syria-un-20161024 3

S/2016/888 16-18485 3/15 Fourth report of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism I. Introduction 1. The present report is the fourth report of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism pursuant to Security Council resolution 2235 (2015). It covers the period from 20 August 2016, when the Mechanism’s third report (S/2016/738/Rev.1) was submitted to the Security Council, to 19 October 2016. II. Background 2. The Mechanism was established with a mandate to identify to the greatest extent feasible individuals, entities, groups or Governments who were perpetrators, organizers, sponsors or otherwise involved in the use of chemicals as weapons, including chlorine or any other toxic chemical, in the Syrian Arab Republic where the OPCW fact-finding mission determined or had determined that a specific incident in the Syrian Arab Republic had involved or had likely involved the use of chemicals as weapons. 3. The Mechanism began its activities with the appointment of the Leadership Panel on 24 September 2015. In accordance with paragraphs 6 and 9 of Security Council resolution 2235 (2015), various agreements were concluded concerning the work of the Mechanism, including with OPCW and the Syrian Arab Republic. Pursuant to paragraph 10 of the resolution, the Secretary-General, in his letter dated 9 November addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/2015/854), informed the Council that the Mechanism would begin its full operations on 13 November. 4. The Mechanism’s mandate was implemented in two phases. The first, pertaining to information collection and planning for case development, consisted of reviewing and analysing the mission’s data, mapping the incidents and developing an investigation plan and methodology. The Mechanism also began to collect information and evidence not obtained or prepared by the mission that was deemed to be relevant to its mandate (non-mission sources), including information from the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and all parties in the Syrian Arab Republic, other Member States, individual groups and entities and open sources. At the end of the first phase, the Mechanism informed the Security Council of the following nine cases of use of chemicals as weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic to be investigated: (a) Kafr Zita, Hama governorate, 11 April 2014; (b) Kafr Zita, Hama governorate, 18 April 2014; (c) Talmenes, Idlib governorate, 21 April 2014; (d) Al-Tamanah, Idlib governorate, 29 and 30 April 2014