Discurso do Coordenador Político, Ministro Gustavo Sénéchal, em reunião do Conselho de Segurança sobre a Syria - 8 de maio de 2023 (texto em inglês)
Statement by the Political Coordinator, Minister Gustavo Sénéchal, on Syria
May 8th, 2023
Madam President,
At the outset, let me state that my delegation welcomes the decision by the Ligue of Arabe States for reinstating the membership of Syria to the organization. And as for today, I would like to thank High-Representative Izumi Nakamitsu for her briefing.
Let me begin by reiterating that Brazil considers the use or threat of use of any weapon of mass destruction incompatible with International Humanitarian Law. We condemn the use of chemical weapons anywhere, by anyone and under any circumstances. The use of such weapons poses a threat to international peace and security and violates the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Madam President,
We have closely studied the latest report by the OPCW Director-General, dated April 25th. While the report provides us with little new information, we are
nevertheless encouraged by the fact that the reduced team which visited Syria early this year delivered its report to OPCW States Parties at the end of last month. This visit and its subsequent report are important steps in rebuilding confidence between Syria and the OPCW. We hope that these steps can serve as basis for further dialogue on a mutually acceptable arrangement for the return of the full Declaration Assessment Team (DAT) to Syria in the near future.
Madam President,
The report of the Limited In-Country Activities (LICA) undertaken by the reduced DAT gives us hope that constructive thinking is still possible in this file.
We call on Syria and the OPCW to build on this experience by exploring new formats for high-level political dialogue as well as for in-country activities by technical teams. We believe that this can increase confidence on both sides.
At the same time, closer cooperation is needed between the OPCW and the UN, since the ultimate instance for the attribution of responsibility is the Security Council. In conclusion, cooperation both between Syria and the OPCW and between the OPCW and the UN remains our best hope for closing the so-called "Syrian chemical file" and for preventing and deterring any future uses of these abominable weapons.
I thank you.