Conference on Disarmament - EU statement
I am taking the floor on behalf of the European Union. All EU Member States are represented at non-Ambassadorial level at today’s Plenary meeting.
We take this opportunity to reiterate our strong and constant support for the Chemical Weapons Convention and the 1925 Geneva Protocol. We call on all CD members to defend the Chemical Weapons Convention and continue work for its universalisation and full implementation. We reaffirm the total prohibition of chemical weapons and our commitment to their elimination worldwide. The use of chemical weapons, including the use of any toxic chemicals as weapons, by anyone, be it a State, or a non-State actor, anywhere, and under any circumstances is abhorrent and must be rigorously condemned. It is a war crime and may amount to a crime against humanity. There can be no impunity and those responsible for such acts must be held accountable.
The EU recalls that as a State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Syrian Arab Republic has explicitly obligated itself not to possess, develop or use chemical weapons. We strongly condemn the repeated use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Armed Forces and Da’esh, as confirmed by the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM). We fully support the work of the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) to continue investigating allegations of use of chemical weapons and the Declaration Assessment Team (DAT) to clarify the gaps and discrepancies of the Syrian declaration until it is satisfied that Syria’s chemical weapons programme is fully declared and irreversibly dismantled. We deeply regret that the mandate of JIM, established by UN Security Council Resolution 2235 to identify perpetrators of chemical attacks in Syria, was not renewed in November 2017. Restoring an independent mechanism for attribution is particularly important in this regard.
It is the international community’s task and responsibility to identify and hold accountable individuals, entities, groups or governments responsible for the use or the development of chemical weapons, and for the use of toxic chemicals as weapons. In this regard, the EU welcomes the efforts conducted within the framework of the Partnership against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons.
The EU has consistently taken action against the confirmed use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Armed Forces and Da’esh by imposing restrictive measures. In July 2017 and in March 2018, the EU imposed additional restrictive measures against Syrian high-level officials and scientists for their role in the development and use of chemical weapons. We remain ready to consider imposing further measures, as appropriate.
In the current context of re-emergence of chemical weapons, bearing in mind the repeated chemical attacks in Syria, the Salisbury incident, the incident at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the allegations of use of chemical weapons by non-State actors in Iraq, we support the holding of a Special Conference of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention to take place on 26-27 June 2018 in The Hague. We encourage all countries to attend this Conference and take the opportunity to consider how to best respond to the current challenges to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The Conference on Disarmament remains the world’s single multilateral disarmament negotiation forum and its continued relevance is of utmost importance for the EU. In accordance with Decision CD/2119, adopted by the Plenary on 16 February 2018, five subsidiary bodies have been established for this year’s session to reach an understanding on the areas of commonalities, deepen technical discussions and broaden areas of agreement, and consider effective measures, including legal instruments for negotiations. We fully support the continuation of substantive work by the subsidiary bodies and their coordinators rather than conducting parallel consultations with the current Presidency that does not have the necessary credibility or legitimacy to lead our work, due to its repeated grave violations of international law which we all have the obligation to uphold.