Welcoming the publication on Wednesday 8 April of the first report of the Investigation and Identification Team of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the EU strongly condemned on Thursday 9 April the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Air Force.
According to the report, the Syrian Air Force was responsible for sarin or chlorine gas attacks on 24, 25 and 30 March 2017.
“Those identified responsible for the use of chemical weapons must be held accountable for these reprehensible acts”, said the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in his statement on behalf of the EU. “Impunity for these horrible acts will not be tolerated. It is now up to the international community to duly consider the report and take appropriate action”, he added, believing that such accountability is essential to prevent the re-emergence of chemical weapons.
“The use of chemical weapons [...] is a violation of international law and can amount to the most serious of international crimes - war crimes and crimes against humanity”, the EU recalls.
According to the High Representative, the EU is determined to ensure that these attacks receive “the strongest possible response from the Chemical Weapons Convention’s States Parties”. It is also “committed, at the highest level”, to support the OPCW in its efforts to set up mechanisms to identify the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
Furthermore, the EU is ready to take additional sanctions against those who develop and use such weapons in the country.
See the statement: https://bit.ly/2Vii6Qj and the report of the investigation and identification team: https://bit.ly/3e7aw3R (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)