Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (Opcw)

Organization For The Prohibition Of Chemical Weapons (Opcw) in 2016

In response to the growing concern about chemical weapons use by state and non-State actors, the OPCW continues to find ways to enhance its ability to provide support to Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) States Parties to both prevent and respond to a CW use. Specifically, the OPCW Director-General established a Sub-Working Group on Non-State Actors (SWG) under the OPCW's Open-Ended Working Group on Terrorism (OEWG-T), with the aim of stimulating discussion and generating specific recommendations that the Technical Secretariat and/or States Parties could implement to address the threat posed by non-State actors. Since the group's establishment in October 2015, it has made great strides in identifying actions that States Parties and the OPCW Technical Secretariat can take to address the non-State actor challenge. Additionally, the Director-General established a Rapid Reaction and Assistance Mission (RRAM) to effectively and efficiently provide assistance to States Parties impacted by CW use by both State and non-State actors

Additionally, in August and October, the OPCW-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) determined that the Syrian Arab Armed Forces was responsible for three incidents of chemical weapons use in Syria in 2014 and 2015 and that ISIS was responsible for one use of chemical weapons in Syria. The OPCW Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) continues to investigate credible allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria to determine if use or likely use occurred. Such cases will be referred to the JIM for attribution. The United States fully supports the JIM, the FFM, the OEWG-T, the SWG, and RRAM initiative and continues to provide subject matter expert participation and briefings to meetings on this subject.