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Part three of an interview with Gloria Mulcahy and Marion Madonia. Topics include: Their parents' marriage. Jack Kennedy visited their house. Issues that concerned their father: School of Nursing at Burbank ; 1 SPEAKER 1: Well that might come back. Your mother must have been a very patient woman. MARIANNE: Yeah, very patient. GLORIA: Very kind. And she didn't drive. MARIANNE: She was patient. She was home, you know, taking care of us, and… he was, he was always active. GLORIA: And they used to go on, like, to [unintelligible – 00:00:19] Columbia, and couples would go out bowling. MARIANNE: Mm-hmm. Oh yeah, She did… [Crosstalk] GLORIA: Things like that, yeah. MARIANNE: --a lot things when they were younger, yeah. GLORIA: You know, really. MARIANNE: Yeah, now I can't remember because we just remember the last 25 years because she was paralyzed, but… SPEAKER 1: A stroke [unintelligible – 00:00:34]. GLORIA: That was hard. When she was 71 she had a… MARIANNE: He, uh, she -- no, she, um, she was patient. She had children, and she -- in those days, right, they didn't run around like we did. GLORIA: She didn't drive. [Crosstalk] MARIANNE: They didn't run around. Their groceries were delivered. So she would go during the day walking with us. Because she had neighborhoods that were Italian that had their children. And, um… but she went to a lot of things with my father. The banquets and fancy -- they always had banquets following the fairs. [crosstalk] GLORIA: It was so nice. MARIANNE: Yeah, I know. She always dressed up beautiful, yeah. GLORIA: Oh yeah. SPEAKER 1: So was she vivacious and outgoing?2 MARIANNE: No, I don't think she was outgoing. Do you? GLORIA: Quiet, no. MARIANNE: She's more quiet like Gloria. I think I took after my father. I mean, I talk more. GLORIA: Right. MARIANNE: I think Ma was quieter and… home. GLORIA: And she loved to go shopping. [Crosstalk] We'd go shopping together all together, go out to eat. Yeah. But she was quiet. SPEAKER 1: Now, did she make -- did your father look to her for counsel? Did he talk to her before running for all of these offices? [Crosstalk] GLORIA: It was really a man's world. MARIANNE: I think then it was a man's world. Let's face it. It just turned into a woman's world just recently. I mean, it was a man's world even when I was married. That's why I was the first divorced in the family. No, really. I mean, it was, you know, a man's world about position, about men's part then that they support the family. They had a beautiful business and they supported the family, and women were content that way. You know, but she was outgoing, but she wasn't… she had a lot of friends. She wasn't the type [crosstalk] that would say to my father I don't think you should go to that meeting tonight. GLORIA: No, she would never [crosstalk] say anything, no. MARIANNE: No way, not Ma. No. GLORIA: No. SPEAKER 1: [Unintelligible – 00:02:35]. MARIANNE: Yeah, Ma, she was very easy to get along with. You know, one thing I always remembered—and it stuck with me because where I had a bad marriage and she always had a good marriage even though he was so active in politics—but every time he would always leave the house, he would always kiss her good bye. I 3 remember that, somehow these things stick in your mind from being little and growing up. Because they were married for what, over 60 years until, you know, he died. And he never left her side when he got older, when he retired from politics and whatever. He was so dedicated to her then. We couldn't believe it. Not that we couldn't believe that he would be dedicated to Ma, but I meant usually a man -- I mean at that age, everything was Ma we had to take care of her. When he was sick, we'd say yeah, we are taking care of you too. No, Ma comes first. You know. GLORIA: Right, right. MARIANNE: So I think, you know, so it's like -- I mean, look at it, their marriage survived. Nowadays a marriage probably wouldn't survive because the woman wouldn't maybe say, "Well, you are going to all these meetings and I'm staying home." Right, the modern woman? GLORIA: Mm-hmm. SPEAKER 1: What was it like for your father… [Crosstalk] SPEAKER 1: --possibly they tried [unintelligible - 00:03:55]. MARIANNE: You're right. GLORIA: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: Maybe they didn't have as much options. I don't know. I have a friend who's a lawyer who says that seven years is a long marriage now. GLORIA: Wow. Imagine. [Crosstalk] SPEAKER 1: Just a few years ago it was 14, and now it's dropped down to seven. GLORIA: Terrible. MARIANNE: Yeah, it's true.4 SPEAKER 1: It's tough. So what was it like for him having five daughters? Did he ever… MARIANNE: Everybody teased him about being Eddie Cantor. In those days Eddie Cantor had five daughters. In those days they'd say, "Yeah, like Eddie Cantor with all those daughters. It was women, women, women." SPEAKER 1: So who is Eddie Cantor? I don't… [Crosstalk] was he a superstar? MARIANNE: He was in the movies or an actor, right? GLORIA: Ago, yeah. MARIANNE: He used to be -- in those days, he was a big star or something, like in the -- he would play the Mammy… didn't they put black make-up on in those… GLORIA: Yeah. MARIANNE: In those days that was a difference too. You know. I can't remember the name, but I remember he sang Mammy or Suwanee River. Isn't that something? When you think back. [Laughter] SPEAKER 1: Now, did he ever expect any of you to go into politics? Or was it really unheard of back then? MARIANNE: Oh gosh, it was unheard of then. GLORIA: Yeah, no. MARIANNE: Women to be in politics then, no. I don't think there was one woman then in those days. GLORIA: No. SPEAKER 1: But apparently you worked for him? MARIANNE: Oh yeah. Yeah. Mary worked… GLORIA: Mary was in one of the minstrel shows. Mary… MARIANNE: Oh yeah, Mary's a -- women were in minstrel shows. GLORIA: I remember when [unintelligible – 00:05:39]. MARIANNE: Yeah, me to. Yeah, she sang too. Yeah, yeah. And we were in the [unintelligible – 00:05:43] or we were supposed to be. I think I 5 was once, but what I'm saying is that women weren't in the politics, no, not then, not when he was in politics. Women weren't in politics then in the '50s. I never remember hearing. If there was, it was probably just one. SPEAKER 1: But you would help Don? MARIANNE: Oh, run the campaigns? GLORIA: Oh yeah, we were helping out. SPEAKER 1: So what was that like? What kind of things did you have to do? MARIANNE: Do you remember Barb? GLORIA: On election day, you mean? No. MARIANNE: Before -- I remember we used to fold, we used to send out fliers to people. And fold them and put them in envelops, and we'd get in… And we didn't really go door to door… GLORIA: No. MARIANNE: --to… to tell people, to solicit to say we want you to vote. My father would do that, you know, himself. But we would help with the campaign with preparing everything. And then the day of election, we would do the runners of the drivers, and we'd go and pick up people at their homes. GLORIA: Right. MARIANNE: Yeah. And I remember a couple -- I remember I was single, and my ex-husband, he used to drive, and I would be the runner. I run by -- I got so excited one year I fell on -- we were running down from WEIM, where [crosstalk] we had our headquarters, and I fell on my, I fell on [unintelligible – 00:07:10] and I broke -- I was in high school then, and I broke my ankle, yeah. SPEAKER 1: So now, what does that mean a runner? What… MARIANNE: Oh, a runner, a runner would be -- we would run to go to the house and ring the doorbell and say, "We're from Levanti's headquarters. We're here to pick you up." SPEAKER 1: So whether or not they wanted to…6 MARIANNE: Oh no, they called us. [Crosstalk] GLORIA: They would call the headquarters for a ride. MARIANNE: Or we would call the houses and say, "Do you need a ride to the polls?" GLORIA: Oh yeah. MARIANNE: "So what time would you like us to come?" And they'd say like two o'clock, and then we'd go. Yeah. Remember? GLORIA: Yeah. MARIANNE: Did you do that? Do you remember being a runner? Or a driver? GLORIA: Yeah, driver. Yeah. MARIANNE: I remember Dick, because he was my boyfriend