Syria's OPCW Envoy Joins Hague Panel on Chemical Weapons Accountability

Hague panel examines routes to justice after chemical attacks

Syria’s permanent representative to the OPCW, Mohamed Katoub, participated in a high-level panel in The Hague on May 21 that explored practical steps to pursue accountability for repeated chemical weapons use in Syria. Co-organized by the permanent missions of Syria, Australia, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland alongside the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the session highlighted the roles of investigation, evidence documentation and international cooperation in supporting justice efforts. Speakers included Yasmine Nahlawi of the National Committee for Transitional Justice in Syria and Fadel Abdul Ghany of the SNHR, together with OPCW member-state representatives and accountability experts.

Builds on Syria-led task force to remove chemical remnants

The discussion builds on a mid-April initiative at the OPCW where the Syrian mission outlined the mandate of the Anfas Al-Hurriya ("Breaths of Freedom") task force, a Syria-led effort developed with Canada, France, Germany, Qatar, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States to locate and eliminate remnants of the former regime’s chemical weapons program. At that meeting Katoub delivered a technical briefing on the task force’s objectives; Syria’s Foreign Ministry said the move reflects the country’s stated commitment to transparency and to meeting its Chemical Weapons Convention obligations. as reported by The Syrian Observer