#DonbassTragedy:
War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity Committed by the Ukrainian Military-Political Leadership in Donbass
An online exhibition depicting the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Ukrainian military-political leadership in Donbass. Materials used in the exhibition were provided by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Russia Today, representatives of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic.
Warning! Viewer discretion is strongly advised! The contents of these materials are extremely graphic! But so was the life for the citizens of Donbass over the last 8 years...
On the Ninth Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention
On the Ninth Review Conference
of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention
On November 28, the Ninth Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) commences, which was supposed to take place a year ago, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic was postponed to the end of this year. Within the next three weeks the States Parties will discuss not only the implementation of the provisions of BTWC, being one of the most important disarmament agreements, but also consider ways and practical steps to strengthen the Convention.
The Conference coincides with the 50th anniversary of the opening of the BTWC for signature, which is a symbolic date that imposes additional responsibility on the delegations that will just in two days gather in Geneva. We hope that all States Parties are determined to develop and adopt decisions that would contribute to the universalization of the BTWC, compliance by States with their obligations and strengthening the prohibitive regime established by the Convention.
The Russian delegation will not attend the Review Conference empty-handed. We propose to consider a package of initiatives, the approval of which, in our opinion, will contribute to achieving the main goal that the States Parties face, namely, the elimination of the remaining weak spots and shortcomings in the Convention.
In particular, one of these initiatives is a proposal to develop a legally binding protocol containing a mechanism for verifying the fulfilment of obligations, or, in other words, a verification mechanism. Another important proposal is to establish a Scientific advisory committee to monitor the latest developments in the sphere of biology for the purposes of the Convention.
Russia, being a depositary of the BTWC, approaches the Review Conference with full responsibility, stands ready for a constructive interaction with all States Parties and the Bureau of the forum. We aim to making a significant contribution to a successful completion of this year’s one of the most important events in the sphere of arms control and disarmament, as well as to preparing a substantive final document that will, among other things, determine the BTWC activities during the next review cycle.
The head of the Russian interministerial delegation - Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Gennady Gatilov.
Official Sources
