CWC to become effective for Syria October 14

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) will become effective for Syria on October 14, U.N. Spokesperson Martin Nesirky said on Saturday, September 14. He said that the U.N. Secretary-General, in his capacity of the depositary of the 1992 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, had received the formal instrument of accession to the Convention by the Syrian Arab Republic earlier in the day. “Pursuant to the Convention, any State may accede to the Convention at any time. The Convention will enter into force for the Syrian Arab Republic on the 30th day following the date of deposit of this instrument of accession, namely on 14 October 2013,” Nesirky said. He said the Secretary-General welcomed the accession of the Syrian Arab Republic to this Convention. On September 12, the U.N. Secretary-General confirmed the receipt of a letter from the Syrian authorities, in which they pledged to observe the obligations set forth in the Convention even before it enters into force. “In their letter, the Syrian authorities have expressed their commitment to observe the obligations entailed by the Convention even before its entry into force for Syria,” the U.N. said. However, U.N. Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Faq said the U.N. needed time for the lawyers to study the letter to see if it could be considered an instrument of accession to the Convention as there were certain procedures to be observed. Syrian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari said: “In legal terms, Syria has become a full party to the Convention today.” He said the relevant notices had been sent to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. He presented a copy of the message to Ban, in which Syria undertook to comply with the terms of the Convention. Jaafari said chemical weapons stocks had been regarded by the Syrian authorities as “deterrence” against Israel’s nuclear capabilities. “Now the time has come for the Government of Syria to join the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and give up weapons of mass destruction,” he said, expressing hope that “this will serve an example for Israel to follow.” The Syrian authorities have accepted Russia’s proposal to put chemical weapons stocks under international control for subsequent disposal. President Assad said Damascus would provide complete information on its military chemicals industry within 30 days of accession to the Convention.