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Syria rejects report of OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism

Friday, 27 October 2017
Presenter: 
The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Location: 
Damascus

Damascus- SANA

The Syrian Arab Republic rejects the seventh report of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-United Nations (UN) Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), which was released Thursday 26 October 2017, and stresses that this report came as implementation to instructions from the American administration and Western countries in order to exert more political pressures and threats to Syria’s sovereignty.

Since the establishment of this Mechanism, Syria has repeatedly expressed that the Joint Investigative Mechanism needs to carry out its work in a professional and impartial manner, and stressed that if the Mechanism’s reports were prepared in advance by the Western intelligence services they would not be effective nor persuasive. Noting that the manner of the Mechanism investigative procedures showed the dominance of Western countries over it, and over its methods of work.

Syria has cooperated with the JIM and did not delay or hesitate to work with them in various fields, including providing accurate information required to prove the fact that the terrorist groups had used chemical weapons, with the direct and indirect support of regional and international parties, particularly the US, France, and United Kingdom, and their tools in the region such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and other countries.

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified that one of the indicators of the pressure exerted by these countries on the joint investigative mechanism and on the Fact-Finding Mission, is that these countries voted against a draft resolution submitted by Russia and Iran to the executive council of OPCW, calling to send investigation committees to Khan Shaykhun and Al-Shayrat airport.

When the Joint Investigative Mechanism listened to the calls of the Syrian Arab Republic and the states that wanted to show the truth of what happened in Khan Shaykhun, the decision to visit Al-Shayrat airport came late. And the investigations revealed that the JIM was not serious in conducting a professional and impartial investigation, and did not take the necessary samples in order to cover the American aggression against this airport, which is essential in the Syrian military efforts to combat terrorists affiliated with "ISIS" and "Alnusra Front", which both are listed as terrorist entities by the Security Council.

The Mechanism and the Fact-Finding Mission refused to go to the scene of the incident in Khan Shaykhun to find out what really had happened on the ground, citing unacceptable pretexts, the report of the JIM did not hide, because of Western pressure on them.

The American and Western hysteria in insisting on the extension of the Joint Investigation Mechanism before the release of the report, showed the real intentions of those who wanted to extend the mandate of this mechanism at any price as a reward for the forgery, which dominated the work of this mechanism in its previous report and in this report, which serve the terrorists and cover the crimes of their excessive use of internationally banned chemical weapons.

The Syrian Arab republic strongly condemns the direct and indirect accusations against Syria which were included in this report and the previous reports since they represent a falsification of the truth and distortion of all accurate information about what happened in Khan Shaykhun. Syria also condemns the adoption of the Joint Investigation Mechanism to the statements of the criminals who committed this unethical act in Khan Shaykhun and suspicious witnesses provided by the terrorists to the OPCW and the Joint Investigation Mechanism, in addition to what they called open sources, all of these reflects the comicality of this investigation, which lacked the minimum credibility and transparency standards.

While reiterating Syria’s complete commitment to the Convention of Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and that it no longer has any toxic chemicals banned in accordance with the Convention. And stressing its consideration that the use of chemical weapons an immoral and condemnable act anywhere, at any time, and under any circumstances.

The establishment of fictitious Mechanisms, by some international organizations and the Security Council, to serve the objectives of Western countries, is detrimental to the credibility of international action and threatens its system and its role in solving the problems and challenges facing our world, at this dangerous stage, in which terrorism threatens the security and stability of the world and does not contribute to the prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.