THE HAGUE, Netherlands — 15 April 2021 — The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and Dutch construction company Dura Vermeer yesterday signed the main construction contract for a new facility – the OPCW Centre for Chemistry and Technology (“ChemTech Centre”). The contract was signed by the OPCW Director of Administration, Mr Christopher Buck, and, on behalf of Dura Vermeer, by Mr David Snelleman. The contract signing was overseen by OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, and CEO of Dura Vermeer, Mr Job Dura.
The Director-General stated: “By entering into this contract, the OPCW has taken a significant step towards the establishment of the ChemTech Centre. This facility will strengthen the Organisation’s scientific capabilities, critical to our mission of safeguarding the Chemical Weapons Convention. In Dura Vermeer, the OPCW has found an experienced and reliable partner for turning the ChemTech Centre plan into reality.”
Director-General Arias also expressed his gratitude to the OPCW Member States and other donors that have supported the project so far. He further emphasised the important role the ChemTech Centre will play in developing the OPCW’s ability to address the threat from chemical weapons use and enhance capacity building activities to the benefit of all 193 Member States – in areas like analytical chemistry skills, chemical safety and security, first response, sampling techniques, and emergency management.
Mr Dura commented: “Dura Vermeer is proud to start work for the OPCW, the global leader in the effort to rid the world of chemical weapons, and to join the Organisation in realising its ambition to establish the new ChemTech Centre. We hope the Centre will be a source of pride for the community and for the OPCW. Our enthusiastic team is keen to embark on this new flagship project.”
The ChemTech Centre is an important upgrade to the OPCW’s research, analytical and capacity building capabilities in support of Member States. It will bring together the OPCW Laboratory, Equipment Store, and a range of state-of-the-art training facilities. The Centre will also serve as a knowledge repository to tackle chemical threats worldwide as well as a platform to promote expert dialogue, exchange, and collaboration in the field of peaceful uses of chemistry. In addition, a new logistics centre and training facilities will significantly enhance the professional development of OPCW inspectors, mission preparations, and support deployments.
The building will be located on a 6,400m2 plot within the Heron Business Park in Pijnacker-Nootdorp, outside The Hague. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer and the Centre should become operational at the end of 2022.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Ambassador Dr Mohammad Faisal – Picture by Embassy of Pakistan in Germany.
Tuesday, 13 April 2021, Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany: Pakistan shall open a consulate general in Munich, Bavaria, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced in the framework of his visit to Berlin.
Talking to media personnel in the German capital, Foreign Minister Qureshi said Pakistan and Germany had great prospects for cooperation in trade and investment, and expressed confidence that a new consulate general would expedite matters in this regard.
The foreign minister said a consul general will be appointed at the Munich mission to supplement the diplomatic efforts of the country’s embassy in Berlin.
He said Pakistan was committed to properly formulating the Strategic Engagement Plan of Europe and added the country could explore cooperation with Germany, particularly in the areas of information technology, solar energy and electric vehicles.
He expressed satisfaction that around 5,000 Pakistani students were currently studying at various educational institutions in Germany, adding that the nation’s visionary poet Allama Mohammad Iqbal also studied at an institute in Munich in Bavaria.
Mr Qureshi said efforts would be made to expand the scope of cooperation in the education sector by engaging the Higher Education Commission so that Germany could become a top destination for Pakistani students.
The foreign minister also visited the Pakistani embassy in Berlin where Ambassador Dr Mohammad Faisal and other diplomats received him warmly. The Minister reviewed different sections of the embassy, including the consular section, and expressed satisfaction over the facilities, and services provided therein.
H.E. Ambassador Hidenao Yanagi at the Representation of North Rhine-Westphalia. Picture by NRW Landesvertretung-Michael-Setzpfandt
Tuesday, 13 April 2021, Berlin-Tokyo: Germany held its first foreign and security policy consultations with Japan, a partner with shared values. The talks took place in 2+2 format, with each country being represented by its Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence
Foreign and security policy consultations between Japan and Germany are a new form of cooperation between the two countries: Nipponese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi participated on the Japanese side, and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on the German side. The Federal Foreign Office was the virtual host of the joint video teleconference.
