OPCW - pengarna i sjön?

Exekutiva rådet i OPCW höll sitt 87:de möte den 13-16 mars tidigare i år. Salisbury diskuterades, men också Syrien. Ett 70-tal dokument producerades inför mötet. Detta är alltså tre veckor innan den misstänkta attacken i Douma den 7 april. Här följer utdrag ur dessa dokument.

Bilden som träder fram är - inte oväntat - att samma parter som strider i Syrien fortsätter att göra det i OPCWs mötesrum, en tydlig politisering av organisationens arbete, en veritabel pajkastning som tycks ha pågått i tre år. Missilattacken - rätt eller fel - är ett omyndigförklarande av Rådets arbete.

Intressant är OPCWs senaste progress-rapport från Syrien, som är en del av dokumentationen. Där framgår att 25 av 27 fabriker har förstörts, och att arbetet med de sista två har påbörjats. Väst-koalitionens missilattack mot kemverkstäder är alltså i direkt konflikt med OPCWs arbete. Det är troligt att medlemsländerna kommer att älta detta fram och tillbaka in absurdum under kommande möten långt in i framtiden. 



Det framstår klart och tydligt att frågan om kemvapen i Syrien är glödhet i Rådet, minst lika het som Salisbury. Frankrike, Holland, Sverige, mfl drar som saliverande kamphundar i ett koppel som tycks vara spänt till max. Man måste verkligen fråga sig två gånger hur Syriska regeringen i ett sådant läge skulle välja att utföra en kemattack i själva slutskedet av rensningen av Ghouta. Mot denna bakgrund blir bevis såklart extra viktiga. Men attacken från koalitionen är välsignalerad inom OPCW och borde inte förvåna någon.

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Utdrag ur OPCWs egen progress-rapport (den 54:de i ordningen) i Syrien från den 23 mars

https://www.opcw.org/fileadmin/OPCW/EC/88/en/ec88dg01_e_.pdf

This, the fifty-fourth monthly report, is therefore submitted in accordance with the aforementioned Council decisions and includes information relevant to the period from 24 February 2018 to 23 March 2018. 
Hur kan de 53 tidigare rapporterna missat att tillverkning av kemiska vapen fortfarande pågår?

The Secretariat has verified the destruction of 25 of the 27 chemical weapons production facilities (CWPFs) declared by the Syrian Arab Republic. As previously reported, in November 2017 the Secretariat conducted an initial inspection of the last two stationary above-ground facilities in accordance with paragraph 44 of Part V of the Verification Annex to the Chemical Weapons Convention (hereinafter “the Convention”).

Once the remaining required arrangements are finalised, destruction is expected to take two to three months, subject to security conditions.

[T]he Secretariat, together with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), has been making all the required arrangements to assist the Syrian Arab Republic in the destruction of the facilities located at these two sites.

On 19 March 2018, the Syrian Arab Republic submitted to the Council its fifty-second monthly report (EC-88/P/NAT.1, dated 21 March 2018) regarding activities on its territory related to the destruction of its CWPFs, as required by paragraph 19 of EC-M-34/DEC.1.

As stated in previous reports, all of the chemicals declared by the Syrian Arab Republic that were removed from its territory in 2014 have now been destroyed.

Medlemsländernas individuella uttalanden om Syrien

Ryssland
Ryssland går ut väldigt hårt:
We have heard another statement by the American delegation regarding new accusations alleging that the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic continues to use chemical weapons, specifically chlorine, in Eastern Ghouta. As per usual, no facts confirming this have been provided. It is known that there are no conclusions on this matter from the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM). Again, there are references to the reports of certain non-government organisations such as the notorious “White Helmets”. We know all too well who holds the hand that feeds these “reputable” NGOs. The United States and Great Britain (a total of USD 23 million in aid provided since 2014, and a total of GBP 9 million is allocated through 2020, respectively) are among the key donors of the “White Helmets”. The total volume of foreign government financing in 2013 – 2016 is estimated at USD 150 million. It is completely obvious that he who pays the piper calls the tune. This pseudo-humanitarian organisation serves the interests of its financial sponsors.
Därefter följer en del blame game.

Holland
Holland tar upp Khan Sheikoun och är missnöjda med OPCWs utredning.
In a few weeks, a year will have passed after the terrible cw-attack on Khan Sheikhoun on April 4th of 2017. And in spite of the very clear conclusions in the JIM report of October last year, which provided overwhelming evidence that the Syrian Arab Republic was responsible for the attack, the international community, including this august body, has not been able to take any action against those responsible. 
Syrien anklagas för att ljuga inför OPCW.
We are convinced that the members of the Council, like us, see the true character of the Syrian submissions: they are obvious attempts to hide the truth about its chemical weapons programme. Gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies remain and need without any delay to be clarified.

