Report for European Parliament
Challenges OPCW’s Syria Cover-up
Aaron Maté / Peace and Planet News
A new report commissioned by members of the European Parliament offers the most thorough exposé to date of the OPCW’s Syria cover-up scandal, in which the world’s top chemical watchdog manipulated an investigation to baselessly accuse Syria of a chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma.
(Fall 2023 Edition) — In April 2018, after dozens of dead victims were filmed at the scene, the US, UK, and France alleged that the Syrian government had dropped gas cylinders on Douma and launched airstrikes in purported retaliation.
But leaks from inside the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons show that international inspectors found no evidence of a chemical attack, raising the possibility that the incident was staged by the insurgents who controlled Douma at the time.
The OPCW team’s findings were suppressed and replaced with unsupported conclusions that aligned with the US-led narrative. When two veteran OPCW inspectors who deployed to Syria for the probe challenged the manipulation, they were silenced and later publicly defamed.
The report for the European Parliament is authored by the Berlin Group 21, which is comprised of founding OPCW Director General Jose Bustani, former senior UN official Hans Von Sponeck, Princeton law professor Richard Falk, and academic Piers Robinson of the Organization for Propaganda Studies. Its release follows the Brazilian government’s recent public shift in support of accountability over the OPCW’s cover-up scandal.
Aaron Maté speaks to Hans Von Sponeck and Piers Robinson about their new report, as well as the ongoing effort to challenge the OPCW’s Douma deception and seek justice for the Douma victims.
Reporter Testifies at UN;
Exposes OPCW Cover-up of Douma Incident
Aaron Maté / Substack – TRANSCEND Media Service
United Nations (March 25, 2023) — On Friday March 24, I spoke to the United Nations Security Council about the OPCW’s ongoing cover-up of its investigation into the alleged April 2018 chemical attack in Douma, Syria.
At the center of the scandal are two veteran OPCW scientists who deployed to Syria in April 2018 for the OPCW’s Douma probe. The pair have accused senior OPCW officials of manipulating the investigation to reach a conclusion that baselessly implicated the Syrian government in a chlorine gas attack. Their concerns are backed up by a trove of leaked documents, which I have extensively reported on.
I addressed the latest efforts by the OPCW, in a new report put out by the watchdog’s Investigation and Identification Team (IIT), to whitewash the cover-up and the allegations against Syria. I wrote about the IIT report in an article last month, and will have a follow-up piece in the coming days.
I will also have more coverage of Friday’s meeting very soon. A very significant development emerged: for the first time, Brazil came out in support of accountability for the OPCW’s Douma cover-up; criticized the IIT’s “poor” handling of the issue; and challenged the US and other member states for blocking the testimony of Jose Bustani, the OPCW’s first Director General, who has also criticized the cover-up.
“Symphony for a Common Man” Trailer
A new documentary about founding OPCW chief Jose Bustani, includes his showdown with the Bush administration before the Iraq war and his efforts to challenge the OPCW’s Syria cover-up.
Aaron Maté is a New York City-based journalist and producer. He hosts the news show Pushback for The Grayzone, and is a contributor to Real Clear Investigations. In 2019, he was awarded the Izzy Award from Ithaca College outstanding achievement in independent media for Russiagate coverage in The Nation. Previously, he was a longtime producer at Democracy Now! and a producer at Al Jazeera English.