The 2+2 Japan-Germany consultations, as they are called, are a tangible result of the German Government’s Policy guidelines for the Indo-Pacific, which it adopted in the autumn of 2020. In these, Germany declared its intention to play a stronger and more active role in the Indo-Pacific region, which stretches from the eastern coast of Africa to the western coast of the Americas.
A key part of this strategy is to diversify and deepen Germany’s relations with countries in the region.The Indo-Pacific region is the fastest-growing economic region in the world. Viêt Nam and China are among the small number of countries in the world that recorded economic growth in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Indo-Pacific accounts for a large share of international trade. However, the region is also seeing an increasing amount of conflict and geopolitical rivalry. Global challenges, such as facing down the pandemic, tackling climate change and the equitable shaping of globalisation, cannot be tackled without the countries of the Indo-Pacific.
Japan is among Germany’s oldest and closest partners. This year, the two countries are celebrating their 160th anniversary of bilateral relations. Japan is the oldest democracy in East Asia and, like Germany, is an export-oriented, high-tech country. We therefore have a number of things in common: We share fundamental values, face similar challenges and have the same interests in many areas.
On 16 March 2021, the Belgian authorities, acting on the basis of a request for cooperation in the execution of an order for arrest and transfer from the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC), arrested Mr Pjetёr Shala in Belgium.
On 15 April 2021, Mr Shala was transferred to the Detention Facilities of the KSC in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The Pre-Trial Judge, Nicolas Guillou, confirmed the indictment against Mr Shala on 12 June 2020. The redacted confirmed indictment has now been made public in accordance with Rule 88 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence. For security reasons, the Pre-Trial Judge ordered the indictment to be made public with redactions.
The confirmed indictment alleges that Mr Shala is responsible, under various forms of individual criminal responsibility, for the war crimes of arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture and murder committed in the context of and associated with a non-international armed conflict in Kosovo. The alleged crimes with which Mr Shala is charged took place between approximately 17 May 1999 and 5 June 1999 against persons detained at the Kukёs Metal Factory (Albania) allegedly used by the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Information about the date and time of Mr Shala’s initial appearance before the Pre-Trial Judge will be announced in due course.
The Hague, 14 April 2021 – The Trial Chamber at the Hague Branch of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism), composed of Judges Burton Hall (The Bahamas), presiding, Joseph Masanche (Tanzania), and Seon Ki Park (South Korea), today concluded the hearing of the parties’ closing arguments in the case of Prosecutor v. Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović. The closing arguments were heard from Monday, 12 April, until Wednesday, 14 April 2021.
In his final remarks, the Presiding Judge expressed appreciation to the parties and to all those who assisted during the retrial, while acknowledging that the Mechanism has been able to successfully complete the hearings in this case at a time when the global COVID-19 pandemic is still deeply affecting everyone’s life.
Conclusion of closing arguments in Prosecutor v. Jovica Stanišić and
Franko Simatović
Following today’s hearing, the Trial Chamber will deliberate in private and will issue in due course a scheduling order for the pronouncement of the trial judgement. Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović are currently on provisional release until a date to be determined by the Trial Chamber at the time of scheduling the delivery of the trial judgement.
This is the first retrial held before the Mechanism. Stanišić, formerly Deputy Chief and Chief of the State Security Service (DB) of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia, and Simatović, formerly employed in the Second Administration of the Serbian DB, were charged before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) with having directed, organised, equipped, trained, armed, and financed special units of the DB and other Serb forces, which were involved in the commission of murder, persecution, deportation, and forcible transfer of non-Serb civilians from large areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1991 and 1995.
Conclusion of closing arguments in Prosecutor v. Jovica Stanišić and
Franko Simatović
On 30 May 2013, an ICTY Trial Chamber found that Stanišić and Simatović could not be held criminally responsible for these crimes and acquitted both accused of all charges. Following the appeals proceedings, on 15 December 2015, the ICTY Appeals Chamber quashed the ICTY Trial Chamber’s decision and ordered a retrial and the immediate detention of the accused.