Iran
Iran tar upp motståndarsidans användande av kemiska vapen.
International concerns grow about the threat of chemical weapons falling into the hands of terrorist groups, inter alia Daesh and Al-Nusrah Front, who have used or have shown their obvious intent to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer, or use chemical weapons, and it could distinctly spell disaster for humanity.
Syrien får beröm för sin tillmötesgående attityd.
Damascus in acceding to the Convention has evidently indicated its national will to abide by international norms and rules. Having been confronted with the critical conditions, the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic has precisely shown its positive approach by completing the destruction of its chemical weapons and related facilities. It is worth mentioning that the Syrian National Authority has never hesitated to provide all necessary information upon the request by the Technical Secretariat. In this regard, I would like to point out, for example, the recent report by the Director-General on the status of implementation of Executive Council decision with reference number EC-87/DG.15 (dated 23 February 2018), in which it was explicitly stated there that the Syrian Arab Republic has provided the necessary cooperation during the inspections and provided access to the selected areas for the inspectors within both round of inspections in Barzah and Jamraya. Moreover, it was noted that the inspection team didn’t observe any activities inconsistent with the obligations under the Convention.

Ryssland (igen)
Eliminering av kemvapenfabriker i Syrien sägs vara i sitt slutskede:
We welcome efforts by the Technical Secretariat and Syria to eliminate Syria’s two remaining chemical weapons production facilities, which were inaccessible earlier.
OPCWs inspektioner tycks vara täta och omfatta alla typer av kemiska anläggningar.
We took note of information from the Technical Secretariat regarding the two previous inspections of the Syrian Research and Development Centre in Barzeh and Jamrai, which showed that the centre was not carrying out any activities prohibited under the CWC. It begs the question, how many more inspections of the centre have to be carried out to finally stop raising the issue of the need for monitoring? 
Ryssland noterar att James Mattis erkänner att de saknar bevis.
We would like to remind you about the recent quite eloquent admissions made by the Pentagon chief James Mattis, who, according to the February 8, 2018 EC-87/NAT.18 page 3 edition of Newsweek, said that the Defence Department had no proof that the Syrian government had used sarin.
Macron och hans röda linje omnämns.
What we hear from Paris is also indicative. President Emmanuel Macron has drawn the “red lines,” promising to order an attack on the “Syrian regime” the instant he is given evidence that the Syrian authorities did use chemical weapons. But as he said later, France still has no documented facts that would corroborate the use of prohibited chemical weapons against civilians in Syria.
Därefter följer en massiv blame game för alla kemvapen USA har använt, gömt eller lämnat efter sig runt om i världen.

Pakistan
Enligt Pakistan finns en del grus i OPCWs maskineri rörande Syrien.
We also note the latest report of the Declaration Assessment Team. The DAT has been engaged in Syria for almost three years now. It is our hope that this matter will soon be brought to an acceptable closure. Tasks related to the Convention and compliance with its provisions must not acquire an open-ended character for that cannot be regarded as an effective element in its operation.

Lettland
Lettland är märkbart irriterade på Syrien.
This also once again highlights the relevance of the Convention and the need to further implement and fully adhere to its principles. The breaches of the Chemical Weapons Convention by Syrian Arab Republic is unacceptable and deserve a strong condemnation and response from the international community. In this respect, I would like to highlight that Latvia fully supports the persistent work of the Declaration Assessment Team on the initial declaration by the Syrian Arab Republic. Unresolved issues need to be thoroughly addressed. In the grim light of recent allegations of use of chemical weapons in Syria, we see it is also paramount to continue the important work of the Fact Finding Mission in Syria. We express our full support to the continued efforts of the FFM.

Vietnam
Vietnam kastar ingen skuld, men är oroliga över bruket av kemvapen i Syrien. (Skannat dokument)

Sverige
Även Sverige saknar et officiellt skulbeläggande av Syrien för Khan Sheikoum.
It has now been almost a year since the horrific sarin attack at Khan Sheykhoun. It is highly regrettable that this organization - charged with the prohibition of chemical weapons - has not yet been able to condemn this attack, which was attributed by the JIM to the Syrian regime.
Syrien sägs brista i samarbetet.
Furthermore, with regard to the Syrian initial chemical weapons declarations, we have taken note of the latest report by the Declaration Assessment Team, including its findings of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) in Barzah. It is high time for the Syrian regime to cooperate more proactively with the OPCW. All of the required documentation needed to address the many remaining ambiguities and open issues must be provided to the OPCW

Estland
Estland gör en poäng av OPCWs lama hantering av ansvarsfrågan kring användandet av kemvapen i Syrienkonflikten.
Second, we deeply regret that no agreement could be reached on the renewal of the mandate of the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), what undermines attempts to ensure accountability for the confirmed use of chemical weapons in Syria. Estonia fully supports the work of the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) to continue investigating allegations of use of chemical weapons, and the work of the Declaration Assessment Team (DAT) until the Council determines that all concerns regarding the possession and use of chemical weapon by the Syrian Arab Republic have been resolved. 

