US lauds OPCW vote suspending Syria's voting rights

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US lauded a vote among member states at the global chemical weapons watchdog on Wednesday that removed Syria's voting rights in response to the regime's repeated use of banned weapons.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the regime is responsible for using chemical weapons "at least 50 times" since 2013.

"The United States welcomes the OPCW’s decision and applauds the international community’s continued commitment to upholding the international norm against the use of chemical weapons," said Price. "The use of chemical weapons by any state presents an unacceptable security threat to all."

The OPCW previously determined the regime used chemical weapons in al-Lataminah in March 2017 and Saraqib in February 2018.

The 87-15 vote stripped Syria of voting rights, the heaviest sanction the OPCW has ever imposed on a member state.

The OPCW, the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) based in The Hague, oversees the global endeavor to permanently eliminate chemical weapons.

The regime’s use of chlorine as a chemical weapon is a violation of its obligations under the CWC, to which it is a party, as well as UN Security Council Resolution 2118.