The retrial commenced before the Mechanism on 13 June 2017 with the Prosecution’s opening statement. The Prosecution case was closed on 21 February 2019. A total of 51 witnesses were heard in court for the Prosecution. The Defence case commenced on 18 June 2019, and a total of 29 witnesses were heard in court for both accused.
On the image Defense Secretary, Lloyd J. Austin poses with Chargée d’affaires Robin Quinville and Defense Attaché, Captain Mike Wenke and other embassy staff members. Picture by State Department, US Embassy in Germany.
Tuesday, 13 April 2021, Berlin, Germany: The first personal meeting between German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin focused on current challenges in security and defence policy. The political focus lied on the transatlantic relationship, the role of NATO, the engagement in the Indo-Pacific, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and joint operations.
The retired Army General was the first member of the new Biden administration to visit Germany for a personal meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to chart the course of the new US administration and to discuss a new transatlantic agenda in the field of security and defence policy.
Both parties emphasised the long friendship and partnership between Germany and the USA. German and American soldiers stand side by side in many missions.
Kramp-Karrenbauer welcomed the relaunch of the transatlantic security and defence policy. The current challenges require more than ever a joint shoulder-to-shoulder approach. Germany is aware of its central role in the future orientation of NATO.
“I am particularly pleased about the intention of my US counterpart not to reduce the US forces in Germany any further, but even to increase them by about 500 additional forces,” Kramp-Karrenbauer emphasised. The US soldiers are planned for the United States European Command. The two defence ministers agreed that in view of the current Russian exercise activities and troop movements in the border region with Ukraine, they wanted to proceed in a coordinated and joint manner.
Kramp-Karrenbauer and Austin explored cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. “This region is becoming increasingly important for international stability,” said Kramp-Karrenbauer as per statement below. Germany also has vital interests there.
The deployment of the frigate “Bayern” in the second half of 2021 is a sign of the visible implementation of the Indo-Pacific policy of the German government. Germany is seeking close dialogue with the USA. The goal is a sustainable engagement beyond 2021.
The German Defence Minister and the American Defense Secretary considered a withdrawal from Afghanistan by 30 April 2021 to be unrealistic. Germany would coordinate closely with the USA and all other troop contributors on how to proceed.
Secretary Austin’s was accompanied to his meetings by the US top envoy in Germany, Robin Quinville, and the republic’s Defense Attaché, Captain Mike Wenke.
Tuesday, 13 April 2021, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, Germany: The Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Germany, Tomáš Kafka, was welcomed by Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte for his inaugural visit to Bremen City Hall.
At the beginning of the appointment, the diplomat signed the Golden Book of the City of Bremen. This was followed by an exchange of ideas in the Senate Chamber. Kafka was accompanied by Cultural Attaché Zuzana Chrištofová.
Among other things, the Ambassador’s visit to the Research Centre for Eastern Europe (FSO) at the University of Bremen was a topic of discussion. The FSO’s extensive archive contains more than 100,000 documents, photographs and works of art by dissidents from the former Soviet Union, Poland and the former Czechoslovakia.
Ambassador Kafka very impressed by the estates of several dissidents who were important to him in his personal and diplomatic biography. “I was particularly fascinated by the documents of Czech-Polish Solidarność,” says the top Czech envoy. Founded in 1982 in the midst of the “Cold War”, the FSO today studies the Eastern Bloc and its societies with their culture, as well as analysing current developments in the post-Soviet region.
Mayor Bovenschulte emphasised how important the exchange with a diplomat from Central Europe on the pan-European situation was to him. Further appointments took Ambassador Kafka to the Bremen City-State Diet (Landtag) as well as to the Bremen Chamber of Commerce (IHK for Bremen and Bremerhaven).
On the historic date of March 08th – International Women’s Day, a large number of international affairs specialists gathered for the second consecutive summit in Vienna, Austria.[1]Along with the two acting European State Presidents, the event was endorsed by the keynote of the EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood and Enlargement, His Excellency Olivér Várhelyi. Still, one of the most anticipated talks was that of the President of the Republic of Malta, Dr. George Vella.
