuals in key positions, who, for whatever motives, have embroiled this world-class body in a damning controversy through their willingness to even corrupt science itself.

Now finally, as a direct result of a legal case at an international Tribunal, their deceit, in a gratifying nod to poetic justice, has been confirmed, literally through the Organisation's own admission.

The ILOAT ruling didn't just vindicate me personally and those who stood behind the inspectors. While the focus of the ILOAT case was my unlawful sanctioning, the drawn-out legal process threw up some unexpected and damning admissions about the Douma probe.

Where years of public demands and outcry barely elicited a response, faced with a formal legal challenge the OPCW outed itself, perhaps inadvertently, by unequivocally confirming before the Tribunal the core allegations of the dissenting inspectors: that critical evidence in the Douma investigation was withheld; that the Organisation unfairly targeted dissenting inspectors with spurious claims of breaching confidentiality; and that management sidelined inspectors and refused to engage with them over their concerns.

The first two confirmations are now public. Now for the third.

Continue reading at: https://thegrayzone.com/2026/05/24/opcw-shunned-dissent-douma/

[icymirss]

"Highly Protected": OPCW Confirms It Buried Critical Evidence in Syria Chemical Weapons Probe

The OPCW finally acknowledges concealing the assessment of German military toxicologists who ruled out chlorine gas as the cause of dozens of deaths in the alleged Douma chemical attack of April 2018.

For the first time in a prolonged cover-up scandal, the world's top chemical watchdog has acknowledged censoring a finding that undermined allegations of a toxic gas attack by the former Syrian government.

According to previously leaked documents, expert German military toxicologists consulted by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) ruled out chlorine gas as the cause of death of dozens of victims in an alleged chemical attack in the Syrian town of Douma in April 2018. The experts even raised the possibility that the incident was a false flag. The OPCW suppressed this finding and released a final report asserting that chlorine gas was likely used. The OPCW's conclusion aligned with the claims of the US, UK, and France, who bombed Syria in April 2018 over what they alleged was a Syrian government chemical attack in Douma.

After years of stonewalling, the OPCW has admitted that the Germans' input, along with the fact that they were even consulted, was concealed.

The concession came during a legal battle with Dr. Brendan Whelan, a veteran OPCW inspector and senior member of the team that deployed to Syria for the Douma mission. Whelan and another Douma team member, Ian Henderson, raised concerns about the manipulation of the investigation's findings.

After their complaints became public, the OPCW leadership publicly disparaged the two dissenting inspectors and penalized them for alleged breaches of confidentiality. Whelan successfully challenged his censure before the Geneva-based Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation (ILOAT), which recently awarded him damages and instructed the OPCW to withdraw its impugned decision....

In trying to make its case against Whelan, the OPCW inadvertently admitted to the censorship that he had challenged....

The Germans told the OPCW that the circumstances of the fatalities -- apparent immediate death and collapse in piles at the center of two rooms, a failure to escape, and rapid profuse foaming at the mouth and nose -- were inconsistent with chlorine poisoning. According to the then-head of the OPCW Laboratory, the experts even raised "the possibility of a staged attack" in Douma because "the circumstances of death for the victims do not match chlorine."

While the Douma victims' signs of rapid foaming are not consistent with exposure to chlorine gas, they are consistent with nerve agent exposure. But by that point, the OPCW's chemical analysis had ruled out a sarin or any other nerve agent bomb as the killer because none of these chemicals, or any toxic chemicals for that matter, were found at the scene or in biomedical samples.

If the rapid and profuse frothing was not the result of a nerve agent or chlorine gas attack, the possibility existed that there was no chemical attack at all -- and that insurgents staged the incident to frame the Syrian government. In this case, the OPCW would be dealing with a faked chemical attack that triggered US-led airstrikes on Syria, and the unexplained deaths of more than 40 men, women, and children.

The Germans' assessment was included in the Douma team's initial report, which Whelan authored with the help of fellow experts and, after peer approval including the team leader, prepared for publication in June 2018. But senior OPCW officials subverted that document and tried to rush out a replacement, doctored version that falsely claimed evidence of chemical weapons use. Whelan thwarted the release of the bogus substitute only after discovering it at the last minute and sending an email of protest. But when the final report was released in March 2019, after Whelan had departed the Organisation, the OPCW again excluded any mention of the Germans' expert opinions, or even that they had been consulted....

