Disinfo: The West is turning the UN into a tool to defame Syria

Summary

Western countries have turned the Security Council into a tool to smear Syria.

Syria has repeatedly expressed its assertion that it no longer possesses any of these (chemical) weapons... and has fully implemented its obligations under its accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013.

Disproof

Recurrent disinformation message attempting to discredit the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), concerning the usage of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian conflict.

The portrayal of the Security Council and OPCW (where Russia is a member) as a pawn in geopolitical designs started around mid-2018, when the organisation was being granted new powers to assign blame for chemical attacks, especially in the Syrian Douma. 18 countries issued a joint statement, which called for an end to the unacceptable vilification of the OPCW.

An investigation mechanism set up by the OPCW has twice blamed Syrian regime forces for chemical attacks. On 12 April 2021, it said it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that a Syrian air force military helicopter dropped a chlorine cylinder on a Syrian town in 2018, causing12 people to become ill.

On 8 April 2020, the team found reasonable grounds to believe that the Syrian Arab Air Force was responsible for attacks using chlorine and the nerve agent sarin in March 2017 in the town of Latamneh.

On another note, the OPCW inspectors could only authenticate that the declared chemical weapons by the Syrian government had been destroyed in 2014, even though there were suspicions in the West that Syria had hidden as much as 10% of its stockpile.

In the OPCW 85th report mentioned in the article, it is clearly pointed out that Damascus “has yet to provide sufficient technical information or explanations [with regard to the finding of a Schedule 2.B.04 chemical] that would enable the Secretariat to close this issue”.

Read similar cases in our database claiming that OPCW reports are made from the information provided by terrorists; or that chemical attacks in Syria have been staged and filmed by Western media; or that the West is using OPCW to throw baseless accusations at Syria; or that OPCW is an American tool; or that the OPCW's decision to restrict Syria's rights was absurd; or that the West is using OPCW to throw baseless accusations at Syria.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 258
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 02/09/2021
  • Article language(s) Arabic
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Syria
  • Keywords: UN, Syrian War, West, OPCW, Chemical weapons/attack, Douma
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Disinfo: Polish fence on the border with Belarus is meant to frighten Poles with a perspective of war

The ruling Polish elite is trying to cut all ties with the East using the rhetoric of war. The most recent manifestation of this process is the construction of a fence on the Polish-Belarusian border. This border fence has a primarily a symbolic meaning – it is supposed to introduce a permanent division between "us" and "them", creating an additional barrier against the East. The border fence sends a message that it is necessary to prepare for war – it frightens the society with the perspective of war.

Disproof

Recurring disinformation narrative about the ongoing migration crisis on the eastern border of the European Union directly caused by the Belarusian authorities.

On 23 August 2021, the Polish authorities announced the construction of the fence on the border with Belarus to stop the ongoing influx of irregular migrants orchestrated by the Belarusian regime. According to the position of the Polish authorities, the ongoing situation on the Belarusian border is a hybrid attack on Poland in order to destabilise the country and the entire EU.

Disinfo: Lithuania does not want to help investigate the genocide of the Belarusian people

Lithuania refuses to provide legal aid for Belarus in the criminal case regarding the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War. Earlier Belarus asked to interrogate identified members of the Lithuanian punitive battalion, including Valdemar Hubert Laimutis Adamkevicius who is non-other than the former president of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus.

Disproof

The message exploits a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Nazi/Fascist Baltic States.

The current “genocide of Belarusian people” case by Belarusian prosecutors lacks evidence and is based on doubtful legal and historical ground (see public broadcaster LRT publication “Minsk seeks to extradite members of ‘Lithuanian SS batalion’ that never existed”).

Disinfo: Poland replaces the anniversary of the WWII outbreak with the date of the Soviet invasion

Poland appears on the way to oblivion. For several decades, the anniversary of 1 September has been gradually pushed out of public awareness by the commemoration of 17 September. There is a slow process of transformation of historical consciousness and the historical identity of the Poles in the direction consistent with the current political interests.

Therefore, in the sphere of historical symbolism, 1 September is mentioned less and less, and is replaced by 17 September. This situation fits the artificially constructed historical and international identity of Poland. Today, Poland looks for its only ally overseas [the USA], while it appears in conflict with all its neighbours.

Disproof

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism – it repeatedly accuses Poland of the “falsification and re-writing” of its history for political goals.

The claims that Poland tries to replace the 1 September anniversary [date of German invasion - WWII outbreak] with the commemoration of 17 September [date of the Soviet invasion] is untrue. Every year, September 1 is commemorated on the highest state level with the participation of the top-level Polish officials (annual ceremonies at Wieluń and Westerplatte).