5 December 2024
Mr. President,
Distinguished Members of the Security Council,
I thank Council members for the opportunity to brief you once again on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2118 (2013) on the elimination of the chemical weapons programme of the Syrian Arab Republic.
Before I begin my part of the briefing, I wish to state the United Nation’s concern regarding the deteriorating security situation in Syria and reiterate the appeal by UN Special Envoy for Syria, Mr. Geir Pedersen, in this Council just two days ago for de-escalation and calm, and for all parties to respect their obligations under international law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Since the last consideration of this matter by the Council, and consistent with established practice, the Office for Disarmament Affairs has been in regular contact with its counterparts in the OPCW Technical Secretariat on activities related to resolution 2118.
Mr. President,
Since the Council’s previous meeting on this matter, the OPCW Declaration Assessment Team (or DAT) has continued its efforts to clarify all outstanding issues regarding the initial declaration and subsequent declarations submitted by the Syrian Arab Republic.
Following the delays reported at the Council’s previous meeting on the matter, the twenty-eighth round of consultations between the DAT and the Syrian National Authority took place between 10 and 18 September 2024. I am informed that during this round of consultations, the DAT conducted technical meetings with experts from the Syrian National Authority, during which the status of outstanding issue was discussed. As of the date of this report, the DAT continues to analyse the information gathered during the twenty-eighth round of consultations from the documents submitted by the Syrian National Authority, interviews, and explanations provided by Syrian experts.
The DAT has also continued to follow-up with the Syrian National Authority with regard to the results of the analysis of the samples collected in May 2024, in order for the DAT to proceed with its assessment of the relevant outstanding issues. Through a note verbale dated 11 November 2024, the Syrian National Authority provided explanations of the results of the analysis of these samples.
The DAT is currently assessing the information provided and will report on the outcome of this assessment in due time. I have also been informed that, through a note verbale dated 1 November 2024, the DAT requested the Syrian National Authority to identify, at the earliest, among the more than 1,000 pages of information submitted during the twenty-eighth round of consultations, those elements relevant to the explanations it had provided, to progress in resolving outstanding issues. As of the date of this report, the OPCW Technical Secretariat had not received the Syrian National Authority’s response to this request.