YouSaid · the spoken record

Delattre

lines on the record: 3,505
first: 2014-09-08
most recent: 2019-06-28
sittings or episodes: 443
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I solemnly say that, in deciding to once again use chemical weapons, the regime reached a point of no return on 7 April. France will assume its responsibility to put an end to an intolerable threat to our collective security and to finally ensure respect for international law and the measures taken for years by the Security Council. A chemical attack like that of Douma, which consists in gassing the last inhabitants of a besieged enclave - even when it is about to fall, even when the last fighters are negotiating their surrender - is the height of cynicism. That is where we are after seven years of the regime's war against its people. This is the situation to which the world must provide a firm, united and resolute response. That is our responsibility today.”
2018-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8231 (2018) · source
“The Council is more thanjustified in doing what it has committed itselfto do, that is, to take measures under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. But in the face of the mass atrocities committed in Syria, the Council's action has been paralysed for several years by successive Russian vetoes. Russia vetoed 12 draft resolutions on Syria, including six on the chemical issue alone. Those vetoes had no other objective than to protect the Syrian authorities - to guarantee a regime of impunity, in defiance of all international standards. To allow the indefensible, Russia has deliberately chosen to sacrifice the ability of the Council to act, the most important tool of our collective security. We had proof of that again last Tuesday. On 7 April, Douma joined Ypres, Halabja and Khan Shaykhun in the litany of chemical massacres.”
2018-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8231 (2018) · source
“The Security Council, to which the Charter of the United Nations entrusts the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security on behalf of the entire international community, is therefore more than justified in meeting today. It is more than justified for the Council to note, once again, the violation of international law and its own resolutions, and the persistence of a proven threat to international peace and security. It is more than justified to urgently re-establish a mechanism for attributing responsibility for chemical attacks - that opportunity was given to the Council in vain, once again, on Tuesday (see S/PV.8228) with the American draft resolution (S/2018/32l).”
2018-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8231 (2018) · source
“We saw those capabilities again in action on 7 April, used to kill as many civilians as possible and terrorize the survivors to consolidate the definitive takeover of Douma by the Syrian regime. Beyond Syria, the prevailing impunity since 2013 affects the entire chemical non-proliferation regime, and with it the entire security system that we have collectively built since the Second World War. It is that collective security legacy, built to protect future generations from the outbreaks of violence in the two global conflicts, that the members of the Security Council have been mandated to protect. To allow the normalization of the use of chemical weapons without reacting is to let the genie out of the bottle. That would be a terrible setback to international order, for which we would all pay the price.”
2018-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8231 (2018) · source
“Iwill once again have to state the obvious: ifSyria has continued to use toxic substances for military purposes, it is because it has retained the capacity to use and manufacture them, in contravention of its international commitments, of the guarantees provided by Russia in the framework of the 2013 Russian-American agreement and of Security Council resolutions. It has already been several years since the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) informed us of the major remaining doubts about the sincerity of Syria's initial declaration to the organization in 2013. Many of the OPCW's questions and requests for documents have gone unanswered. Syria has never provided a satisfactory explanation for the inspectors' discovery of substances and capabilities that Syria had never declared.”
2018-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8231 (2018) · source
“That chemical war is a tool to accelerate a deliberate policy of submission by terror, which, in seven years, has caused the deaths of 400,000 people, the deliberate destruction of civilian and health infrastructure in entire regions, a massive exodus of refugees and displaced persons and has fuelled international terrorism. This frightening picture is that of one of the most blatant threats to international peace and security in the contemporary era. It is also the record of those who, against all odds, continue to support it.”
2018-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8231 (2018) · source
“Secondly, it constitutes a violation of the very foundations of international humanitarian law, namely, the principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality. Thirdly, it constitutes a breach of successive Security Council resolutions: resolutions 2118 (2013), 2209 (2015) and 2235 (2015) and therefore a breach of the obligations incumbent upon Syria under the Charter of the United Nations. Lastly, the use of chemical weapons against civilians, which was banned in 1925 under the Geneva Protocol, constitutes a war crime under the Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Secretary-General in August 2013 called the use of chemical weapons a crime against humanity.”
