Vice-President Hisham Marwa said that the United States’ circulation of a draft Security Council resolution that aims to establish an accountability mechanism for chemical weapons attacks in Syria is late.
“This move would be useful if it was made within a week of the attack, but not after months,” Marwa stresses.
“The party that possesses chemical weapons and used them is well-known to everyone, which is the Assad regime. Chemical attacks in Syria were documented in reports and testimonies submitted to the UN Commission of Inquiry and the UN Human Rights Council.”
“However, we hope that this proposal puts pressure on the Assad regime to stop possible further chemical attacks and bring it back to the negotiating table. A political solution will end the Assad regime’s war on Syrians, deter him from continuing with murder and destruction and will help refer Assad to the international courts to stand trial for his crimes.”
“The United States and other Western countries have enough evidence confirming Assad’s use chlorine gas in attacks on civilians, but the question will this step lead to the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 2209 adopted on March 6th, 2015? This UN resolution condemns the use of chlorine gas in Syria and threatens action under Chapter VII of the UN charter.
“The talk about activating the paragraph of the UNSC resolution which threatens action, but better late than never. Since the adoption of the UN resolution 2209, the Assad regime has launched around 35 chlorine gas attacks across Syria. Moreover, the Assad regime launched about 90 chemical attacks since it joined the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.”
The United States circulated a draft U.N. resolution Thursday aimed at identifying the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria so they can be brought to justice.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said in a statement that “given the frequent allegations of chlorine attacks in Syria, and the absence of any international body to identify the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks, it is critical that the U.N. Security Council find consensus and set up an independent investigative mechanism.”
The draft resolution asks U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in coordination with OPCW Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu, to submit to the council within 15 days recommendations to establish an “OPCW-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism.”
It says this investigative body will identify “entities, groups or governments who were perpetrators, organizers, sponsors or otherwise involved in use of chemical weapons” in Syria in instances where an OPCW fact-finding mission has determined that an incident involved or likely involved the use of chemical weapons. (Source: Coalition + Al Sharq al-Awsat)
