A global chemical weapons watchdog has voted to suspend Syria’s voting rights in the organization, an unprecedented rebuke in response to the regime’s use of poison gas against its own people. 

During the annual meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Wednesday, a proposal to suspend Syria’s “rights and privileges,” including its ability to hold office or vote, secured the backing of a two-thirds majority of member states that it needed to pass. Fifteen countries, including Syria’s main backers Russia, China and Iran, voted against the measure.  

The move marked the first time in the OPCW’s 24-year history that a country has lost its voting privileges. France, which spearheaded the effort, said Wednesday’s decision signaled that violations of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits “the use, development, production, stockpiling and transfer of chemical weapons,” won’t be tolerated.

“OPCW Member States sent a clear signal — the repeated use of #ChemicalWeapons by #Syria is unacceptable for the #InternationalCommunity,” the French Embassy in the Netherlands tweeted.