In 2017, Ferrada de Noli elicited international controversy over his publications and statements questioning the evidence around allegations of gas attacks in Syria by government forces. In December 2017, the Russian permanent representative to the UN submitted to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) an article by him in his magazine The Indicter, in which he alleged epidemiological bias in the report issued by the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism on the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack of April 2017 in Syria.UNSC,"Annex to the letter dated 30 November 2017 from the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General". Doc S/2017/1010 SWEDHR publications in The Indicter authored by Ferrada de Noli have been cited or included in documents submitted at the UNSC by the Russian and Syrian ambassadors,United Nations Security Council, official document A/72/626 S/2017/848, "Letter dated 6 October 2017 from the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, 10 October 2017. Annex". It mentions: "mismatches, as mentioned in particular by the non-governmental organization Swedish Doctors for Human Rights. United Nations, General Assembly – Security Council, official document A/71/910–S/2017/415. "Letter Dated 10 May 2017 From The Charge D' Affaires A.I. of The Permanent Mission Of The Russian Federation To The United Nations Addressed To The Secretary-General. Document annexed to letter, subheading "Slide 5, SWEDHR". It transcribes the findings summarized by Marcello Ferrada de Noli in two articles published in The Indicter Magazine, March 2017. (Doc. A/71/910-S/2017/415)United Nations Security Council, 7922nd meeting, 12 April 2017. Doc. S/ P V.7 9 2 2. The Syrian Ambassador Bashar Jaafari cites "the report on the White Helmets issued by Swedish Doctors for Human Rights, exposing the duplicity of the so-called White Helmets". It refers to the report series authored by Ferrada de Noli in The Indicter, March 2017. "Conférence de presse de Maria Zakharova, porte-parole du Ministère russe des Affaires étrangères, Moscou, 6 juillet 2017. ("Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, Moscow, July 6, 2017"). Excerpt: "As example, I can cite the publications by Professor Theodore A. Postol of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from Professor Marcello Ferrada de Noli, who chairs the organization Swedish Doctors for Human Rights (SWEDHR), and also Pulitzer Prize-winner Seymour Hersh and independent US disarmament expert Scott Ritter." Text in French in the cited publication: "A titre d'exemple je peux citer la publication du professeur Theodore Postol de l'université du Massachusetts, du professeur Marcello Ferrada de Noli qui dirige l'Organisation des médecins suédois pour les droits de l'homme, ou encore celui du lauréat du prix Pulitzer Seymour Hersh et de l'expert américain indépendant du désarmement Scott Ritter." The official twitter-account of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation posted 16 March 2017 the facsimile of an article by Ferrada de Noli published in The Indicter, adding a quote by Maria Zakharova, Director of Information Dept, "We would like the public to take note of conclusions about the White Helmets made by independent Swedish human rights advocates". Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, Moscow, April 27, 2017". Excerpts: "We have taken note of the criticism and open pressure put on the NGO, Swedish Doctors for Human Rights, after it questioned the allegation by the United States and several other countries that it was the Syrian Army that was responsible for the April 4 chemical attack in Idlib." "The situation with Swedish Doctors for Human Rights is fresh evidence of the Western practice of double standards regarding freedom of speech: it appears that the only information that can be made public is that which strictly corresponds to the policies of Washington and Brussels."Atkontakt.de VideoTube. "M. Zakharova on SWEDHR's analysis of White-Helmets videos in The Indicter", 22 March 2017. Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, Moscow, April 12, 2017. added the Russian envoys at the OPCWOPCW Executive Council, 19 April 2017. "Statement by Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation at the Fifty-Fourth Meeting of The Executive Council". It refers analysis by SWEDHR. or the ambassador to the UK.The Telegraph, 11 May 2017. "Russian Ambassador to the UK: We need a full investigation of chemical weapons allegations in Syria". It mentions "the analysis of the social media content on the Khan Sheikhoun incident provided by the NGO Swedish Doctors for Human Rights" The referred analysis was done by Ferrada de Noli and colleagues at SWEDHR.
