Press Release

Syrian Coalition

June 23, 2014

The Syrian Coalition welcomes the declaration by the OPCW-UN joint mission today that “the total of declared chemical weapons materials destroyed or removed from Syria has reached 100%.” The Coalition commends the extraordinary work the joint mission has done during the past year in trying to eliminate the regime’s chemical stockpile.

Twelve chemical weapons production facilities, however, remain unaccounted for. The Coalition urges the OPCW Executive Council, which the organization said will be considering the matter in a meeting later on, to take firm action that would allow the total destruction of all seven warehouses and five underground bunkers used by the regime for the production of chemical weapons.

Concerns over discrepancies in the regime’s original list of declared chemicals have reportedly been pronounced by the head of the joint mission, Sigrid Kaag. Accounts by activists inside Syria that the regime is hiding rockets with chemical warheads in a mountainous area west of the central city of Hama must be taken seriously, and a careful investigation is needed.

The OPCW announced earlier the information gathered by its team “lends credence to the view that toxic chemicals – most likely pulmonary irritating agents, such as chlorine – have been used in Syria.” The Coalition once again calls for accountability for toxic gas use, and indeed all chemical weapons attacks. Perpetrators should be brought to a court of law and tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

May our wounded recover, our detainees be free, and our fallen heroes rest in peace.

Long live Syria and its people, free and with honor.