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UN / JIM RUSSIA VETO
STORY: UN / JIM RUSSIA VETO
TRT: 03:48
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / NATS
DATELINE: 24 OCTOBER 2017, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
24 OCTOBER 2017, NEW YORK CITY
2. Pan left, Security Council voting
3. Med shot, Russian ambassador vetoing draft resolution
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. Med shot, Russian ambassador asking from the floor
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations:
“We saw what happened a year ago when there was uncertainty about the future of the joint investigative mechanism. Its staff left. Its capability dwindled. And it was unable to operate for some months. The only beneficiaries of a significant similar delay again this time around will be the users of chemical weapons in Syria, Da’esh and the Syrian regime and their backers.”
7. Wide shot, Security Council
8. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“Why should we extend the mandate of the JIM two days before the publication of the report? We all want to familiarize ourselves with the report and discuss it calmly and then draw some conclusions. Afterwards, we can return to the issue of extending the JIM, whose mandate runs until the 17th of November. So, we have plenty of time to extend it. Isn’t that logical? Or is that in any way confrontational? Why put the carriage before the horse?”
9. Wide shot, Syrian diplomats
10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“Obviously this action today can only be justified if the report of the JIM will confirm your version, otherwise what was the point of bombing Sha’irat? You are not interested in the lack of evidence or the fact that the methodology used was laughable. You have already determined who is guilty.”
11. Med shot, US ambassador speaking to colleagues
12. SOUNDBITE (Russian / English) Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“I want to quote ambassador Haley once again. I like to quote ambassador Haley. ‘We can’t go pick and choose who we want to be at fault and who we don’t.’ And here I fully agree with her. The only thing, what doesn’t work is that it’s not us, it’s you, the United State who have already chosen who is guilty. From the first day, you have been stating that it is the Syrian Government that is guilty and you punished the Syrian Government by an airstrike against Sha’irat.”
13. Wide shot, Security Council
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Michele Sison, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“And the question we must ask ourselves is whether the JIM is being attacked because it has failed in its job to determine the truth in Syria or because its conclusions have been politically inconvenient for some Council Members.”
15. Med shot, delegates
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Michele Sison, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“The United States deeply regrets that one member of this Council vetoed against this text, putting political considerations over the misery of Syrian civilians who have suffered and died from the use of chemical weapons. The reasons offered fool no one this morning. We reject this cynicism, and we reaffirm our confidence in these technical experts, men and women who come from many regions, many backgrounds, and many perspectives.”
17. Med shot, delegates
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Michele Sison, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“These attacks are not intended to get us closer to the truth; they are intended to hide the truth. They are not designed to get us closer to accountability for chemical weapons use in Syria. They are designed to shield the perpetrators for some of the worst war crimes of our century.”
19. Wide shot, Security Council
The Russian Federation vetoed today (24 Oct) a draft resolution to extend the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) for the use of chemical weapons in Syrian describing the vote as putting “the carriage before the horse.”
Prior to the vote, Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzya put forward a motion to delay the vote until the 7th of November in order to give Council members time to discuss the upcoming report set to be published by the JIM on Thursday (26 Oct). He said today’s vote was intended to show Russia in a negative light knowing that Russia would veto the draft resolution while attempting to mislead the public that the future of the JIM depends on this extension.
In response, British ambassador Matthew Rycroft said last year when there was uncertainty about the future of the joint investigative mechanism, “its staff left, its capability dwindled, and it was unable to operate for some months.” He added, “The only beneficiaries of a significant similar delay again this time around will be the users of chemical weapons in Syria, Da’esh and the Syrian regime and their backers.”
The Russian ambassador asked Council Members why the extension of the JIM’s mandate should take place two days before the publication of its report on the chemical weapons attack in Khan Shaykhun. He said the United States (US) and its allies had already “determined who is guilty” in the use of chemical weapons in Syria even before an investigation took place sighting the US strike on the Sha’irat airbase. He said the US is “not interested in the lack of evidence or the fact that the methodology used (by the JIM) was laughable.” Nebenzya quoted US ambassador Nikki Haley as saying that “we can’t go pick and choose who we want to be at fault and who we don’t” adding that he fully agrees with this point. He said the United State has “already chosen who is guilty.”
US ambassador Michele Sison said the JIM is comprised of internationally recognized, independent experts mandated with investigating confirmed cases of chemical weapons use and yet is still under attack by the Syrian Government’s allies. She said, “The question we must ask ourselves is whether the JIM is being attacked because it has failed in its job to determine the truth in Syria or because its conclusions have been politically inconvenient for some Council Members.”
Sison expressed the United States’ deep regret that one member of the Council put “political considerations over the misery of Syrian civilians who have suffered and died from the use of chemical weapons” by vetoing the text. She stressed that the reasons offered “fool no one” adding that her delegation rejects “this cynicism” and reaffirms its confidence in the JIM. The US ambassador noted that attacks on the Mechanism “are not intended to get us closer to the truth; they are intended to hide the truth.” She said, “They are not designed to get us closer to accountability for chemical weapons use in Syria; they are designed to shield the perpetrators for some of the worst war crimes of our century.”
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