The Syrian government’s alleged role in a wave of chemical weapons attacks during the country’s civil war will be investigated, it has been confirmed.

Members of the world chemical weapons watchdog agreed to expand its powers to identify those behind the attacks in the past three years.



Meeting in the Hague, more than 140 countries affiliated to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) voted by 82 to 24 to expand the body’s powers from simply investigating whether a chemical attack had occurred, to attributing responsibility.

A challenging two thirds majority had been required, but the threshold was reached easily.

The result was hailed on Twitter by the UK ambassador to the OPCW, Peter Wilson, as “an overwhelming majority to restore the taboo against chemical weapons”.

The resolution, largely promoted by Britain and other western powers, specifically called for the OPCW to “put in place arrangements to identify the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic by identifying and reporting on all information potentially relevant to the origin of those chemical weapons”.

Expressing concern , it said: “the use of such chemical weapons by the Syrian Arab Republic, by direct implication, establishes that the Syrian Arab Republic failed to declare and destroy all of its chemical weapons and chemical weapons production facilities. The resolution demanded “that the Syrian Arab Republic immediately cease all use of chemical weapons and declare all of the chemical weapons it possesses, including sarin and its precursors”.

More generally the motion said in future, and not just in Syria, there was “added value” in the OPCW secretariat investigating alleged use of chemical weapons “with a view to facilitating universal attribution of all chemical weapons attacks”.

A rival motion, promoted by Russia and China, calling for the OPCW to undertake special missions without specifically widening the organisation’s narrow technical mandate was withdrawn once it became clear it commanded little support. Four other amendments promoted by Russia and its allies which tried to water down the UK proposals were all thrown out.

The votes represent a diplomatic success for Britain, but leave Russia, Iran and Syria claiming that the OPCW is being politicised by the west. Russia said it would make no immediate decision on whether to quit the group, but its industry minister, Georgy Kalamanov, called its future into question and said the OPCW was “a Titanic which is leaking and has started to sink”.

Russia is Syria’s closest political ally, and has repeatedly used international forums, including the UN security council, to block independent investigations into chemical weapons attacks allegedly launched by the regime of president Bashar al-Assad.

Boris Johnson, the UK foreign secretary, welcomed the outcome of the OPCW vote on Wednesday, saying chemical weapons were “an affront to human dignity.”

“The international community has quite rightly come together today to strengthen the ban on chemical weapons and prevent impunity for their use,” he said.

The OPCW has yet to report into whether it found samples of chemical weapons in an alleged chemical attack in Douma in April that led to the reported deaths of more than 70 people.