AT GENERAL ASSEMBLY FIRST COMMITTEE LITHUANIA CONDEMNS THE USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS
At the thematic debate on Other Weapons of Mass Destruction, Mr. Artūras Gailiūnas, Deputy Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the UN and international organisations in Geneva, stressed that the use of chemical weapons is a serious violation of international law and a war crime. He welcomed the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 2118 and the 27 September Decision by the OPCW Executive Council as a major step towards a robust, sustainable and unified international response to the crisis in Syria.
United Nations General Assembly
68th session
First Committee
Statement by the Republic of Lithuania
Thematic discussion on Other Weapons of Mass Destruction
24 October 2013, New York
Mr. President,
Lithuania aligns itself with the statement made by the European Union on behalf of the EU and its member states. Let me now elaborate on some matters of particular importance to Lithuania.
The chemical weapons have been outlawed for almost a century and their use is a serious violation of international law and a war crime. Lithuania condemns their recent use in Syria and commends the efforts by the international community aimed to ensure that such attacks would never happen again. In this context, the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are more than ever in the forefront of the multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation efforts. Therefore we would like to add our voice in congratulating the OPCW on the award of the Nobel Peace Prize.
We welcome the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 2118 and the 27 September Decision by the OPCW Executive Council as a major step towards a robust, sustainable and unified international response to the crisis in Syria. We note the accession of the Syrian Arab Republic to the CWC and call it to fully comply with the obligations under the abovementioned Security Council resolution, the OPCW decision and the Convention on Chemical Weapons.
Lithuania also welcomes a successful conclusion and adoption of a consensus final report of the Third Review Conference of the CWC, held in The Hague in April 2013. We regret that the final deadline for destruction of chemical weapons has been missed in 2012 and expect that the destruction of the remaining stockpiles shall be completed in the shortest time possible under the verification by the OPCW Technical Secretariat. At the same time, as the stockpiles of chemical weapons diminish and new threats emerge, the OPCW will have to adapt. In particular, it will have to focus on preventing re-emergence of chemical weapons, while maintaining the capacity to respond to crises.
Lithuania continues to emphasize the need to address challenges resulting from chemical munitions dumped at sea. We believe that a framework allowing voluntary sharing of information and best practices would be a much needed addition to build on and reinforce current regional efforts. This year Lithuania intends to table a resolution on chemical munitions dumped at sea at the Second Committee of the General Assembly.
Mr. President,
The potential misuse of life sciences and the risk of development of biological weapons is another major challenge to the international community. Lithuania stands committed to the BTWC as a cornerstone of international efforts to prevent biological agents from ever being developed and used as weapons.
We underline the importance of the international cooperation and support to strengthen national structures and capabilities for preventing, detecting and treatment of infectious human, animal and plant diseases.
Lithuania also remains committed to working with a long term view to develop measures to verify compliance with the BTWC.
Another focus should be on working to strengthen defences against infectious diseases by identifying, assessing and communicating current and emerging threats to human health posed by these diseases. The concerted work of the national health protection bodies and international organisations to strengthen and develop continent-wide disease surveillance and early warning systems remains essential to this point.
Recognizing the serious threat of bio-terrorism, Lithuania reaffirms her commitment in strengthening bio-security, including by fully implementing relevant international requirements. Lithuania also fully adheres to the principle that safety is a precondition for the responsible and sustainable use of bio-technology and stands ready to share our experience in the field.
Thank you.