In the halls of power, the IIT's report was treated as a vindication of the chemical attack allegation in Douma, which was integral to the broader US-led regime change campaign that toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. The State Department and its British, French, and German counterparts hailed the IIT's findings and touted what they called "the independent, unbiased, and expert work of the OPCW staff."

Establishment media followed suit. Major outlets -- including the BBC, Reuters, The Guardian, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post -- approvingly covered the IIT report while omitting any mention of the OPCW's Douma cover-up controversy. In an illustrative act of denialism, the Post ignored the dissenting inspectors and reduced skepticism of the official narrative to "a disinformation campaign by the Russian state and a number of high-profile online activists." These voices, the Post falsely added, even claimed that "children seen foaming at the mouth were faking their symptoms."

In reality, the fakery came with the censorship of expert German toxicologists who ruled out chlorine gas as the cause of those symptoms and casualties. As a direct consequence of Whelan taking legal action, the OPCW has finally admitted that it suppressed this critical information in the still-unresolved probe into how dozens of people in Douma lost their lives.

Continue reading at: https://www.aaronmate.net/p/highly-protected-opcw-confirms-it

[icymirss]

In Blow to Syria Cover-Up, OPCW Inspector Wins Case at International Tribunal

The OPCW has been ordered to pay damages to Dr. Brendan Whelan, a veteran inspector who challenged the manipulation of a chemical weapons probe in Douma, Syria. Whelan now tells his story.

When veteran inspector Dr. Brendan Whelan challenged the manipulation of a probe into an alleged April 2018 chemical weapons attack in the Syrian city of Douma, the leadership of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) publicly disparaged and censured him. After a lengthy arbitration case, the OPCW has been ordered to reverse its decision and pay Dr. Whelan moral damages and legal costs. For the first time, Dr. Whelan tells the story of his years-long, Orwellian ordeal for justice.

Continue reading at: https://www.aaronmate.net/p/in-blow-to-syria-cover-up-dissenting

[lulunews9]

Japan Provides Financial Support to Expand Global Chemical Weapons Monitoring Initiatives

The Japanese government has announced a new financial commitment designed to strengthen international efforts aimed at monitoring and preventing the use of chemical weapons worldwide. This funding will support the activities of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the organization responsible for implementing and enforcing the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) worldwide. This move demonstrates Japan's continued dedication to global peace, security, and the elimination of weapons of mass destruction.

Japan's Dedication to Global Security

For many years, Japan has been a staunch supporter of international arms control agreements and disarmament efforts. By providing additional funding to the OPCW, Japan is enhancing the organization's capacity to investigate alleged chemical weapons use, ensure compliance among member states, and improve laboratory and technical resources.

Officials report that Japan's contribution – amounting to approximately €200,000 – will help the OPCW carry out a number of missions, including scientific research, field investigations, and training initiatives. These efforts are crucial to ensuring that countries comply with international regulations prohibiting chemical weapons.

Japan's Foreign Ministry stressed that the use of chemical weapons anywhere in the world poses a grave threat to humanity. By supporting the International Monitoring System, Japan aims to ensure that the global community can react quickly and effectively to any potential violations. For more news, follow News Today.

[firstdrafthistorian]

2024 Antipodes

Hypocrisy: Orwell’s “Doulespeak, or Raymond Devos’s “Antipodes”1 have made 2024 truly the year of the grotesque which may give renewed youth to Ionescu’s Theater of the Absurd. Yes, every word has its ‘Anti.’ Continue reading 2024 Antipodes

[waybackwanderer]

The Chemical Weapons Convention Homepage Nov 1996 Archived Web Page

[workersolidarity]

🇷🇺 🚨 RUSSIAN FEDERATION LOSES BID FOR SEAT ON THE BOARD OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR THE PROHIBITION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS (OPCW)

The Russian Federation lost in its bid to earn a seat on the Executive Council board of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

A vote for the bid failed on Wednesday, with Lithuania being given the seat instead.

98 states supported the changes, 8 opposed, and another 21 abstained.

During his speech at the OPCW conference, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Kirill Lysogorsky noted that the nomination of Lithuania, which has virtually no chemical industry, to the OPCW Executive Council by participating countries does not carry any practical meaning, which calls into question the constructive work of the organization.

Lysogorsky said that this was probably done to reduce Russia’s role in the work of the entire OPCW or to “squeeze” it out of the executive council.

#source1

#source2

@WorkerSolidarityNews