2018-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8231 (2018) · source
“This is a well-known and documented modus operandi, given that an independent mechanism, created at the initiative of the Security Council, had already established at least four times since 2015 that chemical weapons had been used by the Damascus regime in Sarmin, Talmenes, Qmenas and Khan Shaykun - an investigative mechanism that a permanent member of the Security Council decided last November to force into silence. The chemical-weapons policy of the Bashar Al-Assad regime is among the most serious violations of all the norms that guarantee our collective security. It is first and foremost a violation of all international obligations relating to the prohibition of chemical weapons under the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which Syria is a party.”
2018-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8231 (2018) · source
“Many of the injured will continue to suffer throughout their lives from the serious respiratory and neurological aftereffects of the chemicals used. There is no doubt once again as to the responsibility of Damascus for this attack. The facts collected on the ground, the symptoms of the victims, the complexity of handling of the substances used, and the determination of the regime's forces to subjugate the last pockets of resistance in Douma as expeditiously as possible and using every means at their disposal, all point to this.”
2018-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8231 (2018) · source
“To counter those who are seeking to sow confusion, going so far as to accuse the Syrian people of having gassed themselves; those who are suggesting conspiracy theories; those who are endeavouring methodically to destroy our mechanisms for action on chemical weapons in Syria, we must come back to simple facts. Yes, the Syrian crisis represents a threat to international peace and security. This threat is related to the repeated, organized and systematic use of chemical weapons by the Bashar Al-Assad regime, which once again reached new levels of horror with the two attacks perpetrated in Douma on 7 April last. Those attacks claimed the lives of at least several dozen people and wounded hundreds of others.”
2018-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8231 (2018) · source
“Mr. Delattre (France) (spoke in French): I thank the Secretary-General for his statement. We are meeting today to address the threats to international peace and security that have arisen as a result of the situation in Syria, six days after the latest chemical-weapons carnage, on 7 April in Douma. For seven years, the situation in Syria has without a doubt constituted a grave threat to international peace and security as defined in the Charter of the United Nations. The Security Council itself characterized this as such unanimously on 27 September 2013, when resolution 2118 (2013) was adopted in the wake of the appalling chemical-weapons attacks that had taken place in eastern Ghouta. The world then learned for the first time and with horror of the symptoms of large-scale chemical-weapons-related deaths in Syria.”
2018-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8231 (2018) · source
“We hope that it will bring about the awaited leap forward by those who hold the key to move Mali and the region towards lasting peace and stability. France will continue to stand with all those who want to advance in that direction.”
2018-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8229 (2018) · source
“Lastly, France welcomes the signing ofthe technical arrangement between the United Nations, the European Union and the G-5 Sahel set out in resolution 2391 (2017) in record time. The next report of the Secretary- General on the G-5 Sahel Joint Force will provide a new foundation for responding to legitimate demands for support by the G-5 Sahel countries in terms of security and development. We will do that by considering the pace of the Joint Force's operationalization on the ground and by maintaining consensus on this issue within the Council. Today it is imperative to move forward quickly towards the full implementation of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali. It is that message of urgency and shouldering responsibility that we want to convey to all Malian parties today.”
2018-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8229 (2018) · source
“We will consider with interest the recommendations to be made by the Secretary-General on the work under way, in view of the upcoming renewal of the Mission's mandate. We especially hope that they will enable us to continue to move forward towards a better sequencing of the mandate's tasks so that MINUSMA can contribute as effectively as possible to the stabilization of Mali, including in the northern part of the country, while supporting the Malian armed forces in conjunction with the Joint Force of the Group of Five for the Sahel (G-5 Sahel), Operation Barkhane and the engagement of the European Union. We will also take that opportunity to work towards achieving increased clarity with regard to the role and responsibilities of each element of the security architecture deployed in Mali and the region.”
