Race to find truth in Douma

By Rick Noack

When the investigators of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are called in, time always matters. OPCW is tasked with examining some of the most horrific incidents of suspected chemical weapons attacks and the perpetrators usually seek to erase any traces of their work before the highly skilled investigators arrive.

OPCW personnel arrived in Syria at the weekend to investigate a suspected chemical weapons attack in Douma, which the United States and other Western countries say was committed by the Assad regime. After days of delay in Syria and 11 days since the attack itself, the OPCW appeared to have finally "entered" Douma yesterday, according to Syrian state TV.

How will the OPCW examine the site?

Although the Syrian regime has offered the OPCW access to what it said were 22 witnesses of the attack, an OPCW investigation necessarily relies on probes that can be conducted only on the site of a suspected attack.

While in Douma, the investigators are expected to gather soil samples that could ultimately be used to determine which chemicals were used. And how much time the OPCW has will largely depend on the regime accused of conducting the attack.

How and why was the OPCW created?

Throughout the 20th century, efforts to ban chemical weapons repeatedly failed. To confront the issue, OPCW finally began its work in 1997, based on a more expansive arms treaty known as the Chemical Weapons Convention that had been signed by a number of countries four years earlier.

With about 500 employees headquartered in The Hague, the OPCW largely relies on the co-operation of their member states to allow inspectors to do their work. Syria only ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013, in the midst of its civil war and the same year the OPCW won the Nobel Peace Prize. But the chemical weapons attacks didn't stop.

Chemical weapons investigations polarise. Why is OPCW still considered impartial?

Theoretically, there shouldn't be any reason to doubt the organisation's work. Russia is as much involved in the OPCW as the United States, and procedures are based on a convention all member states agreed on.

The organisation's rules now apply to 192 countries and cover 98 per cent of the world's population. Russia, however, has recently begun to cast doubt on some of the organisation's findings, which could ultimately pose a serious challenge to its broader mission.

Last week, Moscow rejected an OPCW release that appeared to confirm British authorities' findings on the attempted poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain and his daughter.