UN blasts chemical weapons, violence in the Congo

After a closed-door briefing at the UN Security Council on Thursday on recent chemical attacks in Syria, Council members reiterated their strong condemnation of the use of chemical weapons.

Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, said that the council members were briefed on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN's fact-finding mission in Khan Shaykun in Syria, which suffered a chemical attack in early April, believed to be the largest in Syria at that time.

The OPCW and the UN are also continuing to examine a September 2016 attack in Umm Hawsh.

"The Council members reiterated their support for the work of the OPCW and the OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM)," said Liu, who is serving as president of the Security Council for the month of July. The JIM is comprised of the OPCW and the UN.

"The Council members look forward to the investigation into the attacks in Khan Shaykhun and Umm Hawsh that the JIM will conduct," he said. "The Council members reiterated that there must be no impunity for the use of chemical weapons or chemicals as weapons and that those responsible must be held accountable."

Edmond Mulet, head of the JIM on chemical weapon use in Syria, said in an earlier press briefing that the panel "absolutely condemns" the use of chemical weapons and is working to identify the attacks' perpetrators. The panel's findings will be presented to the Security Council in October, he said.

The council was also briefed on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) about violence in Kasai Province. The UN had opened an international investigation in June into the killings and destruction of entire villages in the province. A May report said that more than 500 people had been killed in central Kasai since the beginning of the year.

"The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest concern at the seriousness of the situation, and strongly condemned the violence affecting civilians, the state institutions and law enforcement personnel," said Liu.

"The members of the Security Council reaffirm that the government of the DRC bears the primary responsibility for the protection of civilians within its territory, and for law and order in the country. They call upon all actors in the DRC to refrain from committing acts that affect the civilian population in Kasai," he said.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com