On
Syria, Chemical Weapons Trigger
UNSC Meeting, Nikki Haley
Speaks, Uruguay on
Brando
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
April 5 – After the deaths by
chemical weapons in Syria, an
open UN Security Council
meeting was held on April 5.
On the way in, Ambassadors
including from the UK, Sweden
and France spoke, video
here. At the meeting, no
vote was taken on the "P-3"
draft resolution, which Inner
City Press published below.
Russia in the meeting
identified things that would
"have" to go in any draft they
would agree to, including a
geographic balance in
investigators. Then US
Ambassador Nikki Haley spoke,
fast-transcribed below by
Inner City Press, after two
paragraphs from the Mission:
"“There is an obvious truth
here that must be spoken. The
truth is that Assad, Russia,
and Iran have no interest in
peace. The illegitimate Syrian
government, led by a man with
no conscience, has committed
untold atrocities against his
people for more than six
years. Assad has made it clear
that he doesn’t want to take
part in a meaningful political
process. Iran has reinforced
Assad’s military, and Russia
has shielded Assad from UN
sanctions. If Russia has the
influence in Syria that it
claims to have, we need to see
them use it. We need to see
them put an end to these
horrific acts. How many more
children have to die before
Russia cares?...“When the
United Nations consistently
fails in its duty to act
collectively, there are times
in the life of states that we
are compelled to take our own
action. For the sake of the
victims, I hope the rest of
the Council is finally willing
to do the same.”
Inner City Press
fast transcription: "In the
life of the UN there are times
we are compelled to do more
than just talk….
Yesterday’s attack bears all
the hallmarks of the Assad
regime’s use of chemical
weapons. We know that
yesterday’s attack was a new
low, even for the barbaric
Assad regime.
Evidence…indicates Assad is
using even more lethal
chemicals than before…leaving
men, women, the elderly and
children gasping for their
very last breath. As docs and
nurses rushed to help, a
second round of bombs rained
down.
Just a few weeks ago…Russia
chose to close their eyes to
the barbarity. Russia cannot
escape responsibility for
this. If Russia had been
fulfilling its
responsibilities, there
wouldn’t be any chemical
weapons left for the Assad
regime to use.
If nothing is done these
attacks will continue.
We regularly repeat
tired talking points in
support of a peace
process….Russia uses the same
false narrative to deflect
attention from their allies in
Damascus…Russia attempts to
place blame on others….Assad,
Russia and Iran have no
interest in peace. The
illegitimate Syrian gov…has
committed untold atrocities
for more than 6 years.
Iran has reinforced Assad’s
military, and Russia has
shielded Assad from UN
sanctions. If Russia has the
influence in Syria that it
claims to have, we need to see
them use it. How many more
children need to die before
Russia cares?
If we are not able to enforce
resolutions preventing the use
of chemical weapons, what does
that say for our chances to
end the Syrian conflict?
When the UN consistently fails
in its duty, there are times
we are compelled to take our
own action. For the sake of
the victims, I hope the rest
of the Council is ready to do
the same. The world needs to
see the effect of chemical
weapons and the fact that they
will not be tolerated."
Also in
the meeting, Uruguay's
Ambassador quoted Marlon
Brando, "The horror, the
horror." Back on April 4, the
Ambassadors of the UK then
Sweden called for an emergency
Council meeting. Inner City
Press video
here. With the meeting
then set for April 5, the
night before the United
States, UK and France
circulated a draft resolution:
"Recalling the Protocol for
the Prohibition of the Use in
War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous
or other Gases, and of
Bacteriological Methods of
Warfare, and the Convention on
the Prohibition of the
Development, Production,
Stockpiling and Use of
Chemical Weapons and on their
Destruction (CWC) ratified by
the Syrian Arab Republic on 14
September 2013, and the
Council’s resolutions 1540
(2004), 2118 (2013), 2209
(2015), 2235 (2015), 2314
(2016), and 2319 (2016),
Expressing its horror at
the reported use of chemical
weapons in the Khan Shaykhun
area of southern Idlib in the
Syrian Arab Republic on 4
April 2017 causing large-scale
loss of life and injuries,
affirming that the use of
chemical weapons constitutes a
serious violation of
international law, and
stressing that those
responsible for any use of
chemical weapons must be held
accountable,
Noting the Organization for
the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons (OPCW) has announced,
in addition to its ongoing
investigation, that its Fact
Finding Mission (FFM) is in
the process of gathering and
analysing information on this
incident from all available
sources and will report to the
OPCW Executive Council,
Recalling that in
