18 Countries Call for Review of UN Mechanism on Alleged Chemical and Biological Weapons Use

Dragon Media Newsroom

Eighteen countries have called for a review of the guidelines and procedures of the United Nations Secretary-General’s mechanism for investigating alleged use of chemical and biological weapons.

The joint statement, published by Russia’s Foreign Ministry, was signed by Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, China, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mali, Nicaragua, Niger, Russia, Tajikistan and Venezuela.

The signatories reaffirmed their commitment to international obligations prohibiting the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical, biological and toxin weapons. They described the Biological Weapons Convention, the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Geneva Protocol as essential to international peace and security, and urged all parties to comply fully with their obligations.

The statement notes that the UN Secretary-General’s investigative mechanism was established in 1987 and its technical guidelines and procedures were endorsed in 1990. It argues that advances in science and technology, along with emerging threats such as chemical and biological terrorism, make it necessary to strengthen the mechanism’s expert and technical capabilities.

Some technical appendices to the mechanism’s guidelines were revised in 2007, but the main document has not been updated, the signatories said. They called on the Secretary-General to review the current guidelines and procedures with the assistance of experts and submit any necessary revisions to the UN General Assembly.