CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HOLDS A PLENARY UNDER THE PRESIDENCY OF SYRIA

The Conference on Disarmament this morning held a public plenary, in which it heard a statement by the Group of 21 on the prevention of an arms race in outer space.

Hussam Edin Aala, Permanent Representative of Syria and President of the Conference on Disarmament, opened by saying that the draft programme of work he had presented to the delegations on 12 June would be discussed during an informal plenary meeting later today. Following the informal discussions and further bilateral consultations, the President intended to present the next draft at a plenary meeting on Friday, 23 June.

The Group of 21, in the statement delivered by Venezuela, expressed deep concern over the increasing threat of weaponization of outer space, including the development and deployment of anti-ballistic-missile defence systems. Those, inter alia, contributed to the further weakening of an international climate conducive to the promotion of disarmament and the strengthening of international security. China said that, given a recent statement by the leader of a certain big country that the country would build an outer space force, the prevention of weaponization of outer space was a very urgent task.

Following the statement by Bulgaria on behalf of the European Union, in which Bulgaria informed the President that the European Union and its Member States did not intend to participate in the informal consultations on a programme of work under the current Presidency, the President invited the Secretariat to clarify the legal status of statements made on behalf of the European Union in the Conference on Disarmament. A member of the Secretariat explained that it was a common practice for the delegations to take floor on behalf of other delegations. The European Union was not a Member State of the Conference on Disarmament nor had it been invited to participate in the work of the Conference as a non-Member State. Egypt raised the question of the inclusion in the plenary record of the Conference on Disarmament of the interventions by Bulgaria on behalf of the European Union, which the Secretariat would clarify after examining the practice of the past.

Canada said that it could not join consensus on the proposed programme of work and reiterated its regret at Syria’s assumption of the Presidency, given its contempt of the international disarmament norms and its use of chemical weapons against its own people. Australia added that it would not engage in a discussion on draft programme of work and said that a programme of work adopted under the Presidency of a country which used chemical weapons, undermined the legitimacy of the Conference itself. France also did not intend to participate in informal consultations, said its representative, adding that the Syrian regime did not have the moral authority or the political legitimacy to carry the duties of the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament.

Speaking in his national capacity, Mr. Aala deplored the use of the term “Syrian regime” which was contrary to diplomatic rules and the rules of the United Nations. The accusations of the use of the chemical weapons had become like a broken record - repeated over and again for political purposes and were in fact a pretext to launch illegal military attacks against sovereign States.

Russia stressed that, rather than reaching conclusions in advance, true authors of chemical weapons attacks must be identified and brought to justice in accordance with the procedures of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The United Kingdom noted that Russia and the Syrian regime attempted to cast a doubt over the use of chemical weapons in Syria and the findings of both the fact-finding mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and of the Joint Investigative Mechanism, and firmly stated that there would be attribution and accountability for those who used chemical weapons in Syria and anywhere else.


The next plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament will take place on Friday, 23 June at 10 a.m.


Statements

HUSSAM EDIN AALA, Permanent Representative of Syria and President of the Conference, said in his opening statement that discussions on the draft programme of work, circulated last week, would be held in an informal plenary meeting later today. Depending on those informal discussions and further bilateral consultations that might be needed in an effort to secure consensus on the document, the President said that he would present the next draft at a plenary session on Friday, 23 June.

Venezuela, speaking on behalf of the Group of 21, addressed the issue of the prevention of an arms race in outer space and reiterated that outer space and other celestial bodies were the common heritage of humankind and must be used, explored and utilized for the benefit and interest of all humankind in a spirit of cooperation. The growing use of outer space required all States to take actions to ensure greater transparency, confidence building measures and better information, while all States with major space capabilities had a special responsibility to contribute actively to the objective of the peaceful use of outer space and of the prevention of an arms race in outer space. The Group of 21 was deeply concerned over the increasing threat of weaponization of outer space, including the negative implications of the development and deployment of anti-ballistic-missile defence systems, which had contributed, inter alia, to the further weakening of an international climate conducive to the promotion of disarmament and the strengthening of international security.

