# Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/2215 of 30 November 2015 in support of UNSCR 2235 (2015), establishing an OPCW-UN joint investigative mechanism to identify the perpetrators of chemical attacks in the Syrian Arab Republic, Division 3: Project description

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

The FFM shall continue to assess whether alleged incidents in the Syrian Arab Republic involved or likely involved the use of chemicals as weapons. The FFM's activities cover allegations of both past incidents and incidents that may occur in the future. The complexity of these activities is likely to vary considerably; hence the exact number of deployments cannot be accurately determined.
Based on the experience of deployments in 2015, the OPCW expects that in 2016 FFM operations may involve the deployment of six to12 inspectors on six missions, the duration of each being approximately three weeks. It is likely that each mission will include the hiring of external consultants with specific skills, such as interpreters and doctors.
The following activities are planned as part of the FFM:
(a) Interviews: the nature of alleged incidents is such that a wide variety of witnesses may need to be interviewed. These include:
medical staff,
first responders,
treating physicians,
casualties,
other witnesses.
As such, interview teams need to have a multifaceted expertise including weapons, chemicals, medical signs and symptoms, as well as interpretation.
(b) Medical examinations and the taking of biomedical samples.
(c) Sample identification, collection and analysis.
(d) Evidence-handling, including open source as well as items provided by witnesses and third parties. Complementary to the interview teams, multifaceted expertise is also particularly required in this area.
(e) Report writing.
(f) Training, including refresher training in order to stay up to date with modern practices:
safe and security approaches in the field,
interview techniques,
evidence-handling and storage, including chain of custody,
awareness of explosive remnants of war,
toxic chemicals training course,
forensic awareness,
basic industrial chemistry and chemical profiling.
(g) Site-assessment and scene-exploitation.
(h) Mission-support personnel and expertise, particularly for complex missions.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2015/2215/annex/division/2/division/A/division/3 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2015-2215/annex/division-2/division-A/division-3
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.