New York – Information office - 18 April 2018
The State of Qatar called Wednesday on the UN Security Council to carry out its duties and not to abandon efforts to establish an independent mechanism for determining the responsibility for the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The country also stressed the urgent need for a comprehensive, impartial, independent and professional investigation to determine those responsible for the crimes and to hold them accountable.
The State of Qatar considered the international community's inability to hold the perpetrators of crimes in Khan Shaykhun accountable, despite the assertion of reports by the United Nations and international organizations the use of chemical weapons in the town of in April last year, encouraged a repeat of the crime in Douma a few days ago. The State of Qatar also stressed that justice would deter perpetrators, whoever they may be, from continuing to commit terrible crimes. It will also aid in crisis resolution, and help achieve political transition and national consensus towards sustainable peace, which the Syrians aspire to.
This came in the statement of the State of Qatar, read out by HE Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Sheikha Alya Ahmed bint Saif Al-Thani to the General Assembly, which was discussing the first report of the independent international mechanism to assist in prosecuting those responsible for the most serious crimes in Syria.
The State of Qatar reiterated its support for the establishment of a neutral and independent international mechanism to assist and pursue the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the most serious crimes committed in Syria as an important step towards the implementation of international criminal justice and the United Nations' Charter to Combat War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. The State of Qatar also viewed it as a message of hope for all victims of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law everywhere.
HE the Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bint Saif Al-Thani said that discussing the first report of the international mechanism reflects the international community's determination to activate it. Her Excellency added that establishing the mechanism will be a boost to ending the bloodshed and reaching a political resolution in accordance with UN agreements and authorities.
Her Excellency said that what was achieved was a result of relentless effort of the State of Qatar and the Principality of Liechtenstein, expressing satisfaction with what was achieved since the UN General Assembly's adoption of the decision to establish the mechanism.
The State of Qatar said in the statement that it looks to seeing tangible results of implementing the vision and methodology of the international mechanism in accordance with the mandate given to it by the General Assembly, in order to serve the principles of justice and accountability and to spare the Syrian people further atrocities and crimes.
The statement expressed Qatar's satisfaction with the progress towards activating the mechanism, including the establishment of a multidisciplinary team specialized in the most serious crimes, and the establishment of a comprehensive and safe set of evidence to facilitate criminal prosecutions to address mass atrocities. This includes crimes against children, women and civilians in order to achieve transitional justice in accordance with the objective of the international community. The statement also welcomed the coordination between the international mechanism and the International Independent Investigation Commission on Syria, as well as its cooperation with Syrian civil society organizations in order to exchange information and evidence.
The statement added that, since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, the State of Qatar has called for intensifying efforts towards a political solution, and has continued to provide humanitarian support to the Syrian people while working to spare Syria the consequences of the complexities of the crisis by activating the principle of holding accountable those responsible for collective punishment crimes.
HE Sheikha Alya Ahmed bint Saif Al-Thani referred to the initiative of the State of Qatar of providing financial support to the international mechanism so far valued at $1 million. She expressed her gratitude to all countries that provided financial support to the international mechanism.
In that context, Her Excellency urged all countries and stakeholders to contribute to financing the mechanism, including bridging the funding gap for the current year, and to enable the independent mechanism to develop the necessary strategies to address the lack of access to Syrian territories and effectively deal with the huge volume of documents related to crimes committed in Syria.