2018-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8229 (2018) · source
“For example, the installation of early-warning devices in all of the Mission's camps in the case of an indirect attack would undoubtedly allow us to save lives, as was tragically illustrated by the recent attacks on the Kidal and Aguelhok camps, which were only a few days apart. That is one of the areas in which we must act urgently together with the Secretariat so long as there are existing technical solutions that are moreover available to us in the short-term. We believe that the strategic review currently being conducted by Ellen Margrethe Loj also affords us a valuable opportunity to improve the performance and outcomes of the Mission. We fully support that process, which will be advantageous for all of us.”
2018-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8229 (2018) · source
“Despite the challenges it faces, MINUSMA remains today an essential instrument for ensuring the stability of Mali, in addition to the other security forces present on the ground. Its role in supporting the electoral process will be decisive in the holding of presidential elections in July and August. Fully aware of the difficult environment in which the Mission is deployed, France reiterates its call on all Member States to ensure that the Mission is provided with the capabilities and equipment commensurate with the mandate that the Council has conferred upon it. In our view, that is an absolutely crucial point, especially in terms of strengthening the safety of peacekeepers on the ground, which is the priority of all of us.”
2018-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8229 (2018) · source
“Today, subsequent delays in the implementation of the agreement and the failure to realize commitments according to agreed deadlines are driving us to take additional measures. We no longer have the time to wait. In the coming weeks, together with its Council partners, France will undertake the task of identifying those obstructing the implementation of the peace agreement, through which their names will be determined. We intend to focus initially on a list of officials who are undermining the implementation of the agreement on the ground, in particular through their collusion with terrorist groups and trafficking activities. All Malian stakeholders must be aware that the Security Council takes their word as their bond with regard to upholding their commitments.”
2018-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8229 (2018) · source
“But let us be clear: the new road map, which is unfortunately not the first, cannot let us forget the fact that the commitments undertaken this past January failed once again to be respected, while the Malian people, the countries of the region and the entire international community has been waiting for their implementation for almost three years. In that regard, the responsibility of the Council - pursuant to the very terms of the peace agreement - involves taking steps necessary to encourage the parties to honour the commitments that they made within that framework. The adoption of resolution 2374 (2017), in September 2017, which established a sanctions regime concerning Mali, was a first step in that direction.”
2018-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8229 (2018) · source
“Specifically, I am thinking in terms of the operationalization of interim authorities, the establishment of territorial police and progress in the process of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, and that of security sector reform. France also encourages Malian authorities to pursue work dedicated to combating impunity. It calls on all parties to halt human rights violations. We were pleased to note the adoption a few days ago of a new road map, at the Prime Minister of Mali's initiative, announcing the implementation of measures awaited for by Malian parties according to the revised schedule. We can only support that initiative and hope for its success, which includes the upcoming holding of regular meetings of the Agreement Monitoring Committee in Bamako.”
2018-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8229 (2018) · source
“Given the lack of progress, all of the achievements to date and the very relevance of the Agreement itself could end up being called into question; the significant electoral deadlines scheduled for the coming months make it all the more necessary and urgent to move forward on various aspects of the Agreement, which is imperative to ensure the success of the elections to come; and there can be no lasting stability in the Sahel absent the full implementation of the Peace Agreement. In terms of substance, it is still the same measures whose implementation by the Malian parties we are awaiting. It is particularly urgent that progress be achieved, specifically in the areas of decentralization and security.”
2018-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8229 (2018) · source
“The Prime Minister's visit to Kidal in particular marked a restoration of high- level political leadership and cooperation as concerns the implementation of the Peace Agreement, nearly four years after the last visit by a comparable level of authority to the region. Unfortunately, it is clear that in the wake of the deadline set by the Malian parties themselves under the timetable of priority actions, a large part of the commitments made have not yet been implemented. The resulting delays are far from being inconsequential on the ground for a number of reasons.”
