Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) blames Syria for using nerve gas

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) blames Syria for using nerve gas

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Global groupings 

In News:

• The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has blamed Syria explicitly for the first time for toxic attacks of 2017. 
• Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad’s air force has been accused of using the nerve gas sarin and chlorine three times in 2017. 
• The attack had killed hundreds of people and caused injuries to many. 
• The use of chemical weapons is strictly prohibited by international law.

Important value additions:

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) 

• OPCW is an intergovernmental organisation. 
• It is the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) , which entered into force in 1997. 
• The Organisation oversees the global endeavour to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons.
• Headquarter of the organisation is at The Hague, Netherlands.
• All states who are members of the CWC are automatically members of this organization.
• The organisation was awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize “for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons with most recent being in Syria civil war”.