In its final report, the Fact Finding Mission (FFM) of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe that on April 7, 2018, chlorine gas was used in an attack on the Syrian city of Douma. Despite that conclusion, claims the chemical attack in Douma were…
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…
These findings were made by Benjamin Strick, Leone Hadavi and Bashar Deeb and are a result of a year-long investigation stemming from the EU Arms Project, an investigative collaboration between Bellingcat and Lighthouse Reports. Special thanks to Francesca Costantini who helped us analyse Italian Government reports. There is a direct prohibition against supplying arms to…
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…
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…
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…
On October 12, Hevrin Khalaf was traveling through northeastern Syria in a heavily armored car — three days after Turkey launched an offensive in the region. Hevrin’s vehicle was fired at and forced to stop. The Kurdish politician was then pulled from her vehicle and killed. On the same day and in the same area,…
Iran says it can hack American drones operating in the Middle East and take control of them — and it has released a video purporting to back up its claims. Back in February 2019, Iran’s semi-official Fars News claimed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intercepted the broadcasts of U.S. UAVs above Iraq and…
A shadowy group that supports Syrian dictator Bashar-al Assad is giving thousands of dollars to far-right activists, conspiracy websites, YouTube personalities, and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange — all under the guise of an award for “uncompromised integrity in journalism.” The Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees, an umbrella nonprofit based in the San Francisco Bay…
