The technical secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is turning the institution into an instrument of punishment for the authorities in Damascus, Russia rejects future reports on the Syrian chemical weapons investigation team, Anna Evstigneeva, Deputy permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, said on Thursday, speaking at a Security Council meeting.
"The Syrian side, despite unprecedented pressure and the double standard policy of the OPCW technical secretariat, continues to fulfill its obligations under the Convention [on the prohibition of chemical weapons] in good faith, does not refuse to cooperate and demonstrates the political will to continue the dialogue with the secretariat's leadership, and at a high level," Evstigneeva said.
According to her, Syria is ready to provide the most up-to-date information on the alleged use of chemical weapons. "We expect to get detailed explanations from the OPCW leadership during its next briefing to the Security Council. <...> We see the root of all current problems with the Syrian chemical case in the fact that for a long time it became one of the tools for the Western colleagues to punish the unwanted authorities in Damascus," stated the diplomat.
The Russian deputy permanent representative noted that the OPCW secretariat becomes a conduit for such an unfair policy, "turning the organization from an independent and unbiased guardian of the Convention into an instrument of punishment." "This dangerous bias toward politicization of the OPCW is becoming more and more noticeable with each passing month. There is growing evidence of gross and deliberate violations of the OPCW by the secretariat," the diplomat pointed out. - The most glaring example is the manipulation of the infamous 2018 Fact-Finding Mission report on the Duma incident. Despite calls from UN member states and the international community at large, the secretariat does not seem to intend to correct them.
According to Evstigneyeva, the activities of the illegitimate Investigation and identification group are in the same vein. The goal of the group's work, the diplomat pointed out, is not to restore the real picture of events, but to "fit" the narrative to conclusions about Damascus' guilt. "That is why we reject the conclusions both in the already released reports of the group (on Al-Lataminah and Saraqib) and any of its future 'products,'" the Russian representative said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from TASS