2018-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8229 (2018) · source
“The members of the Security Council made a collective commitment, in their statement to the press of 24 January last, to seize the opportunity to take stock of the implementation by the parties of the commitments made in the framework of the priority actions timeline adopted in January. At that point, a decision was also taken that additional measures would be considered under the sanctions regime if the commitments taken were not met by the set deadlines. We welcome the efforts made by the Government, since the most recent meeting of the Council on Mali (see S/PV.8163), to foster the necessary consensus on the electoral process and restore the Administration's presence in central Mali.”
2018-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8229 (2018) · source
“France pays tribute to the memory of these warriors for peace. Their sacrifice serves as a reminder of how MINUSMA is evolving in a difficult environment and of the key role it plays in promoting the implementation of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, and in protecting the Malian people from those who oppose it and in so doing resort to actions that include terrorist attacks and criminal acts. France, engaged alongside the United Nations peacekeeping Mission, is aware of this threat and itself has suffered therefrom, as two French soldiers perished on 21 February last. Today's meeting is of particular importance with respect to follow-up to the implementation of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation.”
2018-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8229 (2018) · source
“Mr. Delattre (France) (spoke in French): I wish to thank the Special Representative of the Secretary- General, Mr. Annadif, for his most informative briefing and his exemplary commitment. On behalf of France, I wish to reiterate our full support to him and all his team. I wish also to thank the Permanent Representative of Sweden, Olof Skoog, for his briefing and for his work at the helm of the sanctions Committee. I wish also to warmly welcome the presence here of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mali, Mr. Tie'man Hubert Coulibaly, and to thank him for having travelled to New York to take part in our work. I wish to begin my statement by hailing the memory ofthe three Blue Helmets who perished last week during attacks against the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).”
2018-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8229 (2018) · source
“Today I reiterate that France will spare no effort to ensure that the perpetrators of those chemical horrors are identified and held to account in an independent and impartial way. The stakes are extremely high, and we will not give up.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228Resumption1 (2018) · source
“Let us be clear: what we lack today, and what Russia continues to reject, is a truly independent and impartial mechanism that can attribute responsibility in order to prevent impunity. That was the raison d'etre for the OPCW-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism. With the establishment of the Joint Investigative Mechanism, set up with the involvement of Russia, we put in place a tool for the essential deterrence of perpetrators of chemical attacks. That is clearly what we lack today. Let us be clear in saying that statements are not enough and that the Russian draft resolution is only a smokescreen that falls well short of the urgent response that the Council should provide. That is why France voted against the draft resolution and why the draft resolution was not adopted.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228Resumption1 (2018) · source
“Mr. Delattre (France) (spoke in French): After having vetoed a draft resolution that sought to shed full light on acts of violence involving chemical weapons (S/2018/175), including those that took place last weekend, Russia persists in a dual strategy of obstruction and diversion on the matter. The only aim of the draft text on which we have just voted (S/2018/322) was clearly to confuse the issue. It is not a question of disputing the importance of an independent investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) into what happened in Douma on 7 April. That is essential, and the investigation has already been launched. However, the Russian draft resolution, which we had to vote against, did not meet the challenges.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228Resumption1 (2018) · source
“If there is one area in which the Council has a moral and political responsibility to convene and act, it is this one. If there is one domain for which the credibility of the Council is at stake, where tactical games have no place, it is this one. This is one of those moments when we have no choice but to act because what is at stake is essential. We cannot allow the chemical non-proliferation regime, and with it our entire security architecture - along with the principles and values that underpin our action - to crack and disintegrate before our very eyes. Today's vote is one of those key moments, one of those moments of truth. On behalf of France, I therefore call on each member of the Council to properly gauge and assume its responsibilities now and to vote in favour of the American draft resolution (S/2018/321).”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228Resumption1 (2018) · source
