By Ena Cefo
The Syrian regime has once again been accused of using
chemical weapons on civilians—using chlorine gas during a March 16th
attack on the town of Sarmin and
between March 16th and 31st on the town of Idlib.
The regime’s continued use of chemical weapons is a violation of the Chemical Weapons
Convention, which Syria ratified in 2013, as well as the UN Security
Council’s Resolution
2209, which “reiterate[d] that no party in Syria should use, develop,
produce, acquire, stockpile, retain, or transfer chemical weapons.” Resolution
2209 warns that future non-compliance with the Security Council’s prior
resolution, Resolution
2118, that prohibited the use of chemical weapons in Syria will lead to the
“impos[ition of] measures under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.” The
United States and other members of the Security Council supported a continuing
investigation into the recent allegations of chemical weapon use by the
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
