The head of the international chemical weapons watchdog on Thursday told the UN Security Council that its experts have investigated 77 allegations against Syria, and concluded that in 17 cases chemical weapons were likely or definitely used.
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director-General Fernando Arias called it “a disturbing reality” that eight years after Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the production or use of such weapons, many questions remain about its initial declaration of its weapons, stockpiles and precursors and its ongoing program.
The organization would be taking up a new issue at its next consultations with Syria — “the presence of a new chemical weapons agent found in samples collected in large storage containers in September 2020,” Aria said.
Photo: AP
He sent a letter informing the Syrian government that he intended to send a team to look into this issue from May 18 to Tuesday, and requested visas, but never received a response, he said, adding that he informed Damascus that he was postponing the arrival to May 28.
With no reply by May 26, “I decided to postpone the mission until further notice,” he said.
Syria was pressed to join the Chemical Weapons Convention in September 2013 by its close ally Russia after a deadly chemical weapons attack that the West blamed on Damascus. By August 2014, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government declared that the destruction of its chemical weapons was completed, but Syria’s initial declaration to the OPCW has remained in dispute.
In April last year, OPCW investigators blamed three chemical attacks in 2017 on the Syrian government. The OPCW executive council demanded that Syria provide details. When it did not, France submitted a draft measure on behalf of 46 countries in November last year to suspend Syria’s “rights and privileges” in the global watchdog. In an unprecedented vote on April 21, the OPCW suspended Syria’s rights until all outstanding issues are resolved.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia on Thursday said that the chemical weapons watchdog was using information “from biased sources opposed to the Syrian government,” of collecting evidence remotely and relying on “pseudo witnesses.”
“We need to talk frankly with the OPCW leadership in order to preclude further erosion of its authority and prevent recurrence of the miserable situation that happened in April,” when it voted “to incapacitate ... a sovereign state that faithfully complies” with the Chemical Weapons Convention, Nebenzia said.
“It is not surprising that Syria never recognized the legitimacy of the group, neither did we,” Nebenzia added. “The group was established illegitimately. You cannot expect that Syria will be cooperating with it.”
British Ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward disagreed.
“There are 20 unresolved issues in Syria’s initial chemical weapons declaration, which is deeply concerning,” she said. “The UN and the OPCW have attributed eight chemical weapons attacks to the Syrian regime. It’s clear that the regime retains a chemical weapons capability and the willingness to use it.”
The Security Council would continue to insist on Syria’s full cooperation with the watchdog, “and the full and verifiable destruction of Syria’s chemical program,” she said.
US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Richard Mills said that “no amount of disinformation — espoused by Syria and its very small number of supporters — can negate or diminish the credibility of the evidence that has been presented to us by the OPCW.”
“The Assad regime — supported by Russia — continues to ignore calls from the international community to fully disclose and verifiably destroy its chemical weapons program,” Mills said. “Without accountability for the atrocities committed against the Syrian people, lasting peace in Syria will remain out of reach.”
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