By Eugene Matos De Lara.
In his highly absorbing keynote, His Excellency President Vella focused on the Euro-Mediterranean and its promising prospects.
President Vella covered a wide array of issues concerning the Mediterranean region, including prospects for and improvement of existing channels of dialogue and cooperation, the ever-changing dynamics of the region, an assessment of the developments in the Western, Central and Eastern parts of the region, and the roles of the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) in addressing the Mediterranean’s challenges. This text is a brief recap highlighting the key points of the Maltese President’s intervention at the Vienna Process March’ event.
The President of the Republic of Malta, Dr. George Vella.
President George Vella then urged us to ask ourselves a very pressing questions, “what the EU, which is ideally placed to positively influence developments, is actually doing?” He stated that he welcomes “the launch of a new agenda for the Mediterranean which clearly states that a strengthened Mediterranean partnership remains a strategic imperative for the EU.” He further highlights the importance of addressing the gap between theory and practice. Here, he refers to the New Pact on Migration and Asylum in the EU; Excellency explained that what truly matters is not what is written in agreements, but rather what is implemented, pointing out that “questions still very much remain on the fair and equitable implementation of its [the New Pact’s] provisions.”
Finally, President George Vella closed his highly absorbing keynote by informing the conference participants that Malta is bidding on a non-permanent seat in the United Nation’s Security Council during the term 2023-2024 in order to be a “voice for dialogue, sustainable growth, [and] equality in the Mediterranean and beyond.”
Congratulating to Vienna Process partners on their sustained work in promoting the cross-European dialogue and understanding, and especially to IFIMES for the role played by its Euro-Med branch headed by Ambassador Lamberto Zannier, Malta went even further. This important southern EU member state already expressed its wish to host one of the planned Vienna Process conferences on Europe and its neighborhood in a due time.
*the above article is based on the informal transcript and conference recordings, which may have nonintentionally caused minor omittances or imprecisions in the reporting. Ms. Rola Elkamash also contributed to this text.
Main picture: Malta President George Vella. Credits: Published in Newsbook by Amy Borg Feb 13, 2020.
About the Author:
Eugene Matos De Lara, publisher of the academic journal Border Crossing, he is an International Private Law specialist of the University of Ottawa, Canada.
[1] This leg of the Vienna Process titled: “Europe – Future – Neighborhood at 75: Disruptions Recalibration Continuity”. The conference, jointly organized by the Modern Diplomacy, IFIMES and their partners, with the support of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, was aimed at discussing the future of Europe and its neighbourhood in the wake of its old and new challenges.
This highly anticipated conference gathered over twenty high ranking speakers from three continents, and the viewers from Australia to Canada and from Chile to Far East. The day was filled by three panels focusing on the rethinking and revisiting Europe and its three equally important neighbourhoods: Euro-Med, Eastern and trans-Atlantic (or as the Romano Prodi’s EU Commission coined it back in 2000s – “from Morocco to Russia – everything but the institutions”); the socio-political and economic greening; as well as the legacy of WWII, Nuremberg Trials and Code, the European Human Rights Charter and their relevance in the 21st century.
OPCW Releases Second Report by Investigation and Identification Team. IIT concludes that units of the Syrian Arab Air Force used chemical weapons in Saraqib on 4 February 2018
THE HAGUE, Netherlands—12 April 2021—The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) released today the findings of the second report by the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT). The IIT is responsible for identifying the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic where the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) has determined that chemical weapons have been used or likely used in Syria. The IIT released its first report on 8 April 2020.
The IIT’s second report reiterates its mandate, the legal and practical challenges of its work, and the findings of the investigation focusing on the incident in Saraqib, Syrian Arab Republic, on 4 February 2018. The IIT’s investigation and analysis included a comprehensive review of all the information obtained including: interviews with persons who were present in the relevant places at the time of the incidents, analysis of samples and remnants collected at the sites of the incidents, review of the symptomatology reported by casualties and medical staff, examination of imagery, including satellite images, and extensive consultation of experts.
