Win in the fight against chemical weapons

Icongratulate the efforts of the Special Conference of members of the ChemicalWeapons Convention (CWC) who have decided overnight to establish a mechanismwithin the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to beable to attribute responsibility for chemical weapons use in Syria.

Australiaco-sponsored the UK-initiated decision, along with 82 of the 106 CWC states, inThe Hague at the OPCW. Twenty-four states led by Syria, Russia, Iran and China,voted against the decision.

Thegroup also tasked the Director-General of the OPCW to put forward options for auniversal attribution mechanism to be considered in November by members of theCWC.

Creatingan attribution mechanism through the OPCW will help remove the veil of impunitybehind which countries such as Syria have hidden in their repeated use ofchemical weapons, resulting in the death and suffering of large numbers ofinnocent men, women and children.

Itwill also give pause to others considering using chemical weapons.

Australia led a consensus statement on 8 June by the 43-member AustraliaGroup, which strongly urged the convening of the special meeting of CWCmembers to address failure by international institutions to attribute the useof chemical weapons.

InJanuary, Australia also joined the French-initiated International PartnershipAgainst Impunity for Chemical Weapons' Use to add pressure on countries to notuse chemical weapons.