in high school, my ex-husband. And so he would drive and I would run. That is why I was a runner [laughter]. SPEAKER 1: Do you remember any meetings that you held? Where a group of men would come in and they'd be talking about what needs to be done? MARIANNE: We didn't have any meetings [unintelligible – 00:08:13] but just later in life… GLORIA: At the Maconie Club they had meetings. I remember… [Crosstalk] MARIANNE: Yeah. But who came to our house? I remember we did have… Remember Reynolds came to the house. And then I don't know. Remember when Jack Kennedy came? SPEAKER 1: Jack Kennedy came to your house? MARIANNE: Before he was president. [Crosstalk] He was running for senator. I remember I was in a book -- I pinned a corsage on his sister. Jack was in the middle. He was running for state senator. He had crutches, Jack Kennedy. And then [Eunice] and Pat, and there were three of us girls… this was at the Elks' Club, the Pittsburg 7 Elks. We had a fair, and we had to pin the corsages on, on the sisters. In this book, you can just see my back. I'm in a gown [crosstalk] and I didn't turn my face. The other two girls did, and I didn't. I was quite upset about that. You know, but it was in the book. In those days -- but that was an honor. We never knew -- no one ever knew he was going to be president. He came to our house [crosstalk] but I don't remember if they had a meeting at 223 Hayward. GLORIA: Yeah, I don't know why, but he did come. MARIANNE: I guess we were the daughters, and we kind of… when you're, young you just don't -- you're are not really as active as, like nowadays, people are more aware. I think we were more like children. And nowadays, when people with children, they're even more aware because people -- what's that word I want to say? No, not "sophisticated." Oh… boy, right there. But nowadays everybody is -- I don't want to say smarter, because we were smart. I'm just saying, you know, we… SPEAKER 1: More worldly? MARIANNE: Well, worldwide. Yeah, we were more like children, you know? That's the way I thought we were. I know when I was younger I was always playing. Nowadays you see that kids, they always -- they hear everything and they understand. I think in our day we were kept… SPEAKER 1: Well, maybe no one asked for your opinion back then. Nowadays… GLORIA: Right. MARIANNE: Thank you. That's it. Yeah. I didn't go to college, and I kind of feel like [unintelligible – 00:10:38] a little more knowledgeable when it comes to the words. I can't -- I talk a lot, but I'm not good with words. Gloria, you're better than I am.8 GLORIA: No, I'm not. MARIANNE: Yes, but you are quiet. She's so quiet, but all my friends go, "Look, she's quiet," and I'm not [laughter]. [Crosstalk] SPEAKER 1: Did your parents feel as though education was important? MARIANNE: Oh yeah. GLORIA: Oh yeah. MARIANNE: They wanted us all to go to college. SPEAKER 1: Did any of you end up going? GLORIA: Two, Paula and Mary. MARIANNE: Mary, our oldest and our youngest. You went too. You went for two years. GLORIA: I went. Yeah, back in junior college. I went for a couple years, but they both went to college and became teachers, schoolteachers. MARIANNE: Yeah, that's right. That's right. SPEAKER 1: How is it that you escaped then? MARIANNE: Well, I always didn't… GLORIA: And Emmy didn't go either. MARIANNE: Yeah. She was going to, but she didn't. I kind of… always wanted to go out and have fun. And… GLORIA: We didn't like school that much. MARIANNE: No. And I went steady, and then after high school, I knew I was going to get married. But I always wanted to be better educated. And after I -- I knew I was getting married, and then after my -- during marriage, I wanted to go to college then. And that's my mistake that I did -- after my children were in school, I should have done that. GLORIA: But you're never too old to come back. MARIANNE: No, because I did take -- I did I sign up for a psychology course, but I had just gone through a divorce and I felt bad because the money I had used, I felt my children needed, and -- but I should 9 have. But I do -- I am educated when it comes to -- but I didn't go to college, but I did take tax courses, and I'm still taking them every year. Now I have been doing this for 14 years. I didn't want to go to college. I knew I wanted to be a secretary. I always played secretary, so then I went to city hall and I did payroll. And from then on, that is what I always did. GLORIA: [Unintelligible - 00:12:46]. SPEAKER 1: Oh [laughter]. MARIANNE: I'm sorry. See, that's my hang-up. SPEAKER 1: No, it's not a problem. [Unintelligible – 00:12:58] Oh, that. MARIANNE: Why am I doing that? Nerves are showing that you… If I was born now, because my three children, they had to go to college. Remember how we used to make us -- we all took piano lessons. We all had to take piano lessons. Gloria was a marvelous piano player. We all took them, but I was like eight. I wanted to go out and play. I wouldn't study. It was you, Abbey, and Paula. SPEAKER 1: You're still very social. MARIANNE: Yeah, I enjoyed the social part. [Unintelligible – 00:13:40] now myself, so. So I enjoy all those things. SPEAKER 1: I am just wondering though, there must have been a period of time—and maybe you just don't know because you were quite young—when your father made the decision. I get the impression that people maybe talked to him. MARIANNE: Oh sure. SPEAKER 1: Telling him he would be the best candidate. MARIANNE: Yeah, I would think so, but they did even when it came to being mayor. You know, that's why they all approached him and said you'd be the best candidate to run for mayor. Yeah, you're right, you're really right. [Crosstalk] 10 MARIANNE: When he first started in the council, the city council, they must have said to him, yeah, because he was so active in all these organizations. That's two, and one was his precinct where he lived. When you live in your own ward, you want to take care of that ward. And then to be mayor, you got to go, you got to start out in the… SPEAKER 1: Is there a lot of pressure taking care of people in the district or the ward? I mean, were people demanding? MARIANNE: I don't know if they were. Do you remember if they were? GLORIA: No. He used to get a lot of calls. [Crosstalk] MARIANNE: I know in the city when he was mayor, it was -- but I was high school age. Yeah he was really -- because I remember people used to call, and people would even go and ask him for money in city hall. GLORIA: I remember. MARIANNE: We remember that, but -- and then being mayor, he wasn't making that much money. I don't know about city council. SPEAKER 1: So getting back to people, maybe asking him to run, do you remember anything about that? Mayor, I'm talking about. MARIANNE: No, I don't. Once you're in as the city councilor and as councilor-at-large, the next thing is mayor. There's nothing else but mayor. Or you leave the city and then you go run for something in the state. You know what I mean? There is nothing higher in the city of Fitchburg. So I would think that would have been an automatic clock in, but I know that people did go to him and say he would be the best mayor. The best man to run for mayor, because he was so actively… GLORIA: We don't have any names of people that we can remember. MARIANNE: No, no.11 SPEAKER 1: So he must have been pretty courageous though to take up that fight. GLORIA: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: He was running against a machine. MARIANNE: You know have every nationality came to Fitchburg. First it was on Water Street, it was… GLORIA: Irish. MARIANNE: I know the Irish took over, but Water Street was attached to the Italians. But I don't know what they call them for the Irish. When they took over -- but different nationalities came from the old country, they came here. And it's true, like say Water Street was the Italians', and in those days Italians were held back to a certain extent, like some of the Irish people were then. But then they ran, but when Dad ran for mayor, that is why it was such a big honor. We were so proud of him. It was something to know that… I wish we could back to those days just to… Now what you know, like, because