The IIT also obtained topographic analysis of the area in question and gas dispersion modelling to corroborate accounts from witnesses and victims. The investigation relied on relevant FFM report as well as on samples and other material obtained by the Technical Secretariat.
The report reached the conclusion that there are reasonable grounds to believe that, at approximately 21:22 on 4 February 2018, a military helicopter of the Syrian Arab Air Force under the control of the Tiger Forces hit eastern Saraqib by dropping at least one cylinder. The cylinder ruptured and released chlorine over a large area, affecting 12 named individuals.
From the 29th to the 31st of March, I had the honour to conduct my third and last official visit to Mali in my capacity as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the ‘’Court’’) before my term ends in June of this year. While in Mali, my delegation and I had a full programme of meetings and productive discussions with the Malian authorities, the judiciary, representatives of civil society, victim associations, community and religious leaders, the academic community and the media. Our exchanges also included meetings with representatives of the United Nations and the diplomatic community based on Mali.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Malian authorities, and the President of the Transition, H.E. Bah N’DAW for the hospitality and cooperation extended to me and my team during my visit to Bamako and Timbuktu.
I would also like to thank the Trust Fund for Victims of the ICC as well as The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (“UNESCO”) for the organisation and gracious invitation to take part in the historic ceremony marking the symbolic recognition of victims – their suffering, their courage and resilience – following the conviction of Mr Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, the first individual accused and convicted at the ICC for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against religious and historic buildings in Timbuktu, Mali. Mr Al Mahdi was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and ordered to pay 2.7 million euros in reparations to victims. His conviction sent a clear message that these are serious under international law and that perpetrators must be and will be held accountable. Cultural heritage must no longer be attacked and destroyed with impunity.
As I stated at the ceremony, when cultural property is destroyed, it erases the past, never to be lived again, leading to an irreplaceable loss to humanity. We must pool our resources and within our respective mandates, collectively address the serious issue of the destruction of cultural heritage in war and conflict. No actor alone is able to effectively fight impunity for atrocity crimes and protect cultural heritage. Joint action and collaboration are essential. We must indeed #unite4heritage.
Given the importance that I, along with my Office, attach to this matter, and in line with my Strategic Plan to pay particular attention to crimes against and affecting cultural heritage, we recently published a Draft Policy on Cultural Heritage for consultation and comments by States Parties to the Rome Statute, civil society and other stakeholders. My Office has enjoyed close collaboration with UNESCO on this initiative, and I seize the opportunity to publicly salute them for their critical work and the cooperation and assistance extended to my Office. We look forward to our continued collaboration.
In our second case in the Situation of Mali, the trial against Mr Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud has been ongoing since last July. Mr Al Hassan faces a total of 13 charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including sexual and gender-based crimes and the deliberate attacks against cultural heritage allegedly committed in Timbuktu. He is the first individual at the ICC to be charged with persecution on the grounds of gender and on religious grounds. The attack on cultural heritage is part of the underlying crimes.
My Office will continue to do what it can to address these serious crimes, including the assault on cultural heritage – our common heritage. My personal visit to Timbuktu on this occasion and having directly interacted with community leaders and those affected by the destruction brought upon this historic city have only reinforced my belief in the importance of accountability for such crimes. History, whose physical embodiment is at peril through such attacks, will not be generous to our failure to care or act decisively.
During my visit, I have also discussed with the Malian authorities the ongoing violence in the country, and in particular, the preoccupying situation in central Mali and the need to ensure that investigations by the Malian authorities are conducted as swiftly as possible and that those responsible for the commission of atrocities against the civilian population are brought to justice. I reiterated the commitment of my Office to provide support as appropriate in conformity with our mandate and the principle of complementarity to assist national efforts to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for atrocities.
Our investigations in Mali continue. I am grateful to the Malian authorities for their cooperation and support. My Office remains committed to doing everything it can within its mandate and means to advance justice for victims of atrocity crimes, whether at the ICC or in support of national efforts within the framework of complementarity.
