Mr. President,

We thank High Representative Nakamitsu for her briefing.

We commend the independence, professionalism and impartiality of the OPCW Technical Secretariat.

Mr. President,

I also wish to note that as a country neighbouring Syria, we believe in the importance and necessity of these monthly meetings. Each month, this Council dedicates days to open debates on topics where even the mandate of this Council is questionable.

We believe this council can spare around 80 minutes each month to discuss a topic that is directly related to the maintenance of international peace and security.

Not having made any progress should logically require more meetings rather than less.

Mr. President,

The last report of the OPCW Director General demonstrates that the outstanding issues in relation to the Syrian regime’s initial and subsequent declarations persist.

The gaps, discrepancies and inconsistencies in the chemical weapons declaration of Assad regime continue. Therefore the OPCW still cannot consider that declaration as accurate and complete.

The regime is obstructing the work of Investigation and Identification Team by not issuing visas.

Furthermore, the OPCW Secretariat is still waiting for responses to its inquiries regarding the regime’s chemical weapons production facilities and chlorine cylinders used in the attack in Douma in 2018.

We call on the Syrian regime to fully cooperate with the OPCW Technical Secretariat and provide necessary information, as they are obligated under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Mr. President,

The current investigations by the Fact Finding Mission (FFM) and the IIT are important to establish the truth about chemical weapons use in Syria.

We are looking forward to the completion of ongoing investigations, in particular the next IIT report on Douma attack of 2018.

Mr. President,

It is our collective responsibility to ensure accountability for the chemical weapons use in Syria.

Ending impunity is imperative also to honour the hundreds of innocent lives lost due to the chemical weapons attacks, during the conflict in Syria.

A genuine political reconciliation in this counrty will only be possible through justice and accountability.

We cannot change the past but we do have the power to change the course of the future for the people of Syria.

We cannot look away now.

Thank you.