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8073rd Security Council Meeting: The situation in the Middle East
Following a negative vote cast by the Russian Federation today, the Security Council failed to renew the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), formed to determine the perpetrators of chemical-weapons attacks in Syria.
The Council rejected the draft resolution following a vote of 11 in favour to 2 against (Bolivia, Russian Federation), with 2 abstaining (China, Kazakhstan). Had it been adopted, it would have extended the Mechanism’s mandate — established by resolution 2235 (2015) and set to expire on 17 November — for a further one year.
In an earlier procedural action, the Council defeated the Russian Federation’s proposal to adjourn the meeting by 4 votes in favour to 8 opposed, with 3 abstentions.
Speaking before those actions, the Russian Federation’s representative proposed adjourning the meeting until 7 November, saying his delegation wanted to wait for the Mechanism’s report on the chemical attacks carried out in Um Housh and Khan Shaykhun, Syria, before extending its mandate. Only two days remained until its release, he noted, emphasizing that the Council should discuss the Mechanism’s work and then vote on renewing its mandate. Doing it the other way would be putting the cart before the horse, he said, insisting that tabling the draft today was intended to paint his country in a bad light. The Russian Federation expected an honest, impartial, complete investigation, and would accept clear, incontrovertible evidence of guilt. The United States had already determined who was guilty, and its actions were politicizing the issue, he added.
Bolivia’s representative, while condemning any use of chemical weapons, said technical concerns raised about the Mechanism must be resolved and its report evaluated before its mandate could be renewed. Asking why draft resolutions were tabled in the knowledge that they would be vetoed, he insisted that he had not cast his negative vote against the Mechanism but as an appeal for greater efforts for unity in the Council.
Ethiopia’s representative said he had voted in favour of the draft resolution, but those responsible for the use of chemical weapons should be punished on the basis of robust and conclusive evidence. However, it was impossible to overlook the concerns voiced by the Russian Federation and Bolivia, which was the reason why politicization must be avoided. Cautioning that today’s outcome should not be interpreted as an a priori endorsement of the Mechanism’s report, he emphasized that its final version was expected to establish clear responsibility for the two incidents mentioned.
Other supporters of the draft resolution claimed that an early vote was in the interest of continuity in the Mechanism’s work and of ensuring impartiality in the critical task of preventing impunity for the use of a terrible weapon. The representative of the United States argued that the Mechanism was under attack by Syria’s allies in an attempt to hide the truth and to shield the perpetrators of some of the worst war crimes of the century.
Most of those in favour of the draft called for salvaging Council unity and renewing the Mechanism’s mandate at a later date, before it expired. Japan’s representative said he had listened carefully to the statements of the draft’s opponents, which gave a cause for hope that renewal was still possible. However, Uruguay’s representative expressed fear that the pattern of the delayed 2016 extension was repeating itself, recalling that the Mechanism was been unable to operate during that period and many of its experienced staff had left.
Those abstaining from the vote prioritized Council unity, with China’s representative arguing that the desire of some Council members to continue consultations on improving the Mechanism should have been accommodated in order to maintain unity.
Other speakers today were representatives of the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Italy, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Senegal, Uruguay, Egypt, and France.
The meeting began at 10:27 a.m. and ended at 11:50 a.m.
