OPCW-UN JIM is "dead", Russia ready to discuss new mechanism to probe chemical attacks in Syria - Nebenzya
NEW YORK (UN). Nov 23 (Interfax) - Russia stands ready to discuss with UN Security Council members the idea of creating a new mechanism to investigate chemical attacks in Syria to replace the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said.
"The JIM is dead. We hope a mechanism [will be created] that could replace the JIM since the JIM has discredited itself and cannot continue working in its present form. We are ready to discuss the establishment of a new mechanism to replace the JIM and will do its work in a genuinely professional, objective, and impartial way," Nebenzya told reporters.
This is about the essence of the joint mechanism rather than a matter of its mandate's technical renewal, he said.
Mechanism experts ought to be guided by the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons in their investigations, ensure the inviolability of material evidence, and visit the sites of suspected incidents, Nebenzya said. He also invited journalists to take a look at the Russian-proposed draft resolution that contains all of these requirements.