Report of the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission in Syria Regarding the Incident of 16 September 2016 as Reported in the Note Verbale of the Syrian Arab Republic Number 113 dated 29 November 2016

S/1491/2017

1 May 2017

Original: ENGLISH

NOTE BY THE TECHNICAL SECRETARIAT

REPORT OF THE OPCW FACT-FINDING MISSION IN SYRIA REGARDING THE INCIDENT OF 16 SEPTEMBER 2016 AS REPORTED IN THE NOTE VERBALE OF THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC NUMBER 113 DATED 29 NOVEMBER 2016

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1 At its Forty-Eighth Meeting, the OPCW Executive Council (hereinafter “the Council”) adopted a decision entitled “Reports of the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission in Syria” (EC-M-48/DEC.1, dated 4 February, 2015) in which, inter alia, it requested the Director-General to provide information on the progress of the Fact-Finding Mission (hereinafter “FFM”) and specific plans, schedules, and their implementation to the Council at its next regular session. In response to that request, the Technical Secretariat (hereinafter “the Secretariat”) submitted a Note to address the future activities of the FFM (S/1255/2015*, dated 10 March, 2015 and Add.1, dated 13 March 2015).

1.2 The Secretariat received Notes Verbales 109, dated 17 November 2016 and 113, dated 29 November 2016, from the Syrian Arab Republic, requesting actions by the FFM. Note Verbale 109 contained correspondence 259, dated 16 November 2016, which referred to a number of incidents reported to have occurred on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. Note Verbale 113 contained correspondence 9551, dated 29 November 2016, which referred to an incident in Um-Housh on 16 September 2016.

1.3 Correspondence 9551 further reported that in accordance with Paragraph 6 of Article X of the Chemical Weapons Convention (hereinafter “the Convention”), the Syrian Arab Republic had requested the Russian Federation to provide assistance in order to collect and transfer evidence in connection with the incident in Um-Housh on 16 September 2016. Furthermore, it proposed that the Secretariat organise the handover of the samples and material evidence in Damascus in the presence of official representatives of the Russian military.

1.4 These Notes Verbales form the basis of the deployment of the FFM from 11 to 19 December 2016 in regard to a number of incidents. However, this report only details the incident reported to have occurred in Um-Housh on 16 September 2016.

1.5 Following the receipt of the aforementioned Notes Verbales, the Director-General dispatched a team to collect the evidence pertinent to a number of alleged chemical incidents. The FFM deployed on two occasions—11 to 19 December 2016 and 6 to 12 January 2017—in order to gather facts and retrieve samples connected to the reported incidents. The team was composed of OPCW inspectors and interpreters. During these deployments, the FFM conducted interviews, collected testimonies, and reviewed documents and other information provided by the authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic. Furthermore, the FFM was able to visit the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre (hereinafter “SSRC”) in Barzi to conduct physical examinations of items related to the reported incidents and was able to secure and recover samples for analysis at OPCW and Designated Laboratories.

1.6 The prevailing narrative provided by the testimonies of the two casualties who were interviewed by the FFM and the information provided by the authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Russian Federation described the events in Um-Housh during the period 15 and 16 September 2016. The narrative describes the use a number of projectiles, where two female casualties appeared to have been exposed to a toxic chemical substance. However, it appears that there was a considerable amount of time before access could be gained to interview any witnesses or other individuals connected to this incident or for any physical examination of the site that could be conducted by either of the abovementioned parties.

1.7 While the incident is reported to have occurred on 16 September 2016, the Russian Federation’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defence (“CBRN”) Team was not able to visit the site or interview any witnesses until 16 November 2016, nor was it able to visit the house where the two casualties involved in the incident lived. The Technical Committee of the Authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic was not able to visit the site until 3 December 2016. While both the Russian Federation’s CBRN Team and the Technical Committee of the Authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic have reported that a mortar was recovered from the site of the incident, the whereabouts of any potential weapon that may have caused injuries to the two casualties has not been established. Due to the prevailing security situation, the FFM was not able to visit the site.

1.8 However based on the interviews carried out, the documents reviewed, and the results of blood sample analyses, the FFM can confirm that the two female casualties reported to have been involved in the incident in Um-Housh, Aleppo of 16 September 2016 were exposed to sulfur mustard.

1.9 Furthermore, the FFM conducted a thorough technical weapon exploitation on a 217-mm calibre mortar that included a non-destructive evaluation and sampling of the contents at the SSRC in Barzi. Supported by the results of laboratory analysis, the FFM has determined that this mortar, which was handed over by the experts of the Russian Federation’s CBRN Team to the authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic and reported to be connected to the described incident in Um-Housh on 16 September 2016, is a munition containing sulfur mustard.