we're older now, of course. But to go back then, you just took everything for granted. GLORIA: For granted, yeah. MARIANNE: Because… SPEAKER 1: Did he ever mention… no, you said that Italians were held back like every recent immigrant group. But do you remember him talking about any of the dissensions that were apparent? MARIANNE: He had some Italians [unintelligible – 00:17:41] in there. The councils, he was a counselor at [unintelligible – 00:17:45] lodge or something. He was Italian. A lot of Italians owned their own business in those days, too, which was great. Everybody came up, you know… I can't… GLORIA: I can't remember. SPEAKER 1: What did the Crockers -- and I forgot the other people that…?12 MARIANNE: Well the Wallaces, I remember they bagged him. He was thrilled. I do remember them talking about it. GLORIA: It was like coalition party merged together [unintelligible – 00:18:13] democrats and the republican. MARIANNE: Right. And they merged together. GLORIA: On one ticket. MARIANNE: Yeah, in those days… GLORIA: Yeah. [Crosstalk] MARIANNE: That's something I always remember them talking about. I overheard, and they were always talking about that. SPEAKER 1: I wonder why that happened. Were they, was… MARIANNE: They wanted a change… [Crosstalk] Then at that time, they were just building the School of Nursing at the Burbank. The Burbank was a big thing because to Wallaces, the Crocketts is the one that donated the money to Fitchburg. This is something that I wish we knew more about because I don't understand how all of this came about. Now, we lost Burbank. What happened in the City of Fitchburg? We don't know what happened. But then, I know when they were building the murses' home when our father took over as mayor. He finished that. GLORIA: Yeah. MARIANNE: But there was a lot of talk going on in town that he was paid off. But he, he would never -- never to him, that's why he was losing his business… [Crosstalk] GLORIA: He'd never take anything. MARIANNE: The man never took a penny, you know. What I'm saying is in those days that what they were saying that maybe a contractor, you know, paid him off, but they didn't. GLORIA: No.13 MARIANNE: He… SPEAKER 1: They say that a contractor maybe paid him off, and that's why he supported the nursing? MARIANNE: No, no, no, no. I meant… he -- well I don't know, I shouldn't say, because I don't know about what happened previously before he was mayor. But they wanted him to finish it… I don't know; I got to read this. SPEAKER 1: Well, they wanted him to continue with the building of the… MARIANNE: Yeah, and he did. He would have. That's why when he took over being mayor of Fitchburg. But I want to find something here that… SPEAKER 1: Well, that's not so unusual then that interest groups want their person there… MARIANNE: They want a strong person in there. SPEAKER 1: Right, right. MARIANNE: That would finish and that wouldn't take any -- I don't know, any bribes. SPEAKER 1: Mm-hmm. But do you remember people talking about that they would never vote for an Italian? MARIANNE: Yeah. Not vote for an Italian? I don't know. GLORIA: No. MARIANNE: Right now, when my father took office, he said, "We have just come through two years" -- this is before, he's talking the previous administration. "We are talking over the reins of a government at a time when our city debt is the highest in our history. We have just come through two years of liberal and lavish spending…"/AT/pa/dr/es

Letter From The Representatives Of France, Kuwait, The Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Sweden, The United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland And The United States Of America To The United Nations Addressed To The President Of The Security Council ; United Nations S/PV.8217 Security Council Seventy-third year 8217th meeting Tuesday, 27 March 2018, 11.10 a.m. New York Provisional President: Mr. Blok . (Netherlands) Members: Bolivia (Plurinational State of). . Mr. Inchauste Jordán China. . Mr. Wu Haitao Côte d'Ivoire. . Mr. Dah Equatorial Guinea. . Mr. Ndong Mba Ethiopia. . Mr. Alemu France. . Mr. Delattre Kazakhstan. . Mr. Umarov Kuwait. . Mr. Alotaibi Peru. . Mr. Meza-Cuadra Poland. . Ms. Wronecka Russian Federation. . Mr. Nebenzia Sweden . Mr. Orrenius Skau United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . Ms. Pierce United States of America. . Mrs. Haley Agenda The situation in the Middle East Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2258 (2015), 2332 (2016) and 2393 (2017) (S/2018/243) This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the translation of speeches delivered in other languages. The final text will be printed in the Official Records of the Security Council. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room U-0506 (verbatimrecords@un.org). Corrected records will be reissued electronically on the Official Document System of the United Nations (http://documents.un.org). 18-08569 (E) *1808569* S/PV.8217 The situation in the Middle East 27/03/2018 2/21 18-08569 The meeting was called to order at 11.10 a.m. Adoption of the agenda The agenda was adopted. The situation in the Middle East Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2258 (2015), 2332 (2016) and 2393 (2017) (S/2018/243) The President: In accordance with rule 37 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to participate in this meeting. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure, I invite Mr. Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, to participate in this meeting. Mr. Lowcock is joining today's meeting via video-teleconference from Geneva. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I wish to draw the attention of the members of the Council to document S/2018/243, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2258 (2015), 2332 (2016) and 2393 (2017). Recalling the latest note by the President of the Security Council on its working methods (S/2017/507), I want to encourage all participants, both members and non-members of the Council, to deliver their statements in five minutes or less. Note 507 also encourages briefers to be succinct and focus on key issues. Briefers are further encouraged to limit initial remarks to 15 minutes or less. I now give the floor to Mr. Lowcock. Mr. Lowcock: As all members of the Council know, the Syrian conflict has now entered its eighth year. When weapons speak, civilians pay the price — a relentless price with horrific violence, bloodshed and unspeakable suffering. The past few months have been some of the worst yet for many civilians in Syria. Today I want to start with the situation in eastern Ghouta. Since the adoption of resolution 2401 (2018) on 24 February, military operations in eastern Ghouta, in particular air strikes, have reportedly killed more than 1,700 people. Thousands more have been injured. Attacks on critical civilian infrastructure, such as medical facilities, continue to be reported. There have been at least 28 reported attacks on health facilities since mid-February and more than 70 verified incidents since the beginning of the year. The World Health Organization has reported that attacks on health facilities, health workers and health infrastructure were recorded during the first two months of the year at three times the rate that we saw during 2017. In recent weeks in Damascus city, at least 78 people were reportedly killed and another 230 injured by shells fired from eastern Ghouta. That includes reports of at least 35 people killed and scores wounded on 20 March, when Kashkul market in Jaramana, a suburb in the south-eastern part of the city, was struck by a rocket. Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced from Douma, Harasta, Sagba and Kafr Batna in recent days and weeks. So far, reports indicate that some 80,000 civilians have been taken to places in Damascus city and rural Damascus. Nearly 20,000 combatants and civilians have been transported to locations in north-western Syria. Nearly 52,000 civilians from eastern Ghouta are currently being hosted in eight collective shelters in rural Damascus. That displaced population has endured months of limited access to food, medical care and other essential items. In the words of the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, Ali Al-Za'tari, who met and spoke to some of them, those people are "tired, hungry, traumatized and afraid". Most of the collective shelters do not have the capacity or infrastructure to accommodate such large numbers of people. They are extremely overcrowded and severely lacking in basic water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. There are a number of serious protection concerns related to risks of gender-based violence, unaccompanied and separated children and restrictions on movement. The United Nations is not in charge of the management of those shelters. However, since 13 March, together with humanitarian partners, we have mobilized a rapid response to provide evacuees with basic support in close coordination with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and other local partners. So far, more than 130,000 non-food items have been distributed, 130 emergency 27/03/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8217 18-08569 3/21 toilets have been installed, and water trucking services have been provided to most shelters. In addition, supplies to feed more than 50,000 people and a total of 38 mobile health teams and 18 mobile medical teams are currently providing support to those in need inside the shelters. Humanitarian organizations also need access to the people still trapped within eastern Ghouta, in particular in Douma, where fighting and siege continue. The United Nations and its partners are ready to proceed to Douma with food for up to 16,500 people, as well as health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene supplies, but facilitation letters need to be signed by the Government of Syria. I reiterate the Secretary-General's call on all parties to fully respect international humanitarian law and human rights law in order to ensure immediate humanitarian access and guarantee the protection of civilians, including in relation to displacements and evacuations. The United Nations and its partners require unimpeded access to all those affected by the situation in eastern Ghouta. That means access to the areas where civilians remain, through which they transit and to which they exit, such as collective shelters, in order to ensure that effective protection mechanisms are in place so that we can deter any possible violations and provide remedial protection support. Eastern Ghouta is not the only place in which humanitarian needs continue to increase. In north-western Syria, in recent weeks, an estimated 183,500 people have been displaced by hostilities in Afrin district in Aleppo governorate. The majority — some 140,000 people — have fled to Tell Rifaat and the remainder have gone to Nubl, Al-Zahraa, Manbij, Hasakah and surrounding areas. That massive influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) is putting a strain on host communities, which are already overwhelmed. Two days ago, on 25 March, an inter-agency convoy to Tell Rifaat delivered assistance for some 50,000 people. However, overall, humanitarian partners are still struggling to gain sustainable access to the area. Moreover, access to Aleppo city for IDPs from Afrin district is currently restricted. Of particular concern are medical evacuations that are urgently required for severely sick people to receive care in specialized hospitals in Aleppo city. Four deaths due to the lack of proper health care have already been reported. Between 50,000 and 70,000 people are estimated still to be in Afrin city. Humanitarian access to the city and its outer perimeters is possible through cross-border operations mandated by the Council. Today, the Government of Turkey told us that it is positively disposed towards such access, and we plan to run convoys in the very near future. We know that needs are very substantial. In Idlib governorate, the situation remains catastrophic, with almost 400,000 people displaced since mid-December. Local capacity to assist is overstretched. Thousands more people are now arriving there from eastern Ghouta, with no sites or shelters available for the vast majority of them. We have received reports of an increase in violence in Idlib in recent days. According to local sources, on 20 March air strikes hit an IDP shelter on the outskirts of Haas village in southern rural Idlib governorate, reportedly killing at least 10 displaced people and injuring another 15. On 21 March, air strikes on Kafr Battikh village, also in southern rural Idlib governorate, reportedly killed scores more. The next day, the central market in Harim town was hit by an air strike, reportedly killing 35 people, including many women and children. On 12 March, air strikes also resumed in southern Syria, with attacks being reported in and around Dar'a city. There have been no air strikes in those areas since an agreement was reached last year on the establishment of a de-escalation zone for parts of the south of the country. That therefore appears to be a major unwelcome development. Let me turn to Raqqa. On 19 March, we received approval from the Syrian authorities for an assessment mission to Raqqa city by the United Nations Mine Action Service, the United Nations Department of Safety and Security, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Health Organization. As Council members know, we have been seeking agreement to that for some time. That was on 19 March. Three days later, on 22 March, the United Nations Department of Safety and Security deployed a team to conduct a security assessment. They report that while the city is considered calm and stable, considerable risk remains. Raqqa city is still highly contaminated with landmines, unexploded ordnances, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices. We hope that access to Raqqa city will be possible for humanitarian aid deliveries via Qamishli, Manbij, Aleppo, Hamah S/PV.8217 The situation in the Middle East 27/03/2018 4/21 18-08569 and Homs, depending on operational and logistical arrangements. The United Nations and our partners are now preparing a humanitarian assessment mission, which is likely to take place next week. Next I shall address Rukban, on the Syria-Jordan border. United Nations partners received permission from the Syrian authorities on 8 March to organize a humanitarian convoy from Damascus to reach people in need along the Syria-Jordan border. Last week, on 19 March, the United Nations itself received permission to join that humanitarian mission. Preparations are ongoing, and a first humanitarian convoy is expected to deploy soon. As the Council knows, we have been seeking approval for that for many months. As we sit here today, almost at the end of the month, we have reached some 137,000 people in need through inter-agency convoys — that is, cross-line convoys sent to hard-to-reach and besieged areas — to Tell Rifaat, Al-Dar al-Kabirah and Douma. That is limited, incremental progress, compared to the first part of the year, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the team on the ground and some of those around this table. But we are essentially just given crumbs — an occasional convoy here and there, often, coincidentally, shortly before our monthly briefings to the Council. A total of 5.6 million Syrians in acute need cannot live on crumbs, and with a quarter of the year gone, our level of access is currently far worse than it was this time last year. We need the support of all Council members and members of the International Syria Support Group humanitarian task force to do their part to exert their individual and collective influence over the parties. A few days ago, the Government of Syria and others asked for more United Nations help with humanitarian aid in eastern Ghouta. In response, we have, first, proposed that a team of United Nations emergency response experts be deployed to strengthen efforts on the ground. Visa requests for the team have been submitted. Secondly, we have confirmed a new allocation of $20 million from the Syria Humanitarian Fund, which is managed by my Office, for eastern Ghouta and those displaced from Afrin to provide shelter materials, improve sanitation for displaced people, ensure that safe water is available, provide life-saving medicines and medical services and put in place measures to enhance protection in relocation sites. The United Nations and its partners, on average, reach 7.5 million people every month with life-saving humanitarian assistance across the whole of Syria. Clearly, without that assistance, the situation would be even more catastrophic than it is now and the loss of life even greater. The United Nations has no money of its own to do those things. We can do them only because we receive voluntary contributions from our donors. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported our appeal over the last year, including our top donors: the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Norway, Canada, Japan, Denmark, Sweden, Qatar, Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Resolution 2401 (2018) was adopted just over a month ago. I ask all in the Council to make the resolution a reality. Whatever the difficulty, the United Nations and its partners remain determined to follow through, for the sake of the Syrian people. The President: I thank Mr. Lowcock for his briefing. I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Recently, a Dutch photographer working with Save the Children published a photo album featuring 48 Syrian children, all seven years old. Those photos were school portraits, like we all had taken when we were young. The children were born in Syria, but they had to flee. They are as old as the Syrian war, so they have never seen their country at peace. Their memories of their homeland are fading. Sometimes they cannot remember their country at all, nor their family members left behind. But by giving those young children a public face, the photographer has tried to restore some of the dignity sacrificed to a war in which all humanity seems lost. I have here a photo of Nour. Those children were relatively lucky; they were able to escape. At the same time, inside Syria, during seven years of war, thousands of children have been killed. I myself am a father, and I am certainly not the only parent in this Chamber. Images of children affected by war should leave no one unmoved. Despite any differences between us, we should at least have one thing in common: the belief that protecting children should come first. Yet, such protection is lacking. The Syrian crisis is, above all, a protection crisis — a grave violation of the long-established norm to protect civilians and their belongings in the time of war. 27/03/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8217 18-08569 5/21 Together, we — the international community — have expressed our determination to prevent conflict and save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. And where conflict cannot be prevented, we have agreed to regulate the conduct of warfare. One of the very first steps to that end was taken in Russia, almost 150 years ago. In Saint Petersburg, it was decided to forbid weapons that cause unnecessary suffering. Since those first steps, the body of international humanitarian law has grown considerably, including through the adoption of the Hague and Geneva Conventions. The imperative of those laws has always been to protect civilians in conflict, to spare them from disaster, save them from harm and respect their dignity. Sadly, what we see in Syria today is the exact opposite. Every day, many are showing total disregard for civilians. In eastern Ghouta, the Syrian regime and its allies, including Russia, have trapped hundreds of thousands of civilians and are relentlessly continuing their offensive. The United Nations has reported air strikes on densely populated areas, blatant attacks targeting hospitals and medical personnel, the use of starvation as a weapon of war and the use of chemical weapons. Many innocent children, women and men are suffering. They should be protected. Yet instead, families are seeing their homes destroyed, their loved ones killed and their dignity shattered. In Afrin, the effects of the Turkey-led offensive are clear for all to see: a worsening of the already precarious humanitarian situation, with more than 160,000 displaced people and a further obstacle to efforts to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham (ISIS). I ask Turkey not to extend its military activities to other border regions in Syria or Iraq. Four weeks ago, the Council adopted resolution 2401 (2018). It is telling that in 2018, the Council should need to spell out that warring parties should immediately lift all sieges in Syria and grant unimpeded humanitarian access to those in acute need. Those are by no means exceptional demands. They are basic obligations under international humanitarian law, developed over decades to instil minimum standards of human decency in warfare. Not even the presence of terrorists is an excuse for disregarding those standards. It is humiliating that the Council is unable to enforce those minimum standards. If the Council is not willing or able to do it, who is? With all that in mind, we should not forget that the responsibility, and indeed the obligation, to execute the Council's decisions lies with individual Member States. So what should be done? First, we should reaffirm these norms and enforce the relevant resolutions. We call on all parties to the Syrian conflict — including the Syrian regime, Russia, Iran, Turkey and armed opposition groups — to respect and implement the Council's decisions. Secondly, we must strengthen resolution 2401 (2018), with United Nations monitoring of the implementation of the ceasefire and with full access for fact-finding missions to sites and collective shelters housing internally displaced persons. These missions are ready to go; we need their impartial information. Thirdly, with regard to accountability, if there is to be any credible, stable and lasting peace in Syria, the current culture of impunity must end. All those guilty of crimes must be brought to justice. The perpetrators of crimes, including ISIS and Al-Qaida, must know that they are being watched, followed and identified. They must know that files are being compiled with a view to prosecuting them for crimes that may include genocide. They must know that one day they will be held accountable. We urge all States to increase their support for the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011, which aims to ensure that information about serious crimes is collected, analysed and preserved for future prosecutions. The Netherlands again calls on all Council members to support referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. What will become of the children in the photographs I mentioned? Will they one day be able to return to Syria? Like all children, they long for a normal life, for stability, for safety. The Syrian regime believes in a military solution. But there is none. There are no winners in this war. But it is clear who is losing — the ordinary people of Syria. In these most extreme circumstances we commend the incredible courage and perseverance of the humanitarian aid workers. It is up to us to restore credibility to the Council. It is up to us to ensure a negotiated political process, in which all Syrians and other relevant actors are represented. And it is up to us to end the agony and restore dignity and humanity to the people of Syria. