YouSaid · the spoken record

Jenkins

lines on the record

17

first

2022-08-11

most recent

2023-02-07

sittings or episodes

2

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un-security-council

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1. “We therefore strongly urge any country engaging with the Syrian regime to consider the regime’s atrocious human rights record over the past 12 years and the violations the OPCW has documented in Douma and elsewhere.”

   2023-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9255 (2023) · source

2. “However, in the light of this most recent report on Syria’s blatant disregard for its international obligations under the CWC and resolution 2118 (2013), we are reminded that now is not the time to reduce our oversight of the regime’s compliance with Security Council resolutions or to turn a blind eye to the further deterioration of its dismal cooperation with the OPCW. The serious blatant disregard for its obligations is an affront to the Council and the international order. The heinous acts documented in the OPCW’s report and the Syrian regime’s brazen attempts to deny and deflect responsibility once again show why the United States is not normalizing relations with the Al-Assad regime.”

   2023-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9255 (2023) · source

3. “We also support investigative efforts, such as the United Nations International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), which is building case files on violations and abuses in Syria, including the use of chemical weapons. It is sharing the information and evidence that it collects with prosecutors. The IIIM’s work has already helped to facilitate convictions of former regime officials in Europe, and we look forward to more investigations and prosecutions, possibly even here in the United States, thanks to the Justice for Victims of War Crimes Act, which President Biden recently signed into law. I understand that the Security Council may at times have grown a bit weary of the Syrian chemical weapons issue.”

   2023-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9255 (2023) · source

4. “For its part, Russia must stop shielding the Syrian Government from accountability. There must also be no impunity for the use of chemical weapons, and the United States remains determined in its efforts to seek accountability for the individuals responsible for chemical attacks in Syria. We have already imposed sanctions and visa ineligibilities against more than 300 individuals and entities linked to Syria’s chemical-weapons programme, and we will continue to use such tools and others to promote accountability for those responsible for those heinous attacks. With the Review Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention fast approaching, such findings also strengthen our resolve to work with other responsible nations to strengthen the Chemical Weapons Convention and keep the OPCW fit for purpose.”

   2023-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9255 (2023) · source

5. “As my colleagues have done countless times before me, I am reiterating the call by the United States for accountability for those responsible for the numerous chemical-weapon attacks carried out by the Al-Assad regime, including the one in Douma. We also urge the members of the Council not to overlook the classified annex of the Douma report. It is available to all members of the OPCW, and its findings must also be discussed. The Al-Assad regime must comply with its international obligations and provide OPCW staff immediate and unfettered access so that they can conduct inspections and continue investigating Syria’s incomplete accounting for its chemical weapons stockpile. In particular, we remain deeply concerned over the serious efforts to reconstitute its chemical weapons programme.”

   2023-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9255 (2023) · source

6. “In an effort to set up their own staged investigations, they also attempted to sanitize the site and remove incriminating evidence of the use of chemical weapons. We continue to have serious CWC compliance questions regarding Russia’s assistance to the Al-Assad regime with regard to the regime’s use of chemical weapons in Douma. The report also puts to rest Russia and Syria’s baseless allegations that opposition forces were to blame for the Douma attack. The IIT made clear that it had found that such a fable lacked any shred of credibility. That should come as no surprise to most Council members, who bear witness on a near-daily basis to Russia’s blatant disinformation regarding its brutal war of aggression in Ukraine.”

   2023-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9255 (2023) · source

7. “Those are in addition to the four chemical weapon attacks previously attributed to the Al-Assad regime by the OPCW-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism. Let us also not overlook the questions raised by the IIT findings regarding the role of Russian forces in Douma at the time of the attack. The report highlights the fact that Russian forces were co-located at the base from which Al-Assad’s helicopters launched their deadly chemical attack and that they controlled the air space over Douma, along with the Syrian Air Force. The United States and others have also long pointed out the extremely troubling role of the Russian forces in the aftermath of the attack, when Syrian and Russian military police denied and delayed the OPCW inspectors’ access to the site.”

   2023-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9255 (2023) · source

8. “I also want to salute the Syrian and international organizations that responded to those attacks, assisted the victims and collected much of the evidence that made this report possible. As the Director-General briefed, and as the OPCW’s Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) made clear in their report, the facts of what occurred on that fateful day are not in dispute. The Al-Assad regime dropped two chlorine gas cylinders on two apartment buildings, killing 43 men, women and children and injuring countless more. Unfortunately, such findings are not surprising. It is indeed the fifth separate instance of the use of chemical weapons that the IIT has attributed to the Al-Assad regime — all clear violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).”

   2023-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9255 (2023) · source

9. “I also want to express my gratitude to the dedicated staff of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for so compellingly establishing the facts surrounding the Al-Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons in Douma in 2018. Reading this report, one can first and foremost only remember the victims and survivors — men, women and children — of the horrific 7 April 2018 attack on Douma. By extension, we also remember the victims and survivors of the many other chemical attacks perpetrated by the Al-Assad regime. On behalf of the United States, I offer our most sincere condolences to the families of those who lost their lives on that sombre day.”

