The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, on Wednesday 21 April welcomed the decision adopted the same day by the members of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which suspends Syria’s voting rights and privileges due to its non-compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
Of the 136 countries that took part in the vote, 87 voted in favour, 15, including Syria, Russia, China and Iran, voted against and 34 abstained.
“The Decision is a strong message by the international community against impunity for the use of chemical weapons, in compliance with International Law and International Humanitarian Law”, the High Representative said in a statement. In his view, this decision is an appropriate response to the clear violation of the core principles of the Convention by Syria, more than seven years after the adoption of the United Nations Security Council resolution 2118 (2013) on the destruction of the Syrian chemical weapons programme.
Borrell also urged Damascus to reveal the full extent of its chemical weapons programme and return to full compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)