August 21, 2023 marked ten years since the chemical weapons attacks by the Assad regime in Ghouta, Syria. Considered the “largest chemical weapon attack in the modern age” by the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Ghouta is sadly only one of 222 recorded chemical weapons attacks in Syria since the start of the civil war.
Regarding registration for CSP-28: Registration for the conference in The Hague from November 27 – December 1, 2023, is still open but it closes in 10 days, so make sure to register under your NGO’s name by September 15, 2023. If you have any questions or problems with registration, please do not hesitate to send me an email. We work closely with the OPCW Public Affairs office, so we can resolve any issues you may have in a timely manner. You can register for CSP-28 here.
In other news, we are hosting an online event on the end of US chemical weapons demilitarization on September 29, 2023. More information will be shared in an upcoming email.
The Fritz Haber Institute is hosting an event entitled “30 Years of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC): Histories, Achievements, Challenges” from October 4-5, 2023 in Berlin. CWCC Chair Paul Walker will be co-hosting the event. More information about this exciting conference can be found here.
If your organization has events, projects, or news that you would like us to share with the CWC Coalition, we would love to know about it! Here is a handy survey where you can quickly update us on your organization’s upcoming work. Alternatively, you can email me at [email protected]. I will include your updates in the next newsletter.
News Roundup
- Timid Escalation Management in Ukraine Fight Raises Risk of Nuclear or Chemical Strikes, Forbes, 10 August 2023
- Cambodia leads calls to end supply, use of all chemical weapons, The Phnom Penh Post, 31 August 2023
- ‘You have made this nation proud’: Pueblo celebrates end of chemical weapons destruction, The Pueblo Chieftain, 31 August 2023
- Syria: the use of chemical weapons by the regime against its own population constitutes war crimes, Permanent Mission of France to the UN, 8 August 2023
- Statement from National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson on the 10 Year Anniversary of the Ghouta Chemical Weapons Attack, The White House, 21 August 2023
- The 10th Anniversary of Two Ghoutas Attack: The Largest Chemical Weapons Attack by the Syrian Regime on Syrian Citizens, ReliefWeb, 20 August 2023
- Fulfilling the Humane Promise of the Chemical Weapons Convention, Lawfare, 18 August 2023
- Report by the Director-General: Progress in the Elimination of the Syrian Chemical Weapons Programme, OPCW, 24 August 2023
- The legacy of chemical attacks and other atrocities won’t give Syria peace, Al Jazeera, 21 August 2023
- Environmental remediation of sea-dumped chemical weapons: courageously fixing the mistakes of our past, OUPblog, 21 August 2023