Statement from the OPCW Director-General on Allegations of Chemical Weapons Use in Uqayribat, Hama Governate, Syria.

The allegations regarding the use of chemical weapons in the area of Uqayribat, in the Hama Governate in Syria, reported by the media recently are of serious concern. This area is located to the northwest of Palmyra and in territory understood to be controlled by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention deem the use of chemical weapons by anyone under any circumstances as reprehensible and wholly contrary to the legal norms established by the international community. The OPCW through its ongoing Fact-Finding Mission continues to examine any credible reports it receives including pertinent information that might be shared by States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Background The Chemical Weapons Convention comprehensively prohibits the use, development, production, stockpiling and transfer of chemical weapons. Any chemical used for warfare is considered a chemical weapon by the Convention. As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997 – with its 192 States Parties – it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. To date, nearly 94 per cent of all chemical weapon stockpiles declared by possessor States have been destroyed under OPCW verification. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Prize for Peace.

The Commission is reporting on progress made in the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement and on the EU’s relocation and resettlement schemes. The Commission also adopted a fourth Recommendation that takes stock of the progress achieved by Greece to put in place a fully functioning asylum system and sets out a process for the gradual resumption of Dublin transfers to Greece. European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: “Our comprehensive European approach on migration is showing positive results. We can see this in the continued implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement and the dramatic decrease in the number of irregular migrants arriving in Greece.” “We also see it in the progress made by the Greek authorities in rectifying deficiencies in the country’s asylum system, which has allowed us to recommend the gradual resumption of Dublin transfers to Greece as of 15 March 2017. This will provide further disincentives against irregular entry and secondary movements, and is an important step for the return to a normally functionally Dublin and Schengen system.” Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos said: “Both Italy and Greece have made herculean efforts in recent months in managing the refugee crisis. The fact that today we close the infringement cases on the fingerprinting and registration of migrants is proof of that.” “This November was a record month for relocation with over 1,400 persons transferred, and Member States must build on this progress by further intensifying and sustaining their efforts. Our aim is to relocate all those in Italy and Greece who are eligible for relocation within the next year. These efforts, together with a lasting reduction in arrivals from Turkey thanks to the EU-Turkey Statement, are necessary building blocks for a gradual return to the Dublin system for Greece.” Steady progress made in the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement The implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement has confirmed the trend of a steady delivery of results, albeit in the face of many challenges. Numbers of irregular crossings of the Aegean during the reporting period remained dramatically lower than before the EU-Turkey Statement. Since March, arrivals have averaged 90 per day, compared to 10,000 in a single day in October last year. Return operations have continued to be carried out with an additional 170 persons returned since the Third Report, bringing the total number of persons returned under the Statement or the Greece-Turkey bilateral readmission protocol to 1,187. However, important shortfalls remain, notably as regards the still too slow pace of returns from Greece to Turkey which has led to additional pressure on the Greek islands. The situation deserves not only careful monitoring but, more importantly, additional efforts to help improve the situation on the Greek islands. It is therefore essential that sufficient resources are provided to ensure the effective processing of asylum applications and that Member States respond in full to calls from the European Asylum Support Office. To ensure full implementation of EU actions under the EU-Turkey Statement and to alleviate the pressure on the islands, the EU Coordinator Maarten Verwey has today published a Joint Action Plan elaborated with the Greek authorities. As regards