New (4th) OPCW Whistleblower Slams ‘Abhorrent Mistreatment’ of Douma Investigators

A fourth OPCW whistleblower has emerged to defend the two veteran inspectors who challenged a cover-up of the chemical weapons probe in Douma, Syria. The new whistleblower lamented that other staffers have been “frightened into silence.” 

By Aaron Mate

The Grayzone

A new Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) whistleblower has surfaced in response to a malicious and factually flawed attack by OPCW leadership on two veteran inspectors who challenged the official story of an alleged chemical attack by the Syrian government in Douma. 

In a statement provided to The Grayzone, the new OPCW whistleblower described being “horrified” by the “abhorrent … mistreatment” of the inspectors. The new whistleblower also warned of a climate of intimidation designed to keep other staffers “frightened into silence.”

The official is now the fourth OPCW whistleblower to air serious concerns about the chemical watch dog’s Douma probe. The Grayzone has independently verified the official’s identity and status with the OPCW, and granted them anonymity to protect them from potential retaliation.

The first two whistleblowers – the inspectors – are veteran OPCW experts and team leaders who deployed to Syria in April 2018. A third staffer has dissented from the official version of events, but declined to make their views public out of fear that they and their family would be harmed.

The findings by the first two whistleblowing inspectors severely undermined allegations by Western nations and Syrian opposition groups that the Syrian government carried out a chemical attack in Douma.

However, OPCW leadership excluded their scientific work, re-wrote their initial report, and barred them from adding any further input to the investigation. The inspectors’ evidence and the high-level campaign to bury it came to light through a series of leaks that began in May 2019. OPCW leadership has retaliated against the two by falsely portrayed them as rogue actors with only minor roles in the investigation and incomplete information.

The statement by the new OPCW whistleblower forcefully defends the inspectors and denounces the campaign by organization leadership to destroy their reputations.

“The mistreatment of two highly regarded and accomplished professionals can only be described as abhorrent,” the OPCW official wrote. “I fully support their endeavours, in that it is for the greater good and not for personal gain or in the name of any political agenda. They are in fact trying to protect the integrity of the organisation which has been hijacked and brought into shameful disrepute.”

One of the two whistleblowing former inspectors has been identified publicly. He is Ian Henderson, a 12-year veteran of the organization and weapons expert. Henderson led on-the-ground inspections in Douma and conducted a detailed engineering study of gas cylinders found at the scene. He concluded that the cylinders were likely “manually placed” rather than being dropped by air – a finding that suggests the attack was staged on the ground by the militants who controlled Douma at the time.

The OPCW buried Henderson’s study and released a final report that echoed the version put forward by the US Department of State and British Foreign Ministry, strongly implying that the cylinders were dropped by the Syrian military.

The second inspector has not identified themself, and is known only as Inspector B. This person is a 16-year OPCW veteran who coordinated the OPCW team’s scientific and technical activities in Douma and was the chief author of the main report – until OPCW leaders seized control of the investigation and rewrote its findings.

In remarks last month, OPCW Director-General General Fernando Arias dismissed the pair’s scientific work as “erroneous, uninformed, and wrong,” and insisted that they “could not accept that their views were not backed by evidence.”

In letters published by The Grayzone, the inspectors rebutted Arias’ claims and argued, in B’s words, that they in fact “could never accept that a scientific investigation is not backed by science.”

The new OPCW whistleblower stood by the inspectors. “It is quite unbelievable that valid scientific concerns are being brazenly ignored in favour of a predetermined narrative,” they wrote. “The lack of transparency in an investigative process with such enormous ramifications is frightful.”

The official went on to suggest that fear of retaliation is preventing more OPCW officials from coming forward. “I am one of many who were stunned and frightened into silence by the reality how the organisation operates,” the official wrote. “The threat of personal harm is not an illusion, or else many others would have spoken out by now.” The official does not provide additional details.

Another OPCW veteran, who served in a senior role but no longer works at the organization, has also warned of severe threats to their security. In a letter published by The Grayzone, the former senior OPCW official expressed alarm about a cover-up of the Douma probe and of the intimidation of dissenting voices. The former official described their tenure at the OPCW as “the most stressful and unpleasant ones of my life,” and voiced concern that “they will not hesitate to do harm to me and my family.”

In their rebuttal letter to Arias, Inspector B complained that Arias’ public statements have left “so many obvious clues, that anyone within the Organisation (and among many delegations) would have no doubt as to [the whistleblower’s] identities. Such recklessness has created a serious safety concern.”

According to the inspectors, a delegation of US officials visited the OPCW to apply “unacceptable pressure” on the Douma team to place blame on the Syrian government for a chemical attack that might not have happened at all. 

