Brazil raises the Douma Deception at the OPCW Executive Council

This week’s OPCW Executive Council session saw Brazil raise the issue of the Douma Fact Finding Mission scientist Brendan Whelan and the recent (inadvertent) confirmation by the OPCW that it had censored expert toxicology opinion.

Also this week, Berlin Group 21 (BG21) contacted all of the states currently on the OPCW Executive Council. BG21 is comprised of Ambassador José Bustani (first Director General of the OPCW), Dr Hans von Sponeck (former Assistant UN Secretary-General), Dr Piers Robinson and Professor Richard Falk (Princeton) and represents the issues raised by OPCW whistleblowers. The communication can be read here:

The censorship of the expert toxicology assessment, that had been provided by world-leading NATO chemical weapons toxicologists, was critical to the manipulation of the Douma Fact Finding Mission final report and enabled it to claim there were ‘reasonable grounds’ a chlorine attack had occurred. In fact, the NATO toxicologists had unequivocally ruled out chlorine gas as the cause of death of the 43 civilians found in Douma.

This article by Aaron Maté details how Brendan Whelan’s successful legal battle with the OPCW ended up with this damning confirmation of censorship by the OPCW:

Brendan Whelan’s own article can be read here:

More details regarding the toxicology issue, as well as the other manipulations and irregularities involved with the Douma investigation, can be read in the BG21 review (see pages 65-78 in particular):

Why is all of this important?

The well-documented scientific and political fraud surrounding the Douma investigation demonstrates the fundamental unreliability of the OPCW’s Syria missions. Currently, the OPCW and the Western-installed regime in Syria are working hard to shore up their narrative about chemical weapons use by the former Syrian government. It is essential that the truth be told and that the lies and deceptions are fully revealed. This 5-Part UK Column series sets out key examples of deception that have been employed in order to sustain the CW narrative regarding Syria:

Finally, as set out in the BG21’s communication to the Executive Council, the Douma/Syria CW case has much wider implications:

Finally, the case of the manipulated Douma investigation sits in the context of a wider array of recent geopolitical deceptions, such as the 2023 attack on the Nord Stream pipeline, and ongoing violations of the UN Charter and international criminal law, for example against the Palestinian people and the recent US aggression against Iran. The danger posed to international peace and security is that a partisan OPCW can be used as a trigger mechanism for unjustified military and political actions. This is a matter of the highest concern, especially given the fraught state of international relations and the level of conflict we are now witnessing.

With these points in mind, it is high time that concerted efforts are made to strengthen the UN system and its linked organisations, such as the OPCW and the IAEA, in order to prevent state-led subterfuge and criminality from hindering the UN and others in their attempts to secure international peace and security.

BG21 will persist in its efforts to ensure accountability for what happened during the Douma investigation and, as Francis Bacon once wrote, “Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority”.