   2023-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9255 (2023) · source

10. “I want to start by expressing my deep sadness for the tragic loss of life in both Türkiye and Syria during this week’s devastating earthquakes. In addition to supporting our Turkish allies, the United States is also supporting humanitarian organizations inside Syria. It is not lost on us that many of the Syrian first responders now pulling civilians from the rubble were, just a few years ago, helping civilians who had been burned or suffocated by the Al-Assad regime’s chemical weapons. The humanity and bravery of the Syrian first responders is astounding, and we salute them. I want to thank Under-Secretary-General Nakamitsu, Director-General Arias and Coordinator Oñate-Laborde for their briefings.”

    2023-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9255 (2023) · source

11. “I will be brief. I do not really want to repeat everything that I said before. I just want to again appeal to Russia to end its seizure of the Zaporizhzhya power plant and return control of the facility to the Government of Ukraine. We will then see how quickly civility returns to the facility.”

    2022-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9109 (2022) · source

12. “Through intimidation, censorship and propaganda, Russia is clearly laying the foundation to try, once again, to illegally annex territory from its neighbour. None of us should be surprised if Russia suddenly announces false referendums in those regions as a pretext to grabbing more of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. The many consequences of the conflict, including the situation at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, will end only when Russia ends the war. Today the United States demands particularly urgent action to address the nuclear risks posed by Russia’s most recent moves. That must be done through the work of the IAEA and the return of full control of the Zaporizhzhya facility to Ukraine.”

    2022-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9109 (2022) · source

13. “Ukrainian staff must be allowed to fulfil their important duties free from the pressure of Russia’s armed forces. The United States also supports Ukraine’s proposal to create a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhya plant. Reports such as those by the IAEA we heard today underscore the urgency of the situation. However, what is happening at this nuclear power plant is not the only alarming situation we face in the areas where Russia’s forces operate in Ukraine. Russia has expanded its aims in Ukraine and seeks to dismantle it as a geopolitical entity, dissolving it from the world map. We are now getting a clearer picture of what life is like in an area under Russian military control.”

    2022-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9109 (2022) · source

14. “To start, the United States reiterates the importance of facilitating access for IAEA personnel to address nuclear safety, security and safeguards concerns at the Zaporizhzhya facility, as well as at other nuclear facilities across the country, in a manner that respects Ukrainian sovereignty. That visit cannot wait any longer. We once again call on Russia to cease all military operations at or near Ukraine’s nuclear facilities. We insist that Russia immediately return full control of the Zaporizhzhya facility to Ukraine. We are also aware of claims of mistreatment of the power plant’s Ukrainian staff by Russian soldiers and note that, if true, such treatment would be inconsistent with the IAEA’s seven pillars of nuclear safety and security, which Russia has endorsed.”

    2022-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9109 (2022) · source

15. “The solution for what is happening at the Zaporizhzhya facility is straightforward. The United States calls for the Russian Federation to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine’s territory. That would allow for Ukraine to restore the impeccable safety, security and safeguards performance it upheld for decades at the facility. Russia continues to deploy disinformation to distract from the realities on the ground — and now claims that Ukraine is culpable for the situation at the Zaporizhzhya facility. That completely ignores the real issue, which is Russia’s illegal presence at the facility. Russia alone created the risks, and with it launched a full-scale invasion. It can eliminate those risks now by withdrawing from Ukraine. In the absence of such a withdrawal, however, there are steps we must now take to minimize the risks.”

    2022-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9109 (2022) · source

16. “To date, Russia’s full-scale invasion has resulted in thousands of civilians being killed or wounded and has violated the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law. The full-scale invasion has also contributed to a spike in global food insecurity, driven energy-market volatility and now heightened the risk of a catastrophic nuclear incident with consequences that could be felt in Ukraine and far beyond. It is especially galling that Russia’s actions are taking place during the ongoing Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which is being held just down the hall from where we sit. Russia’s behaviour could not more directly undercut the shared interests of the States parties in strengthening non-proliferation, disarmament and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.”

    2022-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9109 (2022) · source

17. “I thank Director General Grossi for his briefing on the situation at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine. We welcome the steadfast commitment of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to addressing the situation there and to nuclear safety worldwide. The United States continues to closely monitor reports on the situation at the Zaporizhzhya facility, noting the considerable concern with regard to the risk of a nuclear incident that would endanger the people of Ukraine, neighbouring States and the international community. The cause of the situation at the Zaporizhzhya facility is not a mystery. It is another tragic result of the Russian Federation’s decision to further invade its sovereign neighbour, Ukraine.”

    2022-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9109 (2022) · source