the implementation of the Visa Liberalisation Roadmap, seven benchmarks remain to be met by Turkey. The Commission encourages Turkey’s efforts to complete the delivery of all outstanding benchmarks as soon as possible. The Commission and Turkey have continued their dialogue to find solutions, including on the legislative and procedural changes needed to meet the outstanding benchmarks. The Commission has continued to accelerate the delivery of funding under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey, having already allocated a total of €2.2 billion out of the €3 billion foreseen for 2016-2017 to address the most urgent needs of refugees and host communities in Turkey. The amounts contracted have increased to €1.3 billion. The Commission is making all necessary efforts to ensure an acceleration of disbursements under the Facility, the sum of which has now reached €677 million. Dublin transfers to Greece to be gradually resumed Today, the Commission adopted its Fourth Recommendation on the resumption of Dublin transfers to Greece as a step towards a normal functioning of the rules of the Dublin system. The Commission finds that Greece has made significant progress in putting in place the essential institutional and legal structures for a properly functioning asylum system. However, the resumption has to take account of the fact that Greece is still facing high migratory pressure and that deficiencies in the Greek asylum system remain, in particular as regards reception conditions, the treatment of vulnerable applicants and the speed with which asylum applications are registered, lodged and examined. The Commission therefore recommends that transfers to Greece should be resumed gradually, on the basis of individual assurances from the Greek authorities for each returnee, guaranteeing they will be received in dignity. In order to avoid that an unsustainable burden is placed on Greece, the resumption of transfers will not be applied retroactively and will only concern asylum applicants who have entered Greece irregularly from 15 March 2017 onwards or for whom Greece is responsible from 15 March 2017 under other Dublin criteria. To support the efforts of Greece, the Commission calls on all Member States to fully comply with their relocation obligations and to ensure sufficient deployment of asylum experts to Greece. Applicants should only be transferred if the Greek authorities give individual assurances in each case that the applicant will be treated in accordance with EU law. Vulnerable asylum applicants, including unaccompanied minors, should not be transferred to Greece for the time being. An EASO team of experts from Member States should be set up to support the cooperation between Member States and to report on whether the persons transferred back to Greece are treated in accordance with the assurances provided by the Greek authorities. The Commission will regularly report on the progress made in the implementation of the Recommendation and update its recommendations if necessary. Progress on relocation and resettlement November saw 1,406 relocations, the highest monthly number so far, confirming a continuous positive trend, with relocation from Greece stabilising around 1,000 per month and relocation from Italy having increased significantly. In total, 8,162 persons have been relocated so far, 6,212 from Greece and 1,950 from Italy. The Commission considers that it should now be feasible to transfer all eligible relocation applicants in Greece and Italy to other Member States by September 2017. To achieve this goal, Member States should from now on carry out at least 2,000 relocations per month from Greece and 1,000 from Italy. As of April 2017, the monthly number of relocations from Greece should be at least 3,000 and from Italy 1,500. The Commission has continued to work closely with the Greek and Italian authorities as well as Member States to remove obstacles to speedier relocation on the ground. Today, the Commission decided to close infringement procedures against Italy and Greece for non-implementation of the Eurodac regulation because in both Member States, there is now a fingerprinting rate of close to 100% of third-country nationals liable to be fingerprinted who entered the EU irregularly at their external borders. Member States have also continued to increase their efforts on resettlement – offering legal and safe pathways to 13,887 people so far out of the 22,504 agreed under the July 2015 scheme. Since the previous report a record monthly number of 2,035 people have been resettled mainly from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. An additional 544 Syrian refugees have been resettled from Turkey, bringing the total number of resettlements from Turkey under the EU-Turkey Statement to 2,761.

