Statement Regarding Newslines Magazine Article

A false claim regarding the Statement of Concern and the Berlin Group 21 has been published in an online article claiming that another organisation is behind the signatories of the Statement of Concern and the Berlin Group 21.
We take strong exception to this claim, of course, as it is entirely false. The Statement of Concern has been prepared and organized through signatories who share the same concerns regarding the OPCW’s investigation of the Douma incident. No other organisation or group is represented in the Statement of Concern.
The Berlin Group 21 has been established by Ambassador José Bustani, Professor Richard Falk and Hans von Sponeck and is entirely independent of any other group or organisation.
A request for correction has been addressed to the journalists concerned.

Statement Regarding Alleged Chemical Weapon Attacks in Syria

The Berlin Group 21 joins others in acknowledging that chemical weapons have been used during the war in Syria since 2011. There is no doubt of that. Who holds responsibility for events in, for example, Ghouta 2013, Khan Sheikhoun 2017 and Douma 2018 is still unclear and remains to be determined. It is only through rigorously independent and objective scientific analysis that the responsibility for such incidents can be determined, the guilty held to account and justice provided for the victims. It is to this end that the Berlin Group 21 supports all efforts to resolve the controversy regarding the OPCW’s investigation of the alleged attack in Douma 2018. We are confident that, in the fullness of time, the truth about chemical weapon usage in Syria will be known.