the united nations banned chemical weapons in 1968.
the united nations banned chemical weapons in 1968.
when did the united nations ban chemical weapons?
1968
after recalling united nations security council resolutions 1540, 2042 and 2043, the resolution reaffirmed the security council′s "strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the syrian arab republic", reaffirmed "that the proliferation of chemical weapons, as well as their means of delivery, constitutes a threat to international peace and security", recalled that syria had on 22 november 1968 acceded to the 1925 geneva protocol, condemned "any use of chemical weapons in the syrian arab republic, in particular the attack on 21 august 2013, in violation of international law", and bound syria to the implementation plan presented in a decision of the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons (opcw): syria had until 30 june 2014 to complete the destruction of its chemical weapons.
united nations security council resolution 2118
syria's chemical weapons program began in the 1970's with weapons and training from egypt and the soviet union, with production of chemical weapons in syria beginning in the mid-1980's. for some time, syria was believed to have the world's third-largest stockpile of chemical weapons, after the united states and russia. prior to september 2013 syria had not publicly admitted to possessing chemical weapons, although western intelligence services believed it to hold one of the world's largest stockpiles. in september 2013, french intelligence put the syrian stockpile at 1,000 tonnes, including yperite, vx and "several hundred tonnes of sarin". at the time, syria was one of a handful of states which had not ratified the chemical weapons convention. in september 2013, syria joined the cwc (formally acceding on 14 october), and agreed to the destruction of its weapons, to be supervised by the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons (opcw), as required by the convention. a joint opcw-united nations mission was established to oversee the destruction process. syria joined opcw after international condemnation of the august 2013 ghouta chemical attack, for which western states held the syrian government responsible (whilst syria and russia held the syrian rebels of the syrian civil war responsible) and agreed to the prompt destruction of its chemical weapons, resulting in u.s. secretary of state john kerry declaring on 20 july 2014: "we struck a deal where we got 100 percent of the chemical weapons out." the destruction of syria's chemical weapons that the assad government had declared was completed by august 2014, yet further disclosures, incomplete documentation, and allegations of withholding part of syria's chemical weapons stockpile since mean that serious concerns regarding chemical weapons and related sites in syria remain. on 5 april 2017, the government of syria allegedly unleashed a chemical attack that killed 70 civilians. a suspected chemical attack on douma on 9 april 2018 that killed at least 49 civilians has been blamed on the syrian government.
syria chemical weapons program