New York - Damascus: Europe and the Arabs
Syria affirmed its full cooperation with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the implementation of all its obligations under the Ban Convention. This came in response to a report submitted by a UN official to the Security Council stating that no progress has been made on the Syrian chemical file.
Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh - during a session of the Security Council on Monday, according to the Syrian News Agency, SANA, - renewed his country's condemnation of the use of chemical weapons at any time, place, by anyone and under any circumstances, stressing its full cooperation with the organization. ban and carry out all of its obligations under the ban agreement.
Sabbagh said, "Despite Syria's constant emphasis on the need for the fact-finding mission to reform its methods of work, address the serious flaws in it, and make its reports professional and impartial, it continued to cooperate with the mission, received its teams, and provided it with possible facilities and assistance to make its mission a success."
And he continued, "The Technical Secretariat of the Ban Organization continues its biased and unprofessional dealings with the case of Syria, as it focuses on obligations and ignores rights... and Syria continues to work openly with the Ban Organization despite its technical secretariat's deviation from the technical and neutral path."
At the end of his speech, Sabbagh stressed that the responsibility for correcting the deviation of the technical secretariat of the Ban Organization lies with the states parties to the convention, so that the secretariat can return to its former state and return to being an impartial tool for the implementation of the CWC.
The High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, delivered her monthly briefing to the UN Security Council on the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons programme, in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2118 (2013).
The UN official said,
On Monday, the OPCW team continued its efforts to clarify all outstanding issues regarding the Syrian Arab Republic's initial declaration and subsequent declarations.
It regretted the lack of progress on all efforts made by the Technical Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to organize the next round of consultations between the assessment team and the Syrian authorities.
She explained that the Technical Secretariat provided Syria with a list of pending declarations and other documents requested by the Documentation and Execution Department since 2019, which could help resolve the current pending issues.
She said that the Technical Secretariat had proposed in May 2022 to address issues related to the declaration through an exchange of correspondence. Although Syria agreed to this proposal, the Technical Secretariat has not yet received any declarations or other documents requested from Syria.
And she stressed the need for full cooperation by Syria to close all outstanding issues.
She said that the declaration submitted by Syria cannot be considered accurate and complete in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, given the gaps and inconsistencies that have been identified and remain unresolved.
Attached to Barzah and the Jamaria
The High Representative informed her that the Technical Secretariat continues to plan for the next round of inspections, scheduled for 2023, with regard to the Barzeh and Jamaraiya facilities of the Center for Scientific Studies and Research.
It regretted that Syria had not yet provided sufficient technical information or explanations that would enable the Technical Secretariat to close the case related to the detection of a Schedule 2 chemical at the Barzeh facilities in November 2018.
She said that the Technical Secretariat had not yet received a response to her request for information regarding the unauthorized movement and remnants of two destroyed cylinders related to a chemical weapon incident that occurred in Douma on 7 April 2018.
It called on Syria to respond quickly to the requests of the technical secretariat of the organization.
Fifth Review Conference
Next week will witness the fifth review conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The High Representative for Disarmament Affairs said that the conference represents an important opportunity for states parties to renew and strengthen their commitments to the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the standards against their use.
“The use of chemical weapons anywhere, by anyone, under any circumstances is a serious violation of international law. There is absolutely no justification for their use. Those responsible for such attacks must be identified and held accountable, for the sake of the victims and to prevent chemical warfare in the future".
She hoped that members of the Security Council would unite on this issue and show leadership — not only in this Council, but also at the next Review Conference — in order to consolidate the hard-won gains on the Chemical Weapons Convention and show that impunity over the use of chemical weapons It will not be tolerated.