Syria still not complying with chemical weapons watchdogs, says UN official
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Sulaiman
- . May 9, 2023
- . Update: May 9, 2023 4:16 pm
Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General of Disarmament Affairs, told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the agency charged with ensuring international peace and security, that Syria was not complying with chemical weapons watchdogs.
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Izumi Nakamitsu revealed that the agency needed to resolve 20 outstanding issues and declarations by the Syrian regime regarding the elimination of its chemical weapons program and the destruction of stockpiles.
She said that Syria’s chemical weapons program was not complying with Resolution 2118. The UNSC adopted Resolution 2118 in 2013 in response to concerns about the use of chemical weapons against civilians during the conflict in Syria.
In 2013, the United Nations accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons against its citizens. The agency slammed the government of Syria for using such tactics. The UN revealed that the Syrian government used chemical weapons to harm its citizens on at least three occasions — August 2013, April 2017 and April 2018 — in and around Damascus, the capital of Syria. The incident led to the killing of hundreds of civilians and injuring a thousand others.
UN’s under-secretary-general and high representative for disarmament affairs said that the agency was in contact with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, about chemical activities related to the implementation of Resolution 2118 in Syria.
She revealed that UN agencies were unable to get clarifications about the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons program. She further revealed that declarations submitted by Syrian authorities continue to have “gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies.”
Nakamitsu reiterated the need for cooperation between the Syrian regime and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in resolving all outstanding issues about Syria’s chemical program.
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She said, “OPCW technical secretariat assesses that the declaration submitted by the Syrian Arab Republic still cannot be considered accurate.”
