AMSTERDAM - Member states of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have returned voting privileges to Syria, the watchdog announced on Thursday, citing a "significant change in circumstances" tied to developments after the fall of the Assad regime.
Syria had been stripped of those rights in 2021 amid findings that government forces had repeatedly deployed poison gas during the country’s civil conflict. That earlier move, largely symbolic in terms of formal authority, served as a political message that violations of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention - which prohibits the use of chemical agents in warfare - would not go unchallenged.
In announcing the restoration of voting rights, the OPCW said, "Following the fall of the Assad regime, the new Syrian authorities committed to fulfilling Syria’s obligations under the Convention and have since taken concrete steps." The statement added that Syria had pledged to work with the international community to eliminate legacy weapons of mass destruction that pose a proliferation risk.
Officials from Syria’s transitional leadership told Reuters in May that investigators there had located remnants of the former regime’s covert chemical weapons program, including raw materials and munitions resembling those used in deadly gas attacks during the civil war.
Independent inquiries, including repeated investigations by the United Nations and the OPCW’s special Investigation and Identification Team, had previously concluded that Syrian government forces used the nerve agent sarin and employed chlorine-filled barrel bombs in attacks that investigators said killed or injured thousands.
The Syrian government and its military ally Russia repeatedly denied responsibility for the use of chemical weapons at the time of those investigations.
The OPCW’s executive council also said on Thursday that it would continue to monitor Syria’s progress closely and take the decisions necessary to eliminate the remaining chemical ordnance and materials inherited from the former regime. The watchdog framed its ongoing role as one of oversight and action to address existing proliferation risks.
Context and next steps
The restoration of voting rights does not remove the OPCW’s mandate to verify Syria’s declarations and to pursue measures needed to dispose of residual chemical weapons and precursors. The executive council made clear it will remain engaged in monitoring implementation and in making further decisions as required to ensure remaining risks are addressed.