"The use of chemical weapons in Syria has been reconfirmed by the OPCW-UN joint investigative mechanism JIM. The Executive Council adopted at its last session a decision expressing grave concern with the findings of the 3rd and 4th reports of the JIM and condemning in the strongest terms the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The Security Council has extended the mandate of the JIM for another year," Uzumcu said at the 21st session of the Conference of the OPCW Member States.
Uzumcu stated that the declaration submitted by Syria may be inaccurate and not in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention and that it was necessary to obtain "original documentation regarding the Syrian chemical weapons program, access to officials with overarching knowledge about the program" and for Syria to "declare all relevant parts of the Syrian Centre for Scientific Research (SSRC)."
In August 2013, an unprecedented chemical weapons attack, which killed over 1,300 civilians, took place in Ghouta, a suburb of the Syrian capital of Damascus. Militants and Assad’s government blamed each other for the attack.
On October 27, the JIM expert panel released its latest report claiming that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons at least three times in the country throughout 2014-2015. An earlier report said the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group was also responsible for several attacks.
