Joint Investigative Mechanism Signs Host Country Agreement with Netherlands

NEW YORK, 31 May (Joint Investigative Mechanism) — The host country agreement between the Netherlands and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons–United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism was signed today in The Hague by Johan van der Werff, Ambassador responsible for international organizations at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Virginia Gamba, head of the Joint Investigative Mechanism.  The agreement entered into force immediately upon signing.  By hosting the office of the Joint Investigative Mechanism, the Netherlands helps facilitate the implementation of the Mechanism’s mandate, in particular its investigative component.

The Joint Investigative Mechanism was established in August 2015 by Security Council resolution 2235 (2015).  Its mandate is to identify to the greatest extent feasible individuals, entities, groups, or Governments that were perpetrators, organizers, sponsors or otherwise involved in the use of chemicals as weapons, including chlorine or any other toxic chemical, in Syria as determined by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Fact-Finding Missions.