“Only the combination of those two criteria - independence and a mandate to attribute responsibility - will make that mechanism effective, and therefore dissuasive. Let me be clear: in view of the gravity of the 7 April attack, France will not accept any third-rate or sham mechanism whose independence and impartiality would not be genuinely ensured. That is what the Security Council owes today to the Syrian victims of chemical attacks and to the entire international community, whose security is threatened by the chemicals in the hands of the regime of Bashar Al-Assad. Since the threat is of an existential nature for us all, combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction must, more than ever, be among the top priorities of the Security Council.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228Resumption1 (2018) · source
“It deprived us of an essential deterrent tool. It left a vacuum that the Syrian regime has rushed to exploit, and which yesterday's atrocities have tragically reminded us of. The American initiative to re-establish an independent mechanism, based on a balanced approach and taking into account the concerns expressed by every member of the Council, enables us to fill that glaring void. Such a mechanism would support the inquiry that has already been launched by the OPCW. It would also respect the essential criteria of independence, without any interference, and impartiality to which each member of the Council has committed. Such a mechanism would have a mandate to attribute responsibility for the attacks.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228Resumption1 (2018) · source
“To allow the normalization of the use of chemical weapons without responding is to let the genie of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction - which pose an existential threat to us all - out of the bottle. It would mark a serious and reprehensible setback to the international order that we have all patiently helped to develop. The consequences would be terrible, and we would all pay the price. That is why we cannot accept it. France will do all it can to prevent impunity for the use of chemical weapons. It is in that spirit that we launched an international partnership last January. The demise of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism in November, due to the Russian veto to protect Al-Assad's regime, sent a dangerous signal of impunity.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228Resumption1 (2018) · source
“As such, the chemical non-proliferation regime, which we have patiently developed and strengthened, is one ofthe pillars of our collective security architecture, at the heart of our security system. Yet today it is under serious threat. We face the cynical, barbaric and all-out use of chemical weapons against civilian populations. The Douma attacks once again illustrated the abject brutality of the Syrian regime's resolute military strategy. Such acts constitute war crimes or even crimes against humanity. They increase the risk of dangerous normalization - tolerating the return of these agents of fear and death is nothing more than a blank cheque to all those who would like to use them.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228Resumption1 (2018) · source
“The upcoming voting marks our fourth meeting in less than a week on this issue. Yesterday we met in an emergency meeting (see S/PV.8225) following a new chemical-weapons massacre in Douma, Syria, whose appalling images left us shocked. Last month we met to discuss the unacceptable attack in Salisbury (see S/PV.8203). Last year we met day after day after the terrible attack of Khan Shaykhun. That shows the deterioration of the situation and how serious the stakes are today for our security. The use of chemical weapons is so abominable that it has been banned for almost 100 years, and the international community began years ago to eliminate them.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228Resumption1 (2018) · source
“Mr. Delattre (France) (spoke in French): For years, as part of its responsibilities for maintaining international peace and security, the Security Council has been mobilized on the issue of chemical weapons. After the chemical attacks in Ghouta in 2013, the Security Council adopted resolution 2118 (2013), which provided for the complete dismantling of the chemical arsenal of the Syrian regime. Russia, as co-sponsor of that resolution, had guaranteed its implementation. Despite that guarantee, the Damascus regime has never complied with its obligations under resolution 2118 (2013) and has never renounced - as we saw again on 7 April - the use of chemical weapons against its civilian population. Five years after the Council's adoption of resolution 2118 (2013), we note that the general subject of chemical weapons remains tragically topical.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228Resumption1 (2018) · source
“Today I reiterate that France will spare no effort to ensure that the perpetrators of those chemical horrors are identified and held to account in an independent and impartial way. The stakes are extremely high, and we will not give up.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228 (2018) · source
“Let us be clear: what we lack today, and what Russia continues to reject, is a truly independent and impartial mechanism that can attribute responsibility in order to prevent impunity. That was the raison d'etre for the OPCW-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism. With the establishment of the Joint Investigative Mechanism, set up with the involvement of Russia, we put in place a tool for the essential deterrence of perpetrators of chemical attacks. That is clearly what we lack today. Let us be clear in saying that statements are not enough and that the Russian draft resolution is only a smokescreen that falls well short of the urgent response that the Council should provide. That is why France voted against the draft resolution and why the draft resolution was not adopted.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228 (2018) · source
