UN report on Syria chemical arms unconvincing: Russia

Russia says a UN-led investigation accusing the Syrian government of chemical attacks is “unconvincing” and full of contradictions which fails to present solid evidence to support the claim.

The report has been compiled by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN’s Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM). It alleges that Syrian forces carried out three chlorine gas attacks on villages in 2014 and 2015.

The finding of the investigation said in one of the alleged attacks, Syrian military helicopters dropped “barrel bombs” containing chlorine gas against the village of Qmenas in the northwestern province of Idlib in March 2015.

The authors, however, said they “could not confirm the names of the individuals who had command and control of the helicopter squadrons at the time.”

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin took on the document at a UN Security Council session on Thursday, pointing out a host of irregularities and unsubstantiated claims and calling it generally “unconvincing.”

Churkin, meanwhile, reminded that the investigators had also entirely thrown out the Syrian government’s explanations that the spill of chlorine might have been caused by a traffic accident as it was being transported to the village by militants.

The Russian ambassador also called on the Damascus government to launch its own investigation in the claims. 

During the Thursday session, Britain and France for more anti-Syria sanctions as UN resolutions provided for such punitive measure in response to the use of chemical weapons.

However, Russia argued that no sanctions could be slapped on Syria as the UN-led investigation suffers from serious shortcomings.

The Russian diplomat said the findings are “not definitive, have no legally binding force and cannot serve as accusatory conclusions for taking legal decisions.”

The use of chlorine as a weapon is prohibited under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention. Syria joined the treaty in 2013.

On October 26, the Syrian Foreign Ministry issued a statement and rejected the investigation, saying Damascus fully honors its commitments under the convention.

SS