  Prosecutor Serge Brammertz addresses the United Nations Security Council  Arusha, The Hague, 8 December 2016- Prosecutor Serge Brammertz of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) today addressed the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). In his address, Prosecutor Brammertz updated the UNSC on the ICTY’s final trial and appeal, the MICT’s trial and appeals, the search for the remaining eight fugitives indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the provision of assistance to national jurisdictions prosecuting war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The Prosecutor began by noting that closing arguments are currently underway in the Mladić case, the ICTY’s final trial and one of the most important cases in its history. He reported that the Mladić trial judgment and the judgment in the Prlić et al. case, the ICTY’s final appeal, are both expected by the end of November 2017. The Prosecutor also updated the UNSC on the status of trial and appeal proceedings before the MICT, including the filing of appeal briefs in Karadzic and Šešelj. Turning to state cooperation with the ICTY and MICT, the Prosecutor stated that the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) “echoes President Agius’ grave concern that Serbia continues to ignore and breach its legal obligations to cooperate with the Tribunal.” Regarding the search for the remaining eight fugitives indicted by the ICTR, Prosecutor Brammertz informed the UNSC that the OTP has developed strategies to locate and arrest each of the fugitives. He said, “All victims share the same hope: to see those responsible for the crimes against them brought to justice. And so it remains of critical importance that these eight fugitives are arrested and stand trial.” In relation to Rwanda, the Prosecutor reported that the OTP’s cooperation with the National Public Prosecution Authority and the Prosecutor-General remains smooth and effective. He also highlighted that Rwandan authorities have identified more than 500 suspects in other countries, and encouraged those countries to work with Rwandan authorities and ensure these cases are completed. With respect to national prosecutions of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, the Prosecutor recognized positive developments in the work of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, he noted that regional judicial cooperation experienced a significant setback with the failure by Serbian authorities to enforce the war crimes conviction in the Đukić case. Prosecutor Brammertz further reported, “As long as the political environment and mindset do not support war crimes justice, it will be extremely difficult to meet the public’s legitimate expectations for meaningful accountability.” He explained that there is little evidence Serbia is implementing its commitments to support war crimes prosecutions. He also urged Croatia to bring its policies in line with its commitments. The Prosecutor expressed the OTP’s concerns that politicians and government officials from the region are undermining trust in judicial accountability for war crimes, and informed the UNSC that the glorification of war criminals continues. The Prosecutor concluded, “On behalf of the Offices of the Prosecutor of the ICTR, ICTY and MICT, I thank Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon for standing behind us and giving us his full support, and I look forward to our continued cooperation with Secretary-General designate Antonio Guterres.”    

On 8 December, 24 people were arrested and several house searches were carried out in Greece as part of a joint investigation by Greece and the UK, supported by Europol. The individuals were arrested on suspicion of being part of an organised crime group believed to be facilitating the smuggling of Iranian nationals from Greece to the UK, often via France and Spain, by using counterfeit documents or impersonating their legitimate owners. A Europol specialist in illegal immigrant facilitation, equipped with a mobile office, was deployed on-the-spot and assisted national authorities throughout the operation. Investigators believe the group was charging up to EUR 10 000 per person to supply migrants with fraudulently obtained or altered identity documents, and to arrange their onward journeys to the UK. Four forgery facilities, where the group was alleged to have produced the counterfeit documents, were dismantled during the operation. Forgery equipment, EUR 50 000 in cash and hundreds of documents were also seized. In a linked operation, nine suspects were arrested as UK officers were deployed to addresses in Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Northampton on 5 December. They were supported on-the-spot by a Europol analyst with a mobile office, who performed real-time analysis and cross-checks against Europol’s databases. Three French police officers also provided support. The suspected criminal network was based in the UK, more specifically in Greater Manchester, and conducted its activities in other Member States. Due to the transnational activities of the network, parallel investigations emerged in the Czech Republic, France, Greece and Spain, under the coordination of Europol and Eurojust. A joint investigation team was also established between the UK and France. Europol has contributed to the investigation by providing tailored analytical reports that enabled investigators to gain a clear picture of the potential case implications and the connections established among the five Member States involved. Eurojust provided legal support to facilitate effective cross-border cooperation, and funded the joint investigation team between the UK and France.  

The judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) adopted amendments to seven of the Regulations of the Court during their thirty-fifth plenary session on 6 December . These amendments aim to improve efficiency by allowing all parties and participants in proceedings before the Court to have increased clarity on a range of procedural matters. The amendments are technical in nature, concerning page limits, time limits and other procedural issues. These amendment proposals were placed before a plenary session of the judges by the Court’s Advisory Committee on Legal Texts, which consists of three judges (one from each Division), one representative from the Office of the Prosecutor, one representative from the Registry and one representative of counsel included in the Court’s list of counsel. The judges of the Court adopted the following amendments. Regulation 20(2) was amended to state expressly that Chambers must make public the reasons for ordering that certain hearings be heard in private session, as was already expressly stated in respect of closed sessions. Regulation 24(5) was amended to clarify the permitted scope of a reply. The amendment to regulation 33(1)(d) clarified the time by which documents due on a specific date must be filed with the Registry. Regulation 34 has been modified to amend certain time limits and procedures in relation to responses and leave to reply to responses. Regulation 36 has been modified to introduce certain specifications concerning the format of documents and the calculation of page limits. Regulation 38 has been expanded to include a number of additional documents and the applicable page limits have been modified. Regulation 44(1) has been clarified to reflect practice by which a Chamber has discretion to allow the introduction of expert evidence from persons who are not on the list of experts maintained by the Registry. Pursuant to article 52(3) of the Rome Statute, these amendments took effect upon their adoption. The amendments to the Regulations of the Court will be circulated to States Parties for comments. If within six months from circulation, there are no objections from a majority of States Parties, the amendments shall remain in force. Regulations of the Court: English, Français      

Statement of the President of the International Criminal Court, Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, on the occasion of Human Rights Day, 10 December 2016 “Tomorrow, the International Criminal Court joins the rest of the world in marking Human Rights Day, which commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948. The theme of this year’s Human Rights Day is “Stand up for someone’s human rights today”. It is an important message. The effective protection of human rights requires that we look not only after our own rights and interests, but also those of others, in particular the most vulnerable. The International Criminal Court embodies the commitment of nations from all continents to protect all victims against genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In the first place, such crimes are investigated and prosecuted by States, but if they cannot or will not do so, it is the ICC’s task to step in. The Court has made significant achievements since 2002 in prosecuting crimes that are an affront to human rights such as the use of child soldiers, sexual violence in conflict, attacks on civilians and the destruction of cultural property. Victims are at the heart of the ICC’s work. They can participate in the Court’s proceedings with the assistance of legal aid and they have the right to request reparations for the harm they have suffered. The Trust Fund for Victims associated with the ICC has assisted more than three hundred thousand victims with physical and psychological rehabilitation as well as material support. The ICC is central to the global system for the protection of human rights, and victims around the world look to it in hope of justice. But its reach is not yet universal, as many States are yet to ratify the Rome Statute, its founding treaty. More support is needed, so that one day all people may enjoy the same protection of the law. Meanwhile, the Court’s work continues, day in, day out, with investigations, trials, appeals and reparations, standing up against impunity, in defense of human rights.”

On 6 and 7 December 2016, judicial and law enforcement authorities from France and the Netherlands, supported on-the-spot by Europol’s European Migrant Smuggling Centre, took action against an organised crime network suspected of having smuggled some 500 migrants from Somalia to different destination countries in the European Union along secondary routes. Eight suspects were arrested in France (Strasbourg, Modane, Paris) and one in the Netherlands (Geleen) as a result of this joint action. This criminal network, composed of Somali nationals residing mainly in France and Italy, was responsible for smuggling Somali migrants from Italy to different Member States, including Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany and other northern European countries. Some of these migrants were smuggled out of Italy by means of car, train or coach, while others were smuggled directly from Africa to Europe by flights transiting via Asian countries using fake travel documents. This operation was preceded by extensive and complex criminal investigations supported by Europol, which coordinated the law enforcement authorities in France and the Netherlands. Italian judicial authorities carried out extensive investigations, with several suspects belonging to this network arrested earlier this year. Eurojust held two coordination meetings over the past year, and was instrumental in facilitating the European Arrest Warrant that led to the arrest of one of the key suspects in the Netherlands this week. This cooperation, combined with international telephone interceptions managed by France, led to the identification in Strasbourg of several network logistics experts. During this week’s action days, Europol provided on-the-spot support by performing real-time analysis and cross-checks against its databases of the information and telecommunication data that were provided by the participating Member States.