“Mr. Delattre (France) (spoke in French): After having vetoed a draft resolution that sought to shed full light on acts of violence involving chemical weapons (S/2018/175), including those that took place last weekend, Russia persists in a dual strategy of obstruction and diversion on the matter. The only aim of the draft text on which we have just voted (S/2018/322) was clearly to confuse the issue. It is not a question of disputing the importance of an independent investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) into what happened in Douma on 7 April. That is essential, and the investigation has already been launched. However, the Russian draft resolution, which we had to vote against, did not meet the challenges.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228 (2018) · source
“If there is one area in which the Council has a moral and political responsibility to convene and act, it is this one. If there is one domain for which the credibility of the Council is at stake, where tactical games have no place, it is this one. This is one of those moments when we have no choice but to act because what is at stake is essential. We cannot allow the chemical non-proliferation regime, and with it our entire security architecture - along with the principles and values that underpin our action - to crack and disintegrate before our very eyes. Today's vote is one of those key moments, one of those moments of truth. On behalf of France, I therefore call on each member of the Council to properly gauge and assume its responsibilities now and to vote in favour of the American draft resolution (S/2018/321).”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228 (2018) · source
“Only the combination of those two criteria - independence and a mandate to attribute responsibility - will make that mechanism effective, and therefore dissuasive. Let me be clear: in view of the gravity of the 7 April attack, France will not accept any third-rate or sham mechanism whose independence and impartiality would not be genuinely ensured. That is what the Security Council owes today to the Syrian victims of chemical attacks and to the entire international community, whose security is threatened by the chemicals in the hands of the regime of Bashar Al-Assad. Since the threat is of an existential nature for us all, combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction must, more than ever, be among the top priorities of the Security Council.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228 (2018) · source
“It deprived us of an essential deterrent tool. It left a vacuum that the Syrian regime has rushed to exploit, and which yesterday's atrocities have tragically reminded us of. The American initiative to re-establish an independent mechanism, based on a balanced approach and taking into account the concerns expressed by every member of the Council, enables us to fill that glaring void. Such a mechanism would support the inquiry that has already been launched by the OPCW. It would also respect the essential criteria of independence, without any interference, and impartiality to which each member of the Council has committed. Such a mechanism would have a mandate to attribute responsibility for the attacks.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228 (2018) · source
“To allow the normalization of the use of chemical weapons without responding is to let the genie of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction - which pose an existential threat to us all - out of the bottle. It would mark a serious and reprehensible setback to the international order that we have all patiently helped to develop. The consequences would be terrible, and we would all pay the price. That is why we cannot accept it. France will do all it can to prevent impunity for the use of chemical weapons. It is in that spirit that we launched an international partnership last January. The demise of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism in November, due to the Russian veto to protect Al-Assad's regime, sent a dangerous signal of impunity.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228 (2018) · source
“As such, the chemical non-proliferation regime, which we have patiently developed and strengthened, is one ofthe pillars of our collective security architecture, at the heart of our security system. Yet today it is under serious threat. We face the cynical, barbaric and all-out use of chemical weapons against civilian populations. The Douma attacks once again illustrated the abject brutality of the Syrian regime's resolute military strategy. Such acts constitute war crimes or even crimes against humanity. They increase the risk of dangerous normalization - tolerating the return of these agents of fear and death is nothing more than a blank cheque to all those who would like to use them.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228 (2018) · source
“The upcoming voting marks our fourth meeting in less than a week on this issue. Yesterday we met in an emergency meeting (see S/PV.8225) following a new chemical-weapons massacre in Douma, Syria, whose appalling images left us shocked. Last month we met to discuss the unacceptable attack in Salisbury (see S/PV.8203). Last year we met day after day after the terrible attack of Khan Shaykhun. That shows the deterioration of the situation and how serious the stakes are today for our security. The use of chemical weapons is so abominable that it has been banned for almost 100 years, and the international community began years ago to eliminate them.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228 (2018) · source
