Statement by Deputy Political Coordinator Tom Phipps at the UN
Security Council meeting on Syria.
"As always, I would like to begin by thanking High Representative
Izumi Nakamitsu for her briefing.
As Ms Nakamitsu said, at next week’s Fifth Review Conference,
States Parties will take stock of the Chemical Weapons
Convention’s implementation and set future priorities. They will
also reaffirm the importance of the Convention.
President, the Convention and wider non-proliferation can only
hold if its rules are upheld and rule-breakers are held to
account.
The Assad regime has repeatedly breached its obligations under
the Convention and resolution 2118. There is undeniable and
direct evidence of the Syrian state murdering its own civilians
using chemical weapons on at least nine occasions. This Council
has failed to hold the regime to account for the use of these
abhorrent weapons. This failure is primarily due to the actions
of one permanent member, which itself used chemical weapons in
recent years, including in my country in 2018.
This is not a show, and this statement is not groundless.
The OPCW has put exceptional amounts of resource into trying to
help Syria resolve the outstanding issues regarding its initial
declaration. These issues are not academic and include the
whereabouts of hundreds of tonnes of chemical weapons agents.
As we head again from Ms Nakamitsu, access for OPCW staff remains
restricted, and despite worrying findings by the Declaration
Assessment Team, Syria and Russia’s denials continue. We commend
the OPCW team’s continued efforts, and underscore that the
fundamental obligations that Syria has as a State Party to the
convention must be upheld. It must give up all its chemical
weapons, stop any banned activity and comply in full with the
OPCW.
Until Syria has made meaningful progress on these issues, its
chemical weapons programme is an ongoing threat to international
peace and security that this Council needs to address. We must
collectively send a clear message about our shared commitment to
the ban on chemical weapons and we need to uphold and defend the
international consensus that these weapons should never be used.
Thank you."