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. S/PV.8217 The situation in the Middle East 27/03/2018 6/21 18-08569 I give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements. Mr. Alotaibi (Kuwait) (spoke in Arabic): We welcome you, Sir, in presiding over this important meeting. I am delivering this statement on behalf of Kuwait and Sweden. At the outset, I would like to thank the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Mark Lowcock, for his briefing. Today I will address three main areas: first, the status of the implementation of resolution 2401 (2018); secondly, measures needed to improve the humanitarian situation; and thirdly, the responsibility of the parties to implement the resolution. First, on the status of the implementation of resolution 2401 (2018), we are meeting today one month after its unanimous adoption by the Security Council, calling on all parties to cease hostilities without delay for 30 days following the adoption of the resolution. We deplore the fact that it has not yet been implemented. However, we must continue to do everything in our power to ensure the resolution's full implementation throughout Syria. The increased number of humanitarian convoys entering the besieged areas during the month of March shows that partial delivery was achieved by comparison to the complete deadlock in access in previous months. That indicates that progress can be made in implementing the resolution, and we must build on that progress. We affirm that the provisions of the resolution will remain valid beyond the first 30 days after its adoption. We look forward to continued reports from the Secretariat on the status of implementation through monthly briefings, as stipulated in the resolution. In that regard, we support the proposal for providing the Council with further regular updates. We appreciate the continued efforts of the United Nations to facilitate talks among all parties in eastern Ghouta with the goal of securing a ceasefire. We are particularly concerned about the continued military offensive by the Syrian authorities in eastern Ghouta, as well as air strikes on Dar'a and Idlib. The shelling of Damascus from eastern Ghouta is also a matter of concern. All of those acts of violence have claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians. Secondly, on measures needed to improve the humanitarian situation, we must take the necessary measures to protect civilians fleeing eastern Ghouta and to improve the humanitarian situation in collective shelters. As we have said before, implementing the provisions of resolution 2401 (2018) is the only way to improve the humanitarian situation and to achieve tangible progress in that regard. Those provisions stipulate that there must be a cessation of hostilities and that access for humanitarian aid to reach the civilian population must be enabled. Regarding the humanitarian situation in eastern Ghouta, we have five points to convey to the relevant parties, which represent our special concerns about the protection of civilians. First, all evacuations must be voluntary. People must have the right to return and to choose safe places to go to. Secondly, any negotiations on the evacuation of civilians should include civilian representatives, such as local councils. Thirdly, humanitarian aid convoys should continue to enter eastern Ghouta for the benefit of those who decided to stay there. Those convoys should occur on a weekly basis, as stipulated in resolution 2401 (2018), according to the United Nations assessment of needs, including medical supplies, and with full access for United Nations staff. Fourthly, human rights violations, including detentions, disappearances and forced conscriptions, must end. Those are serious protection concerns for civilians staying in eastern Ghouta and for those leaving it. We therefore encourage the United Nations to register the names of those evacuated and their destinations and to reinforce its presence in the collective shelters for internally displaced persons, including through the use of monitors to protect them and prevent sexual violence. We call on the Syrian authorities to grant immediate permission for that. Fifthly, the deteriorating situation in the collective shelters for the internally displaced persons should be improved as quickly as possible as the number of new arrivals continues to rise. We are deeply concerned that the United Nations partners are bearing the brunt of a burden beyond their capacity. It will therefore be essential to make the maximum use of the United Nations, its staff and its resources in order to assist in managing the increasingly crowded collective shelters. We welcome the United Nations plans to increase staff on the ground to that end, and we encourage the United Nations to do the same for eastern Ghouta as soon as the security situation allows. We call on the Syrian authorities to grant visas for additional United Nations staff immediately. 27/03/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8217 18-08569 7/21 Thirdly, on the responsibility of the parties to implement the resolution, we have a collective responsibility, as members of the Council and, specifically, as parties with influence, to work with the Syrian authorities and urge them to implement the provisions of resolution 2401 (2018) according to international humanitarian law. We expect the guarantors of the Astana agreement, Russia, Iran and Turkey, to achieve progress towards the fulfilment of the commitments undertaken in the statement they issued on 16 March in advance of their summit meeting, to be held in Istanbul on 4 April. Those commitments include, first, ensuring rapid, safe and unhindered access for humanitarian aid to areas affected by the conflict; secondly, increasing their efforts, as guarantors of the ceasefire agreement, to ensure observance of the respective agreements; and thirdly, pursuing their efforts to implement the provisions of resolution 2401 (2018). In conclusion, we affirm our full commitment to continuing to follow up closely on the status of the implementation of the resolution in the monthly reports to the Council. We will spare no effort to make progress in its implementation. This month marks the beginning of the eighth year of the conflict in Syria. Sadly, there is still a need for an end to the violence, sustained humanitarian and medical aid through weekly convoys across conflict lines, evacuation operations, the protection of civilians and hospitals, and the lifting of the siege. Mrs. Haley (United States of America): I thank you, Foreign Minister Blok, for presiding over this meeting, and I thank Under-Secretary-General Lowcock for once again laying out the facts about what is happening in Syria. I also want to personally welcome Karen Pierce to the Council as the new Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom. I know all of us in the Chamber look forward to working with her. Today we have a very difficult subject to address: siege, starvation and surrender. That is the awful, unceasing rhythm of the Syrian war. As we meet today, the third step, surrender, is taking place in eastern Ghouta. After years of enduring siege and starvation, residents are surrendering eastern Ghouta. The terrible irony of this moment must be stated and acknowledged. In the 30 days since the Security Council demanded a ceasefire, the bombardment of the people of eastern Ghouta has only increased and now, at the end of the so-called ceasefire, eastern Ghouta has nearly fallen. History will not be kind when it judges the effectiveness of the Council in relieving the suffering of the Syrian people. Seventeen hundred Syrian civilians have been killed in the past month alone. Hospitals and ambulances are being deliberately targeted with bombs and artillery. Schools are being hit, like the one in eastern Ghouta that was bombed just last week, killing 15 children. Siege, starvation and surrender. I would like to ask my Security Council colleagues to consider whether we are wrong when we point to the Russian and Iranian forces working alongside Al-Assad as being responsible for the slaughter. Russia voted for the so-called ceasefire in Syria last month (see S/PV.8188). More than that, Russia took its time painstakingly negotiating resolution 2401 (2018), which demanded the ceasefire. If we watched closely during the negotiations, we could see our Russian friends constantly leaving the room to confer with their Syrian counterparts. The possibilities for what was going on are only two. Either Russia was informing its Syrian colleagues about the content of the negotiations, or Russia was taking directions from its Syrian colleagues about the content of the negotiations. Either way, Russia cynically negotiated a ceasefire that it instantly defied. Russia even had the audacity to claim that it is the only Council member implementing resolution 2401 (2018). How can that possibly be true when in the first four days after the so-called