Canada calls for Syria to be held accountable for its use of chemical weapons

Global Affairs of Canada today issued the following statement at the close of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW’s) Fourth Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention:

“Yesterday marked the end of the Fourth Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was held at The Hague, Netherlands, this past week.

“Canada is dismayed that members were unable to reach a consensus on a final document that included even the most basic, factual reference to the use of chemical weapons by Syria, as found by the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism. Syria’s Assad regime, supported by its allies Russia and Iran, blocked any reasonable effort to include a reference to those findings in the conference’s final document. This is an appalling effort to deny the use of chemical weapons. As a result, reaching a consensus at the conference was impossible.

“Any use of chemical weapons is an abhorrent breach of international law, and Canada strongly supports efforts to ensure that perpetrators of such crimes are held to account. Canada urges all states parties to find common ground and work together to protect the impartiality, independence and capacity of the OPCW to uphold the international rules-based order.”