The Syrian Coalition denounced the Assad regime’s presidency of the UN-backed disarmament forum on chemical & nuclear weapons, saying it would will be “a shock for the conscience of humanity and a betrayal for the victims of these chemical attacks” numbering over 200.
In a letter sent Saturday to 18 countries, President of the Syrian Coalition Abdurrahman Mustafa called for a boycott of the forum during the four weeks of Assad’s presidency. The letter was sent to the governments of the United States, Britain, Turkey, Germany, France, Canada, Japan, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, Switzerland, Finland, New Zealand and the Ukraine.
President Mustafa warned that allowing the Assad regime’s to chair such conference risks “undermining the UN’s credibility and the integrity of disarmament framework.” He underscored that “the Assad regime’s use of deadly chemical and unconventional weapons and its illegal pursuit of nuclear weapons is a breach of its disarmament obligations and run counter to the objectives and fundamental principles of the Conference on Disarmament.”
“The Assad regime has flagrantly violated the chemical weapons convention and the UNSC resolutions. It was documented by the OPCW – UN Joint Investigative Mechanism in its report submitted to the UN Security Council on 25th October 2017. This regime has gassed the Syrian people to death on 21st August 2013 for the first time, and least but not last on 7th April 2018.”
The letter added: “Indeed, ‘having the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad preside over global chemical and nuclear weapons disarmament will be like putting a serial rapist (Jack the Ripper) in charge of a women’s shelter,’ as said by Mr. Hillel Neuer, the executive director of the United National Watch.” According to the executive director of UN Wacth, a Geneva-based non-governmental organization,
“We count on our good friends to spare no effort to ensure an end is put to the suffering of the Syrian people, to hold the perpetrators accountable, and to finally fulfill their just demands of freedom, dignity and justice,” President Mustafa added.
The Conference on Disarmament was established in 1979 during a special session of the UN General Assembly. It comprised 65 states that have been divided according to four core issues in recent years. With three sessions usually held each year, the chair of the Conference rotates every four working weeks following the English alphabetical list of membership. Decisions are made by consensus. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
