On 27 December 2019, Wikileaks released a new batch of internal documents from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). [1] An email among them reveals that Inspector Ian Henderson’s report was pulled by order of the OPCW’s chief of cabinet Sébastien Braha. [2]
The French diplomat is an "officer of the Orient" (high ranking official of the French Foreign Affairs Ministry) who was seconded to the OPCW three months after the alleged chemical attack on Douma in order to oversee the organization’s investigation.
In the email, Sébastien Braha (photo) demands: “Please get this document out of DRA [Documents Registry Archive]... And please remove all traces, if any, of its delivery/storage/whatever in DRA”.
Ian Henderson had established that the two cylinders which were found at the site of the alleged attack in Douma (Syria) were more likely to have been placed manually than dropped from an airplane or a helicopter.
The redacted report had been used to justify a joint night bombing offensive against Syria by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, on 13/14 April 2018.
[1] OPCW-DOUMA - Release Part 4, https://wikileaks.org/opcw-douma/#OPCW-DOUMA%20-%20Release%20Part%204, Wikileaks, December 27, 2019
[2] “OPCW report was falsified”, Voltaire Network, 26 November 2019, www.voltairenet.org/article208419.html
Stay In Touch
Follow us on social networks
Subscribe to weekly newsletter