WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The JIM was established as a joint venture between the United Nations and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate for one year chemical weapons use inside Syria.
The investigative body was created following a unanimous UN Security Council vote in August to look into the use of chemical weapons and attribute attacks to any guilty entities or individuals.
"The best case scenario is that there is an attribution decided by the JIM and then the international community acts through the UN Security Council," US State Department Bureau of Arms Control official Mallory Stewart stated.
Mallory expressed her hope the release of the report will enable the international community to act "in a unanimous way" and to hold whatever party used chemical weapons in Syria responsible.
Senior Policy Advisor to the US Representative to the United Nations, Wa'el Alzayat, said despite US opposition to the Syrian government of Bashar Assad, "our goal on this issue is to be as fair-minded and as neutral" as possible.
The initial report is expected to come out on October 23. Following the release of the report, the UN Security Council will decide by consensus how to proceed based on the evidence presented in the report.
The international community has voiced concerns about the use of chemical weapons inside of Syria since the alleged use of sarin gas in Damascus in 2013.
Following the sarin attack, Syria joined the OPCW and agreed to destroy its chemical weapons arsenal.
At the end of October 2014, the OPCW reported that nearly 98 percent of chemical weapons removed from Syria had been destroyed.