The prevention of an arms race in outer space had assumed greater urgency because of legitimate concerns that existing legal instruments were inadequate to deter further militarization of outer space, or prevent its weaponization, while the legal regime applicable to outer space did not in and of itself guarantee the prevention of an arms race in outer space. Thus, the Group of 21 stressed the need to consolidate and reinforce that legal regime and enhance its effectiveness, and that the Conference on Disarmament should start negotiations on matters related to the prevention of an arms race in outer space without delay. The Group of 21 welcomed the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of resolution 71/27 titled “No first placement of weapons in outer space” on 4 December, and the resolution 72/250 titled “Further practical measures for the prevention of an arms race in outer space” on 24 December 2017 which urged the Conference on Disarmament to immediately commence negotiations of an internationally binding legal instrument on the matter. The Group of 21 looked forward to substantive discussions on the issue of the prevention of an arms race in outer space in subsidiary bodies

China said that recently, a leader of a certain big country had announced that his country would build an outer space force, which showed that the prevention of weaponization of outer space was a very urgent task.

Bulgaria, speaking on behalf of the European Union, informed the President that the European Union and its Member States did not intend to participate in the informal consultations today or later this week. The European Union was not in a position to engage in any programme of work under the current Presidency as explained in earlier statements. The European Union looked forward to the assumption of the Presidency by Tunisia on 25 June.

HUSSAM EDIN AALA, Permanent Representative of Syria and President of the Conference, reiterated his request to the Secretariat concerning the legal status of statements made on behalf of the European Union in the Conference on Disarmament.

A member of the Secretariat of the Conference on Disarmament said that it was a common practice in the Conference for the delegations to take the floor on behalf of other delegations. Bulgaria, which currently held the Presidency of the European Union, spoke on behalf of the European Union Member States in the Conference on Disarmament. The European Union was not a Member State of the Conference on Disarmament and had not been invited to participate in the work of the Conference as a non-Member State.

HUSSAM EDIN AALA, Permanent Representative of Syria and President of the Conference, said that according to the clarification by the Secretariat, the European Union was not a recognized regional group within the Conference on Disarmament.

Canada said it could not join consensus on the proposed programme of work. Canada had repeatedly expressed its regret at Syria’s assumption of the Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament given its contempt of international disarmament norms and its use of chemical weapons against its own people. Canada acknowledged that the rules for the rotation of the Presidency had brought Syria at the front of this chamber through no merit of its own. From the outset, it was clear that under this Presidency, it would not be business as usual in the Conference on Disarmament, as during this surreal period, the Conference had experienced many troubles, including the extreme polarization of delegations which had eroded much of the good will with which the Conference started 2018 session and put at risk the delicate balance achieved in CD/2119 and CD/2126. Canada welcomed the conclusion of the past four weeks which was a sad affair that had tarnished the reputation of the Conference on Disarmament. Canada reverted to the words of witness of the use of chemical weapons in Syria to highlight the gravity of the situation and stressed that their suffering must always be remembered.

HUSSAM EDIN AALA, Permanent Representative of Syria and President of the Conference, said that the statements by the previous two speakers were in contradiction with the Rules of Procedure of the Conference on Disarmament, because the calls on the Presidency to close down the work of the Conference were contrary to the Rules of Procedure.

Australia reiterated that it was always in favour of adopting a programme of work and breaking the deadlock in the Conference on Disarmament, however, Australia would not engage in a discussion on the draft programme of work proposed by the President. A programme of work adopted under the Presidency of a country which used chemical weapons undermined the legitimacy of the Conference on Disarmament, concluded Australia.

France confirmed that France did not intend to participate in informal consultations and would not make statements on any programme of work under the current Presidency, for reasons already explained. France had already highlighted the very special situation to which the rotation of the Presidency by alphabetic order had led to, and said that the Syrian regime did not have the moral authority nor the political legitimacy to carry out the duties of the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament. France noted that the questions raised by the Syrian regime on the legal position of the European Union in the Conference on Disarmament were a manipulation to draw the attention away from the question of the Presidency of the Conference. France rejected any attempt to use this forum for political purposes and called upon the Syrian Presidency to remain impartial, professional and neutral.

HUSSAM EDIN AALA, Permanent Representative of Syria and President of the Conference, called on the French regime to also exercise restraint and said that the question on the legal status of the statements made by the European Union was a legitimate one. The President had not prevented any delegations from making any statements in this room and had shown utmost professionalism with the right of any delegations to express themselves, even if they failed to respect the rules of diplomacy and the rules of the United Nations.

