The Organization for the Prohibition of Weapons (OPCW) is under pressure to change the facts about Syria, says Former US diplomat

Washington, (ST) – The retired colonel and former chief of senior US State Department staff, Lawrence Wilkerson, affirmed that the international bodies, like the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), have been occasionally pressured by some countries into “altering the facts” in regard to its investigation of the alleged chemical attack in the Syrian city of Douma in 2018.

Wilkerson said in an interview with Press TV that “international organizations such as the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are under pressure from Western countries to change the facts about Syria.

He added that, “in the case of the investigation conducted by the organization into the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma in April 2018, the management of OPCW came under pressure from one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to change the facts in order to conform to his wishes.

Wilkerson explained that “the leaders of Western countries exerted pressure on several international agencies to provide results that are in line with the goals of their policies more than they are in line with the actual facts on the ground and I think that this is what happened with the alleged Nissan attacks on Douma,” considering that external pressure is a factor that undermines the professionalism of these organizations. 

The Courage Foundation, a group devoted to defending whistleblowers, has announced recently that the OPCW “evaded” the concerns about its investigation into the alleged chemical attack in 2018 in Duma City, accusing the organization of accepting ” baseless results or maybe manipulated results.”

 “The OPCW’s investigation of the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria in April 2018, there seems to be more weight of actual evidence on the side of the whistleblowers than the OPCW leadership.  It would not be the first time that an international/United Nations organization like the OPCW was pressured by one of the Perm-Five members of the UNSC to “alter the facts” so that they conform to the wishes of the member,” Wilkerson continued.

External pressure, is a factor that undermines the professionalism of organizations such as OPCW, Wilkerson added

A leak by an official at the OPCW revealed in March of 2020 that the OPCW administration was involved in launching a sinister and disgraceful attack against two veteran inspectors who proved the incorrectness of the organization’s narrative regarding the alleged attack in Duma and the accusation of the Syrian Arab Army with it to justify the US, British, and French aggression against Syria at the time.

WikiLeaks also has previously published four documents leaked from the organization, exclude the use of chlorine gas in Duma city, and reveal that toxicologists have ruled out that deaths were due to exposure to chlorine.

Raghda Sawas