Executive Summary Henderson was an employee of the OPCW, but the organisation clearly did not consider him to be part of the FFM. Henderson delivered his report outside of protocol with less than a day before the final FFM report was published. Three independent engineering studies commissioned by the FFM contradict Henderson’s findings. Henderson’s report…
Executive Summary Some reporting of this situation has ignored the context of multiple chemical attacks perpetrated by the Syrian Government. Alex’s complaints are not properly placed in context. Alex’s claims about chemistry are flawed and hugely overstated. The stated conclusion of a meeting with toxicologists, which appears to support Alex’s claims, is inconsistent with known…
On January 9th, a video spread online after it was posted onto a public Telegram channel showing what was apparently a mid-air explosion. The New York Times has contacted the person who filmed the video, received it in high resolution, and confirmed its authenticity. Below, an annotated version of the video created by Jake Godin…
The leak of an internal e-mail from an OPCW employee using the pseudonym “Alex” has stirred a controversy over the integrity of the OPCW Fact Finding Mission (FFM) into the April 7, 2018 chemical attack on Douma City. Alex alleges that the evidence collected by the FFM was deliberately manipulated through omission, exaggeration, and misrepresentation…
European arms have played a significant role in almost every conflict across the globe. Since 2018, a Bellingcat collaboration has documented, using open source, how European countries and companies have breached their own, and international, laws dozens of times. Through the EU Arms Project, a Bellingcat and Lighthouse Reports collaborative initiative, we have documented where…
Over the weekend, WikiLeaks released an email from an employee within the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) indicating that the OPCW “misrepresents the facts he and his colleagues discovered on the ground”. This email has since been used to call into question the impartiality and effectiveness of the OPCW’s conclusion about the alleged chemical weapon attack…
يحتوي هذا التقرير صوراً وبيانات تظهر بوضوح الإصابات والوفيات. “قُتل عددٌ من المتظاهرين في العراق بعد إصابتهم بطلقٍ من عيار 40 مليمتراً يعتبر “أقل فتكاً. يشهد العراق منذ أسابيع اضطرابات كبيرة بعد خروج المتظاهرين إلى الشوارع احتجاجاً على البطالة ونقص الخدمات العامة والفساد المنتشر على نطاقٍ واسع في البلاد. وقُتل العشرات من المتظاهرين أثر عمليات…
العربية This report contains extremely graphic imagery, including injuries and fatalities. Multiple protesters in Iraq have been killed after being struck by 40mm “less lethal” rounds. Over the last few weeks, Iraq has experienced significant unrest after protesters took to the streets, protesting the lack of jobs, poor public services and widespread corruption. Scores of…
At Bellingcat, we believe in holding the powerful to account for their actions. We recognise that in order to do that, analysis of contentious issues such as conflicts must be conducted in an accurate manner. We also know that in order to ensure accountability, we need to understand who investigates what kind of incidents. In…
In recent weeks, there have been numerous large public demonstrations in Iraq. These demonstrations have been met with force by security forces, including use of riot control agents. In recent days, some people have suffered from medical problems, possibly as a result of exposure to chemicals used by security forces. Starting approximately from 29 October…
