UNSC Approves Extension of JIM Mandate in Syria for Another Year

UNITED NATIONS — The UN Security Council has approved the extension of the mandate of specialists from the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) who have been looking into the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

The resolution, prepared by the United States, was approved by all 15 UNSC members on Thursday. It extends the JIM mandate for another year.

The terrorist organizations in Syria, mainly Jabhat al-Nusra and its affiliated armed groups which are described by some countries as “moderate opposition”, used chemical weapons against civilians in several Syrian areas, most recently in Aleppo, when they fired shells carrying chlorine gas on residential areas causing several asphyxiation cases among citizens.  

 The mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on the use of chemical weapons in Syria expires on Friday.

The JIM in Syria was established after the UN Security Council meeting in August 2015, which unanimously adopted resolution 2235, aimed at identifying those behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria. In late October 2016, the UN Security Council extended the JIM mandate until November 18, with possibility of further extension.

Shortly before the mission was extended, the JIM expert panel released the fourth report, which, in particular, claimed that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons in the country throughout 2014-2015. The decision was regretted by Damascus, as it lacked convincing evidence. The Russian Foreign Ministry also expressed regret over the OPCW decision, expecting further escalation of anti-Syrian sentiments within the UN Security Council and the OPCW.

Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates on Tuesday urged the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to send its experts to Syria as to investigate the terrorist organizations’ using of toxic gases, including Chlorine, in their attacks on several areas in Aleppo.

In two identical letters to the UN Chief and President of the Security Council, the ministry said the government of the Syrian Arab Republic has become sure that neither the United Nations nor OPCW pay any attention to the terrorists’ crimes of using chemical weapons against the Syrian people, but they are greatly outraged over baseless claims accusing the Syrian government of such crimes.

Hamda Mustafa