From Syria to Sudan: how to hunt for chemical weapons evidence

In early 2013, television reports suggested that Bashar Al Assad's Syrian government was using chemical weapons against its own people. This violated international law and was later repeated by the Sudanese Armed Forces during their civil war. Robert Fairweather, a former chief of cabinet at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, stated that enforcing the Chemical Weapons Convention was crucial.

In Syria, the BBC and CBS reported hospitals filled with chemical attack victims, sparking international concern. British Army officer Hamish de Bretton-Gordon was called upon to help by the Union of Syrian Medical Charities and established the CBRN Task Force, which trained medics to collect evidence for the International Criminal Court.

Dealing with chemicals like chlorine and sarin was dangerous and required strict protocols, including triple bagging samples and thorough documentation. Despite the dangers, de Bretton-Gordon and his team collected evidence from 2014 to 2020, some of which is still used by the French government to indict Assad as a war criminal.

Now, witnesses and victims in Sudan, after 10 months of media reports and a Washington Post dossier, suggest that chlorine barrel bombs were used by the Sudanese Armed Forces in September 2024. With potential for evidence collection, the CBRN Task Force's methods remain valuable, though retrieving such evidence carries significant risks.