Speaking in his national capacity and in response to the representative of the “French regime and other speakers”, Mr. Aala deplored the use of the term “Syrian regime” contrary to diplomatic rules and the rules of the United Nations. The colonial protectorate relations were over, he said; Syria had expelled the French occupation 72 years ago and no longer needed their sermons and lessons. The accusations of the use of the chemical weapons had become like a broken record - repeated over and again for political purposes, and to misinform and prevent objective and professional investigations into the alleged incidents. In fact, such accusations were a pretext to launch illegal military attacks against sovereign States, concluded Mr. Aala.

Egypt sought the clarification from the Secretariat concerning the inclusion in the plenary record of the Conference on Disarmament of the interventions by Bulgaria on behalf of the European Union.

A member of the Secretariat of the Conference on Disarmament responded that time was needed to examine the practice of the past, and to research the issue of regional representation in the Conference.

HUSSAM EDIN AALA, Permanent Representative of Syria and President of the Conference, said that the possibility of reflecting statements by Bulgaria on behalf of the European Union in the record of the Conference, was subject to the clarifications by the Secretariat.

A member of the Secretariat of the Conference on Disarmament reminded the delegations of the programme of meetings of subsidiary bodies during the week of 19 June.

Russia asked the delegations to avoid the politicization of this forum as it further complicated the work in this room and the interactions between delegations. Russia noted that the claims that Damascus did not have the moral right or legitimacy to hold the Presidency, was something new in international law. Russia stressed that true authors of chemical weapons attacks must be identified and brought to justice, which must be done in accordance with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons procedures, rather than reaching conclusions in advance. The work of the Investigation Commission must be improved and brought in line with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons standards, insisted Russia.

France specified that France had not questioned the legitimacy of any delegation to carry out the Presidency of the Conference, but it did question the moral authority and political legitimacy of the delegation in question. France stressed the need to combat impunity for the use of chemical weapons and said that the report on the use of chemical weapons issued recently by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had confirmed the use of chemical substances or chemical agents in the Syrian conflict. Following the attacks in Eastern Ghouta, Syria and Russia had continued to create obstacles to the work of the fact-finding mission to Douma by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. France stressed that the fact-finding mission was tasked with examining the nature of chemical substances used, but not to establish responsibility - only the Joint Inspection Mechanism of the United Nations had the authority to do so. France stressed that this Mechanism had established the responsibility of Syria on at least four occasions, and regretted that the mandate of the Mechanism had not been extended due to Russia vetoing such a resolution three times.

United Kingdom said that both Russia and the Syrian regime had attempted to cast a doubt over the use of chemical weapons in Syria, on the investigations into the use of chemical weapons over the past four years, and on the findings of both the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons fact-finding mission and the Joint Investigative Mechanism. Both had reached conclusions on the use of chemical weapons in Syria, while the Joint Investigative Mechanism had been able to attribute the use of chemical weapons to the Syrian regime on a number of instances, along with the use of chemical weapons by other parties too. It was important not to cloud with confusion the work of the bodies which were in charge of establishing who used chemical weapons and when, insisted the United Kingdom. It was unfortunate that Russia was claiming that it was supportive of another mechanism on chemical weapons when it had been Russia that had vetoed the renewal of the Joint Investigative Mechanism on three occasions. The United Kingdom stood very firm on this issue, there would be attribution for those who used chemical weapons in Syria and anywhere else, and who would eventually be held to account.

HUSSAM EDIN AALA, Permanent Representative of Syria and President of the Conference, speaking in his national capacity in response to the erroneous statement by France and the United Kingdom, stressed that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons investigations had not attempted to identify the authors of chemical weapons attacks, so France was once again pre-empting the conclusion for political purposes. Syria reminded France that it had been Syria which requested the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to dispatch a fact-finding mission into the use of chemical weapons in Douma and had not put any barrier to the work of the investigators. Their work had been jeopardized and delayed by the tri-partite and illegal attack on Syria by the United States, United Kingdom and France, in violation of the United Nations Charter. This was a good example of the manipulation of the use of chemical weapons for political purposes by the delegations in this room. These were discussions to be held in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, rather than taking the Conference on Disarmament hostage, stressed Syria.


For use of the information media; not an official record

DC18.31E