Venezuela condemns genocide in Gaza by Israel in The Hague

Published at: 14/07/2025 04:34 PM

In the framework of the 109th session of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), held in The Hague, the Netherlands, the Permanent Representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Ambassador Héctor Constant Rosales, strongly condemned the continuation of the shameful genocide in Gaza by Israel and the recent illegal attacks against Iran, which defy the limits of law international and impose dangerous escalations with chemical risks already reported in that Council.

In this context, he denounced that the military actions taken against areas close to Iranian chemical industries, subject to the verification regime of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), are repugnant acts of disregard for international standards and even more of frank foolishness, as they pose severe risks to human life and to the environmental balance in the region.

Likewise, Venezuela ratified, in that multilateral forum, its commitment to global and absolute chemical disarmament, in faithful compliance with international agreements on the subject and with the comprehensive, effective and balanced implementation of the Convention, in accordance with the principles established in the Charter of the United Nations and based on International Law, while considering that the rigorous application of the provisions of the Convention must to direct the attention of complaints to allegations of the use of chemical weapons by States.

For Ambassador Constant Rosales, this requires leaving behind the practice of using disinformation and non-scientific sources and focusing on strengthening technical teams that must address all the information and considerations of States, whose treatment within the OPCW requires leaving aside politicization. For this reason and as a pressing example, he stressed that the allegation of the use of chemical substances by the armies of the occupying Power in Palestinian territories should not be ignored or underestimated and, on the contrary, they merit the continuation of the close monitoring of this situation by the OPCW Technical Secretariat.

Referring to current challenges, in addition to military and armed challenges, the Permanent Representative said that other major obstacles persist to international cooperation, inclusive multilateralism and unconditional technical assistance, stressing that the continued application of criminal and illegal unilateral coercive measures (MCU) also constitute an aggression against the principles of the United Nations Charter, as well as the spirit of the Convention.

Venezuela once again denounced before that body of the OPCW, the impact of the more than 1,000 MCUs that violate human rights, including the right to development, and which, in addition, prevent and hinder Venezuela's comprehensive work in the said international organization, including the blocking of the payment of its dues and directly impacting the chemical protection and safety programs of its national industry.

Among other aspects to be addressed in the programming of the 109th session of the Executive Council, the Venezuelan diplomat shared his concern about the establishment of the Office of Special Missions of the OPCW, which assumes the functions of the Research and Identification Group, which exceeds the provisions of the Convention.

He also thanked the People's Republic of China for the recent holding of the Workshop on Artificial Intelligence held in Shanghai, in virtue of its contribution to the implementation of the Convention.

At that meeting, Venezuela supported the Declaration read by the Ugandan delegation, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) plus China.

The Executive Council of the OPCW is a decision-making body, made up of 41 member States of the 193 that make up the Organization, of which Venezuela has been a member since January 2, 1998, when the CAQ came into force.

VENEZUELAN MISSION TO THE OPCW