Both Henderson and Inspector B have called on Arias to allow for a transparent, scientific hearing where all of the suppressed evidence and studies can be heard. In their statement, the new OPCW whistleblower echoed the inspectors’ demand.

“The lack of transparency in an investigative process with such enormous ramifications is frightful,” the official wrote. “The allegations of the two gentlemen urgently need to be thoroughly investigated and the functionality of the organisation restored.”

Full text of statement on Douma scandal from new OPCW whistleblower is available on the Grayzone

Several French Journalists Summoned by Macron’s Security Services, ‘Warned’ About Prison Sentences

Macron - Trying to get Control of the Media?

Getting control of the media is one of the first acts of an autocratic government,

or a government that wishes it was autocratic.

© Global Look / Elyxandro Cegarra

A Le Monde journalist, the latest who was questioned by French security services, has refused to reveal her sources over stories she wrote exposing alleged corruption and cronyism in President Emmanuel Macron’s inner circle.

“They asked me many questions on the manner in which I checked my information, which was an indirect way of asking me about my sources,” Ariane Chemin told AFP, adding that she declined to answer the implied question: “I explained that I only did my job as a journalist.”

Chemin was questioned by the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) for 45 minutes on Wednesday in the presence of her lawyer, a week after she became the fifth journalist summoned to appear before the agency over stories they have covered, in what has become a disturbing new pattern of journalistic intimidation by Macron’s government.

Her reporting on the “Benalla affair,” a scandal that erupted after one of Macron’s bodyguards was filmed beating a protester while dressed as a policeman, contributed to the resignation of several government officials. The DGSI were most interested in articles concerning former air force officer Chokri Wakrim, whose wife ran security for the prime minister’s office; she was forced to resign after Le Monde exposed that the couple had welcomed the disgraced Benalla into their home.

“Everything is done to make it intimidating,” Le Monde managing director Louis Dreyfus wrote in an editorial describing his own DGSI interrogation on Wednesday. “I explained that I never read the articles before they were published, and that I was not meant to do so. And they kept telling me that the offense was punishable by five years in prison and a fine of €75,000.” He was summoned the same day as Chemin.

Earlier this month, the DGSI interrogated four journalists from investigative news website Disclose, threatening them with a five-year prison sentence under a 2009 law prohibiting “attacks on national defense secrets” after they published a story based on a classified document that suggested the French government was knowingly violating a 2014 arms treaty by selling offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for the purposes of waging war in Yemen.

Macron has cracked down hard on journalists critical of his administration and policies. In February, police raided the offices of Mediapart, another outlet which reported on the Benalla affair, without a warrant. Last year, a law was passed to allow the government to shut down any news agency four months before an election, so long as it could be deemed “under foreign influence.”

'Under foreign influence' is the excuse paranoid communists have been using for the better part of a century to shut down any criticism (read: truth) of the government.

Where weapons manufacturing and/or sales are involved, there is Deep State. They usually have better control over the media, as in Britain and USA, but, apparently, not some French outlets.

Maduro 'Supporters' Storm Parliament Injuring Lawmakers

Venezuela lawmakers injured in protesters'

attack on parliament

By Doug G. Ware  

Venezuelan deputies Luis Stefanelli (L) and Jose Regnault (R) stand in a corridor of the National Assembly Wednesday after a clash with demonstrators in Caracas. A group of supporters of President Nicolas Maduro stormed the parliament on Venezuelan independence day. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez/EPA

UPI -- Several Venezuelan lawmakers were injured Wednesday when supporters of President Nicolas Maduro stormed the legislature on the country's national day of independence.

Demonstrators took their protest inside the opposition-controlled National Assembly in Caracas to air grievances that continue to divide the country.

Authorities said several lawmakers were injured in the skirmishes. Some reporters said they were also attacked.

National Assembly President Julio Borges said at least seven legislative staffers and five parliament members were injured.

The clashes occurred as the national lawmaking body is discussing a plebiscite set for July 16 regarding the future of Maduro as Venezuela's president -- an issue at the center of monthslong fighting in Caracas amid the nation's ongoing economic and political crisis.

Officials said the violent clashes Wednesday won't impact discussions about the upcoming plebiscite, which will seek public input about Maduro's future and his rewrite of the Venezuelan Constitution.

The storming of the assembly occurred on Venezuela's national day of independence, July 5, from Spain in 1811.

This was certainly not a spontaneous uprising by the people of Venezuela. This is clearly an attack on democracy by Maduro. He is trying to intimidate parliament into backing down on the plebiscite.