USA
USA menar att OPCW är under belägring.
The reality -- twenty years later, the OPCW and the Convention are under siege.
Skuld kastas på både Syriens regering och ISIS.
One hundred years after the horrors of World War One, the Syrian Government has repeatedly and systematically dropped chlorine barrel bombs from helicopters on opposition-controlled areas. Echoing the horrors of Ghouta, the Syrian Government dropped an aerial bomb filled with sarin gas on Khan Shaykhun. And the so-called “Islamic State” has introduced mustard gas into the Syrian civil war, raising the global spectre of chemical weapons use by non-State actors.
USA låter inget vara oklart i deras syn på skuldfrågan:
As the United States of America has underscored repeatedly, the Russian Federation‘s actions to shield the Syrian Government from international accountability make it complicit in the Syrian Arab Republic’s use of chemical weapons. Moreover, the Russian Federation’s actions both here and at the United Nations Security Council have signalled to the Assad regime that it can continue to use chemical weapons with impunity. Under such conditions, the recent credible allegations of chemical weapons use by the Syrian Arab Republic can surprise no one. Nor is there a problem of insufficient evidence. The Russian Federation has demonstrated time and again that there is no body of evidence – no matter how damning -which would persuade Moscow to agree to, or act upon, any international finding that its Syrian ally used chemical weapons. The Russian Federation has betrayed the Chemical Weapons Convention and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2118 (2013). EC-87/NAT.8 page 3 The Russian Federation, however, is only one member of this Council and wields no veto vote here. There are 40 other members of this Council. We have it within our power to address the Khan Shaykhun attack and the broader Syrian chemical weapons crisis. The Syrian Arab Republic has shown itself to be an unrepentant, repeat offender. In escalating its use of chemical weapons from chlorine to sarin nerve agent on 4 April 2017, it has shown it will stop at nothing. This Council, this Organisation, cannot and must not allow this to continue with impunity.
Alliansen med Frankrike är redan formad, att just dessa två går till senare attack är inte förvånande:
This is also why France inaugurated, and the United States of America joined, the “International Partnership against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons” on 23 January. To date, 25 States have endorsed the partnership’s declaration of principles.
USA är frustrerade över Rådets oförmåga.
Almost a year ago, on 4 April, the entire world learned the name of a town in northern Syria called Khan Shaykhun, where more than one hundred people suffered a ghastly death, murdered by the nerve agent sarin. What has been the international response to this grotesque tragedy? So far, only silence.

Tyskland
Tyskland är tydliga i sin ståndpunkt i skuldfrågan. Syriska regeringen lever inte upp till sina åtaganden.
At the same time, we have learned from the findings of the OPCW-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) that the Syrian Arab Republic used chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun in April 2017 and that the Syrian Arab Armed Forces have used chlorine as a chemical weapon in at least three cases. We are also deeply concerned about the continuing use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic, including in Eastern Ghouta.
Tyskland anser att de inte får valuta för sina pengar. Men de har inte ens satsat motsvarande en (1) Tomahawk-missil.
In November 2017, Germany contributed more than EUR 700,000 towards the destruction of the last two declared chemical weapons production facilities in the Syrian Arab Republic. Linked to our contribution is the expectation that the Syrian Arab Republic will fully honour its obligations as a State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention and will finally become a country free of chemical weapons.

Schweiz
Schweiz lägger inte konkret skulden på den syriska regeringen, men menar att den brustit i sina åtaganden.
Furthermore, with regard to the Syrian file, the latest report of the Declaration Evaluation Team (DAT) reports some developments; however, the outstanding issues continue to increase and the vast majority remain unresolved. This is unacceptable. Recent documents transmitted by the Syrian Arab Republic confirm that the Scientific and Research Studies Center has participated in activities associated with the Syrian chemical weapons programme that ought to be declared under Articles III and VI of the Convention.

EU
Syriens regering har brustit i sina åtaganden, enligt EU. De anser att det finns risk att kemagenter återstår.
The EU expresses grave concern that The Syrian Arab Republic has not engaged substantively with the Technical Secretariat to resolve the numerous gaps and discrepancies contained in its CWC Declarations. Even today, more than four years after the Syrian Arab Republic’s accession to the Convention, the list of outstanding unresolved issues, questions, and ambiguities remains long, and has increased over time. In addition, evidence found by the Secretariat points to a large number of non-declared CW agents. To date, the Syrian Arab Republic has failed to provide clear evidence that it has irreversibly dismantled its chemical weapons programme and put its chemical weapons beyond use. The EU is deeply concerned that the Syrian Arab Republic still possesses and is using chemical weapons.

