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Joint probe mechanism for chemical weapons in Syria becomes fully operational: UN

Xinhua, November 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Joint Investigation Mechanism dealing with chemical weapons in Syria has proceeded with the recruitment of its core and administrative staff, following its initial planning meeting, a UN spokesman said here Friday.

"In the last month, it has also moved to set up its offices in both New York and The Hague, as well as a light presence in Damascus (capital of Syria)," Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

"The Joint Investigation Mechanism is now sufficiently staffed to declare itself fully operational as of today," Haq said.

"A letter to that respect was sent by the secretary-general to the Security Council on November 10," he said.

On Aug. 7, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution setting up the Joint Investigation Mechanism to identify the perpetrators of the deadly chlorine gas attacks in Syria.

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-body council " reiterates that no party in Syria should use, develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, retain, or transfer chemical weapons."

Within 20 days of adoption, the UN secretary-general and the director-general of the Organization For the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) would submit to the Security Council recommendations for the establishment and operation of a UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism to identify the perpetrators, the resolution said.

The Hague-based OPCW said early this year that it was confident that deadly chlorine-filled bombs had been used in the Syrian conflict, quoting some witnesses as saying that the bombs were dropped by helicopters, which only the Syrian government possesses.

Full cooperation from all parties, including the Syrian government, will be essential. The process will once again require the active engagement of the international community, said the statement.

The resolution is the most significant action by the council on the chemical weapons issue in Syria since the Syrian government joined the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013.

The Syrian conflict began when nationwide protests against President Bashar al-Assad met with violent government crackdowns in 2011. Till now, it has been dragging on for over four years with no solution in sight. Enditem