ceasefire, Russian military aircraft conducted at least 20 daily bombing missions on Damascus and eastern Ghouta, while the people of Syria remained under siege? The so-called ceasefire was intended to allow humanitarian access to sick and starving civilians. Russia even doubled down on its cynicism by proposing five-hour pauses in the fighting. It said that they were necessary to allow humanitarian convoys to get through, but Russian and Syrian bombs continue to prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid. Only after territory falls into the hands of the Al-Assad Government and its allies do they allow food and medicine to be delivered. Russia and Syria's rationalization is that they have to continue to bomb in eastern Ghouta in order to combat what they call terrorists. That is a transparent excuse for the Russians and Al-Assad to maintain their assault. Meanwhile, from the very beginning, the opposition groups in eastern Ghouta expressed their readiness to implement the ceasefire. They told the Council that they welcomed the resolution. Russia's response was to call those groups terrorists and keep pummelling S/PV.8217 The situation in the Middle East 27/03/2018 8/21 18-08569 civilians into submission, while the people of Syria continue to starve. Last week, after Syrian civilians had spent years barely surviving, an agreement was reached to allow them to leave eastern Ghouta. Who brokered it? Russia. So we see the cycle being completed. The people of eastern Ghouta are surrendering. That is the ugly reality on the ground in Syria today. Cynical accusations of bad faith from Russia will not stop us from speaking out, and their blatantly false narratives will not keep us from telling the world about Russia's central role in bombing the Syrian people into submission. Fifteen days ago, when it was apparent that the Russian, Syrian and Iranian regimes were utterly ignoring the ceasefire, the United States developed a plan for a tougher and more targeted ceasefire focused on Damascus city and eastern Ghouta. Despite overwhelming evidence that the ceasefire was being ignored, some of our colleagues urged us to give resolution 2401 (2018) a chance to work. Reluctantly, we agreed and put off introducing the resolution. Now, more than 80 per cent of eastern Ghouta is controlled by Al-Assad and his allies. Their deception, hypocrisy and brutality have overtaken the chance of a ceasefire in eastern Ghouta, and for that we should all be ashamed. If we were upholding our responsibility as a Security Council, we would adopt a resolution today recognizing the reality of what happened in eastern Ghouta. A responsible Security Council would condemn the Syrian authorities, along with Russia and Iran, for launching a military offensive to seize eastern Ghouta the same day that we called for a ceasefire. A responsible Security Council would condemn the Al-Assad regime for deliberately blocking convoys of humanitarian aid during its military campaign and removing medical items from convoys that attempted to reach eastern Ghouta. A responsible Security Council would recognize that the provision of humanitarian aid was never safe, unimpeded or sustained, and that there was no lifting of sieges. A responsible Security Council would express its outrage that at least 1,700 civilians were killed during a military campaign that it demanded to come to a halt — 1,700 civilians who should have been spared in the ceasefire we demanded, but who died on our watch. But we cannot. We cannot take those actions because Russia will stop at nothing to use its permanent seat on the Council to shield its ally Bashar Al-Assad from even the faintest criticism. And we cannot take those actions because instead of calling out the ways in which Al-Assad, Russia and Iran made a mockery of our calls for a ceasefire, too many members of the Council wanted to wait. That is a travesty. This should be a day of shame for every member of the Council and it should be a lesson about what happens when we focus on fleeting displays of unity instead of on what is right. For those who think otherwise, the people of eastern Ghouta deserve an explanation. Mr. Delattre (France) (spoke in French): At the outset, I would like to thank Mark Lowcock for his briefing and to commend him on his tireless efforts and those of his team in their response to the urgent and severe humanitarian situation in Syria. To address that urgency and severity, a month ago almost to the day the Security Council adopted resolution 2401 (2018). We thus collectively and unanimously demanded that all the parties to the conflict cease hostilities throughout the country to allow for sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access to civilians in need and for medical evacuations. A month later, what is the situation? Not only has resolution 2401 (2018) not been implemented, but the humanitarian situation in Syria has worsened. The civilian population is living in despair, trapped between bargaining and fighting, particularly in eastern Ghouta. Over the past few weeks, not only has the fighting has not subsided; it has doubled in intensity, with a land offensive launched by the regime, supported by its allies Russia and Iran. The carefully planned offensive was unremitting, using the double strategy of terror and parallel negotiations that was used in Aleppo to obtain the surrender of combatants and the displacement of civilians. For a month there has not been a single day when eastern Ghouta, which has been besieged and starved for years, has not suffered indiscriminate shelling by the regime and its supporters. They have systematically bombed schools and hospitals and killed more than 1,700 civilians, including more than 300 children. Those deaths are the result of a deliberate strategy of the Syrian regime to forcibly bend an entire population, annihilate any form of opposition and remain in power. Nothing should justify breaches of international humanitarian law. Not one humanitarian convoy has been authorized to enter eastern Ghouta since 15 March, and almost no humanitarian assistance has 27/03/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8217 18-08569 9/21 been delivered in recent weeks. Meanwhile, there are immense needs among those still in eastern Ghouta, the majority of whom are women and children. For several days we have been witnessing forced evacuations of populations from eastern Ghouta, which could constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes. We have demanded humanitarian access to eastern Ghouta in order to provide assistance to people in their own homes, where they wish to stay as long as the ceasefire allows. That was the reason for the adoption of resolution 2401 (2018). Instead, we have witnessed just the opposite — an escalation of violence to force a massive displacement of civilians. Bombing has forced civilians, approximately 80,000 people, to flee. The displacement of people from eastern Ghouta is an integral part of the military strategy of the Syrian regime to force the opposition to capitulate. Once again, civilians are the primary victims. As I said, those forced displacements could constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes. Evidence of such crimes will be collected, preserved and used. We were clear on that point during the Arria-formula Council meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights a few days ago. Some 55,000 civilians are now in eight collective camps managed by the Syrian regime around eastern Ghouta, without water or electricity and in disastrous sanitary conditions. Their lot has not improved; their hell has simply moved a few kilometres away. We are extremely concerned about the fate of those civilians who now live in overcrowded conditions, with no assurances of protection or security, with no guarantee that they will return home. How do we protect civilians in the situation I have just described? It is absolutely urgent to protect those who can still be protected. Although the 30-day cessation of hostilities demanded by resolution 2401 (2018) has still not been implemented, that demand remains, more urgent and relevant than ever. The resolution