Kina
Kina anser att oberoende utredningar måste slutföras, men drar inga egna slutsatser.
As for the allegations of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic, on-site investigation should be carried out in an independent, impartial and objective manner, so as to get to the bottom of the incidents at an early date.

Afrika
Afrika ser nuvarande arbete som pågående och drar inga vidare slutsatser.
The African Group welcomes the complete destruction of all chemical weapons declared by the Syrian Arab Republic. It also notes the progress concerning the destruction of all facilities in this State Party. We highlight the importance of the continuous dialogue between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Technical Secretariat on all pending issues, and look forward to positive outcomes of this cooperation. Furthermore, we encourage both parties to continue the implementation of the relevant Executive Council decisions.

Finland
Enligt Finland är skuldfrågan inte belagd och OPCWs utredningar får beröm.
We fully support the professional and impartial work of the OPCW's Fact-Finding Mission to study all available information relating to all the alleged instances of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic. The facts must be clarified and the truth unveiled.

Turkiet
Turkiet lämnar inget utrymme för frågetecken, här finns inga tveksamheter.
Since the initial declaration of the Syrian regime back in 2013, Turkey has continuously warned the international community that the regime deliberately declared its chemical weapons capacity inaccurate and incomplete. The reports of the OPCW-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) registered that these warnings and alerts were accurate. Chemical weapons attacks by the regime against innocent civilians, including children, have not stopped even after the regime’s brutal sarin attack on 4 April 2017 in Khan Shaykhun/Idlib. The recent attacks in eastern Ghouta and Idlib province are the concrete illustrations of the regime’s violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Throughout last four years the regime has used on more than 25 occasions toxic chemicals as weapons. In that regard, I would like to refer to the relevant FFM and DAT reports of the EC-87/NAT.10 page 2 OPCW, as well as the reports of the JIM and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.

Kanada
Saken är klar för Kanada, syriska regeringen har lång mycket större kemvapenprogram än vad som rapporterats. (Text går inte att kopiera).

Bangladesh
Bangladesh noterar att arbetet fortskrider, men att detaljer återstår som syriska regeringen borde klarera.
While we note progress in disposing of the declared chemical weapons stockpile and production facilities in the Syrian Arab Republic, we would strongly encourage further consultations between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Technical Secretariat to resolve all outstanding issues in a spirit of confidence and cooperation.

Kuba
Kuba menar att frågan i Syrien har politiserats till en oacceptabel nivå. (Text går inte att kopiera).

Argentina
För Argentina finns en del utestående frågetecken som man uppmanar Rådets arbetsgrupp att räta ut.
With regard to the information on the activities that the OPCW is carrying out in the Syrian Arab Republic, it continues to appear necessary to us to continue the efforts toward closing unresolved issues as soon as possible, particularly pertaining to aspects of the work of the Declaration Assessment Team (DAT).

Brister i åtagande

Det som vissa länder har klankat ned på i ovanstående uttalanden tycks ha att gör med en del frågor som Declaration Assessment Team lämnat till Syrien i ett brev den 29 januari i år, och som ännu inte besvarats, eller besvarats otillfredställande.
During the reporting period, the Declaration Assessment Team (DAT) continued its efforts to clarify all outstanding issues regarding the initial declaration of the Syrian Arab Republic in accordance with paragraph 3 of Council decision EC-81/DEC.4 and paragraph 6 of Council decision EC-83/DEC.5. On 29 January 2018, the Director-General addressed a letter to the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Syrian Arab EC-88/DG.1 page 3 Republic, Dr Faisal Mekdad, in which he asked for further clarifications regarding activities conducted at the Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC), and attached to his letter a non-exhaustive list of questions. 
Through a note verbale dated 19 February 2018, the Syrian Arab Republic provided answers to the SSRC-related questions raised in the Director-General’s letter of 29 January 2018. The DAT assessed these answers and determined that while they partially addressed some of the questions, other questions remained unanswered. The DAT’s assessment of the responses provided by the Syrian Arab Republic was reported in a Note by the Director-General entitled “Report on the Work of the Declaration Assessment Team” (EC-87/HP/DG.1, dated 2 March 2018). 
On 6 March 2018, the DAT gave an informal briefing to States Parties on the technical aspects and current status of all outstanding issues related to the initial declaration and submissions of the Syrian Arab Republic. As stated by the Director-General in his opening statement to the Council at its Eighty-Seventh Session (EC-87/DG.21 and EC-87/DG.22, both dated 13 March 2018), the Secretariat remains unable to confirm that the Syrian Arab Republic has submitted a declaration that can be considered accurate and complete in accordance with the Convention and the decisions of the Council.

(Mindre relevant men iallafall: OPCWs generaldirektör får löneförhöjning till 243 000 USD på årsbasis).