The Diplomat
The Spanish government yesterday expressed its satisfaction with the decision of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to suspend some of Syria’s rights and privileges in that body until it declares its chemical weapons arsenal.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Spanish Foreign Ministry stresses that the resolution, co-sponsored by Spain, was adopted yesterday “in light of the Syrian authorities’ refusal to declare its chemical arsenals and related facilities”.
The measure, which Spain describes as a “pioneering step” in the fight against chemical weapons, has been taken after the first report of the OPCW’s Investigation and Identification Team found that the Syrian Air Force used chlorine gas and sarin gas in three attacks in the province of Ltamenah in March 2017.
The communiqué stresses that “the wide margin in favour of the decision is testimony to the rejection of chemical weapons within the international community, as well as to the support and confidence that the OPCW enjoys in its tireless work to eradicate them”.
Spain urges Syria to “collaborate fully” with the OPCW and to “definitively renounce the use of chemical weapons, which is prohibited by humanitarian law”. “Spain reiterates its firm condemnation of the development, possession or use of such weapons, as well as its solidarity with those who have fallen victim to them,” the communiqué adds.
The Spanish government also expresses its “full support” for the OPCW “for the rigour and independence it always displays in its work” and assures that “together with its EU partners and within the International Partnership Against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons, Spain will continue to contribute to the common effort to eradicate chemical weapons and to prevent and punish their use”.