resolution 2118 (2013) the
Council decided that the
Syrian Arab Republic shall not
use, develop, produce,
otherwise acquire, stockpile
or retain chemical weapons or
transfer, directly or
indirectly, chemical weapons,
to other States or non-State
actors and underscored that no
party in Syria should use,
develop produce acquire,
stockpile, retain or transfer
chemical weapons,
Determining that the use
of chemical weapons in the
Syria Arab Republic represents
a threat to international
peace and security,
1. Condemns in the strongest
terms and use of chemical
weapons in the Syrian Arab
Republic, in particular the
attack on Khan Shaykhun
reported on 4 April 2017,
expresses its outrage that
individuals continue to be
killed and injured by chemical
weapons in the Syrian Arab
Republic, and expresses its
determination that those
responsible must be held
accountable;
2. Expresses its full
support to the OPCW Fact
Finding Mission investigation
and requests that it report
the results of its
investigation as soon as
possible;
3. Recalls paragraph 9
of resolution 2235 (2015),
which requested the FFM to
collaborate with the JIM to
provide full access to all the
information and evidence
obtained or prepared by the
FFM, and stresses that the JIM
should begin to fulfill its
mandate alongside the FFM as
it seeks to determine whether
the incident on April 4 2017
involved the use of chemicals
as weapons;
4. Recalls that in its
resolutions 2118 and 2235 it
decided that the Syrian Arab
Republic and all parties in
Syria shall cooperate fully
with the OPCW and the United
Nations including the Joint
Investigation Mechanism;
5. Emphasizes that this
includes the obligation upon
the Syrian Arab Republic to
provide the JIM and FFM with
the following:
(a) flight plans, flight
logs, and any other
information on air operations,
including all flight plans or
flight logs filed on April 4
2017;
(b) names of all
individuals in command of any
helicopter squadrons;
(c) arrange meetings
requested including with
generals or other officers,
within no more than five days
of the date on which such
meeting is requested;
(d) immediately provide
access to relevant air bases
from which the JIM or the FFM
believe attacks involving
chemicals as weapons may have
been launched
6. Requests the
Secretary-General to report on
whether the information and
access described in paragraph
5 has been provided in his
reports to the Security
Council every 30 days pursuant
to paragraph 12 of resolution
2118.
7. Recalls its decision
in response to violations of
resolution 2118 to impose
measures under Chapter VII of
the United Nations charter."
Inner City Press will cover
the meeting(s).
As
de Mistura trudges on with a
short term UN extension, he
did not say if he is applying
to head the UN Development
Program, and thus to move on
from his Syria post. Inner
City Press first
reported that - and the
interest of Sigrid
Kaag, who blocks Inner
City Press on Twitter, deemed
fine by the UN's
holdover Deputy Spokesman
Farhan Haq.
On March 8,
before the US' April
presidency of the Security
Council, US Ambassador Nikki
Haley was asked of Iran
involvement in talks. She
paused, then said there are
some not at the table who
should be. Watch this site.
In Geneva for
the Syria talks as in New
York, the UN made a point of
telling those with "temporary
accreditation" that they could
not get into the building
after 7 pm, even with a
stakeout scheduled for 6:30
pm. The Free
UN Coalition for Access
(FUNCA)
objects to the UN's two-tier
system for correspondents,
which in New York meant for
example that Inner City Press
which covered Peru's
President's meeting with
Antonio Guterres was Banned
from the area of the UN where
he spoke to the media
afterward. (But see this
Periscope). Ban
Censorship in 2017.
Even before
February 25, multiple UN
sources sounded a dissonant
note to Inner City Press.
As
exclusively reported
February 2, the sources had
told Inner City Press that de
Mistura is in fact angling to
replace Helen Clark atop the
UN Development Program or
UNDP. (The UN Spokesperson's
office, as usual, is in
untransparent denial mode.
Also in the mix are, among
others, David Miliband, Segolene
Royal and Bert Koenders - or
even Sigrid "The Blocker" Kaag).
Inner City
Press first reported from its
sources that seeking to
replace de Mistura as UN Syria
envoy is Sigrid Kaag, long
time envoy in Lebanon. (We'd
ask Kaag to confirm or deny,
but again it turns out Kaag blocks
Inner City Press on Twitter, click
here to view: strange,
for a publicly paid UN
official.) We'll have more on
this.
When de Mistura
took questions on January 31,
Inner City Press asked him
among other things if the
Trump administration's
proposal for safe zones in
Syria (and Yemen) had been
discussed. Video here.
No, de
Mistura said, US Ambassador to
the UN Nikki Haley hadn't
raised it. Some wondered if
that reflects the irrelevance
to which the UN has sunk.
We'll see.
***
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