“Mr. Delattre (France) (spoke in French): For years, as part of its responsibilities for maintaining international peace and security, the Security Council has been mobilized on the issue of chemical weapons. After the chemical attacks in Ghouta in 2013, the Security Council adopted resolution 2118 (2013), which provided for the complete dismantling of the chemical arsenal of the Syrian regime. Russia, as co-sponsor of that resolution, had guaranteed its implementation. Despite that guarantee, the Damascus regime has never complied with its obligations under resolution 2118 (2013) and has never renounced - as we saw again on 7 April - the use of chemical weapons against its civilian population. Five years after the Council's adoption of resolution 2118 (2013), we note that the general subject of chemical weapons remains tragically topical.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8228 (2018) · source
“There is a need for strong consistent action by the countries of the region, as well as the ongoing commitment of international partners to transparency in the mining industry and a better traceability of minerals. In that context, the resolve of the ICGLR and its consultation with the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, demonstrated by the annual meeting in Paris of the ICGLR-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-United Nations Group of Experts Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains, deserves to be welcomed. Five years after the signing of the Framework agreement, visible and notable progress in its implementation would be an extremely positive sign of the commitment of all signatory countries to the stability and development of the Great Lakes region.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8227 (2018) · source
“I am thinking in particular of the Forces democratiques de liberation du Rwanda and former members of the M-23, as well as those of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), WHO will soon have been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for nearly two years. There has been progress with regard to the SPLM/A-IO and commitments have been made with respect to other groups. I am pleased about that. Lastly, I turn to the issue of tackling the illicit trafficking in natural resources, which sustains those armed groups, contributes to their survival and fuels an economy of war and predation. As long as such trafficking continues, no lasting stabilization can be envisaged.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8227 (2018) · source
“First, with regard to military engagement against armed groups, a key role will be played by the Force Intervention Brigade of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), provided by SADC. The renewed mandate of MONUSCO should enable it to rebuild its capacity for mobility in order for it to engage in decisive offensive actions, as it did with respect to the Mouvement du 23 mars (M-23). Secondly, political action must be taken in order to demobilize, repatriate and reintegrate those combatants in their countries of origin.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8227 (2018) · source
“To achieve that, the full and complete implementation of the Addis Ababa Framework agreement is essential. France welcomes the renewed commitment of the countries of the region to that end. The meeting of the Follow-up Mechanism on 19 October set ambitious goals, in particular for the repatriation of disarmed combatants. France encourages the countries of the region to do their utmost to ensure that those objectives are fully implemented. Such commitment is all the more essential given that negative forces continue to operate in the region. A lasting resolution of that problem requires decisive action in three areas, and regional organizations, the ICGLR and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), have a key role to play.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8227 (2018) · source
“By establishing such interdependence, thanks to the comparative advantages of each for the benefit of all, the region will experience real economic change and development. It is a priority objective of the African Union and France, which has adapted its support policies and mechanisms to make its action part of a regional perspective. The French institute of Goma, the Hall of Volcanoes, which was inaugurated six months ago and brings together French-speaking countries, multilingualism, training and new technologies, therefore seeks to be accessible to the young people of the entire region. That tool is aimed at not only the young people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo but also, beyond its near borders, those of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, to create projects and common aspirations for an effective regional partnership.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8227 (2018) · source
“To achieve that, it is essential to ensure respect for the electoral calendar and trust in the process of organizing the elections through their openness and transparency. There must also be a peaceful environment, in which all candidates can declare themselves and campaign freely without fear of reprisals. Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is crucial to holding free, credible, transparent and peaceful elections. In that context, we welcome the commitment of countries in the region to follow- up and support for the Congolese people on the path towards the open, free and peaceful organization of the elections. That trajectory also requires better regional integration to ensure good cooperation among the States of the region.”
2018-04-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8227 (2018) · source