is still the framework for our collective action. In that regard, and in line with the briefing just given by Mark Lowcock, I would like to underscore three vital demands. First, it is indispensable and urgent that humanitarian convoys be allowed to enter eastern Ghouta daily and with adequate security. Although humanitarian needs are great, the regime continues to deliberately block aid. United Nations convoys must be able to enter and make deliveries. Fighting must cease long enough to allow for delivery, unloading and distribution of supplies, including of medical assistance. The second demand concerns civilians who remain in Ghouta, who have the right to emergency humanitarian assistance and to protection. Aid must reach them where they are. To that end, the United Nations and its international and local humanitarian partners must be able to work safely on site to assess the needs of those populations. It is an obligation under international humanitarian law, but it is the minimum required to provide tangible assistance to those concerned. The protection that is due them under international humanitarian law must be unconditionally guaranteed. In that regard I call again on the responsibility of all actors with influence on the Syrian regime. The third demand, which has taken on new importance in recent days, is for assistance to be provided to the displaced civilians in camps outside Ghouta. Very concretely, that means that those populations, who have been forced to leave everything behind in order to survive, must be assured of their safety, access to basic necessities and a chance to return home when they so desire. Care must be taken that they are not threatened with retaliation, threats or persecution of any kind. In order to ensure that they are protected, the United Nations and its partners must be able to escort civilians who have been evacuated from their point of departure to their destination in the collective shelters. The United Nations and its partners must be granted continuous access to civilians living in those camps. We hope that the United Nations can strengthen its support to displaced persons who have fled eastern Ghouta. That would call for an increase in the number of international staff on site. We hope that approval will be granted to that end as soon as possible. It would also call for security guarantees for humanitarian workers. The situation in Afrin is also extremely worrisome. A great many civilians are in a critical situation. More that 180,000 people have been displaced. A single convoy was authorized, yesterday, which is insufficient given the tremendous needs of the population. Ongoing fighting in Afrin has forced the Syrian Democratic Forces to halt operations against Da'esh, whose threat, as we all know, has not dissappeared. Our position on the issue is the same. The legitimate concerns of Turkey with regard to the security of its borders cannot in any way justify a lasting military presence deep inside Syria. S/PV.8217 The situation in the Middle East 27/03/2018 10/21 18-08569 More than ever, we need the fighting to end. We call on all parties on the ground to conclude the negotiations under way and respect a cessation of hostilities. We support the efforts of the Special Envoy for Syria, Mr. Staffan de Mistura, and his commitment to resuming the Geneva process and to reaching a lasting political solution in line with resolution 2254 (2015) that starts with the establishment of an inclusive constitutional committee, under the auspices of Mr. De Mistura. It is the only way to end the Syrian crisis. It is absolutely essential to work on both the humanitarian and political fronts. I appeal on behalf of France, first, to those who can make a difference on the ground, starting with Russia. It is never to late to save lives. Let us be well aware that without urgent, decisive action, the worst is undoubtedly yet to come in the form of a worsening and enlargement of the conflict. The time has come for us to learn seriously the lessons of the Syrian tragedy. This tragedy is the illustration of a new global disorder where the rappelling ropes have disappeared due to a lack of strong international governance, a lack of a power of last resort and a lack of convergence among key actors — to which we add the well-known attitude of Russia. In other words, if we want to avoid other tragedies of this type in future, it is essential to structure the multipolar world in which we now find ourselves around a robust multilateralism embodied by a reformed United Nations. It is the only alternative to the fragmentation of the world and the return to the zones of influence — and our history teaches us all the dangers of that — and it is with the settlement of the Syrian crisis, which is our priority today and which is the emergency before us, one of the other challenges of our generation. Ms. Pierce (United Kingdom): I thank you, Mr. President, both for being here today to underscore the vital importance of this topic and, in particular, for your very powerful statement. The United Kingdom supports your call for a referral of the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. I also wish to express our thanks to the Under- Secretary-General for his continued efforts to keep the Security Council informed of the toll that hostilities are having on civilians in Syria. We also thank him for the heroic efforts of all his teams on the ground. Their efforts are much supported by most of us on the Council. The Under-Secretary-General's briefing eloquently underscores why it is essential that the Council comes together to agree on concrete steps to allow the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to fulfil its mandate to ensure humanitarian assistance and protection for everybody who needs it. Ambassador Haley has laid the situation bare, Ambassador Delattre has set out the regime's intentions, and Ambassador Alotaibi has focused on the need for protection and registration. I support their calls. I will not rehearse a catalogue of suffering that we have heard expressed so eloquently today, but that omission should not be taken as any indication that the United Kingdom is not as horrified as others by what is happening on the ground. Specifically, it is diabolical that access is actually worse in the face of such suffering. Diabolical is a strong word, but there are no others to describe what is happening. The worst destruction and suffering has continued in eastern Ghouta. Those who support Al-Assad have not taken steps to help stop the violence. Instead, Al-Assad and his supporters have violated the strong words of the Security Council in resolution 2401 (2018), making mockery of the Council's authority, as Ambassador Delattre stated. Since 11 March, an estimated 100,000 people have left eastern Ghouta and are in makeshift reception sites in rural Damascus. Thousands more have been bused to Idlib. Because there is no independent monitoring nor provisions for civilian safety, those fleeing and those staying remain vulnerable and at risk of mistreatment and abuse by the regime, including being detained, disappeared or separated from their families. Humanitarians, health workers and first responders on the ground report that the regime is deliberately targeting them. That is illegal, and those who help the Al-Assad regime are complicit in that illegality. The situation continues even for those who are left behind. An estimated 150,000 civilians remain in eastern Ghouta. They suffer from acute food shortages and lack of medical supplies. They are afraid, and above all they remember how the regime punished the civilians who fled from eastern Aleppo in December 2016. That is why Ambassador Alotaibi's call for protection and registration is so urgent. We welcome United Nations plans to scale up support to deal with the dire situations in the internally displaced persons camps and collective shelters. We call on Russia to use its influence with the regime to 27/03/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8217 18-08569 11/21 ensure that the United Nations and its partners can also provide assistance and protection for those who remain in eastern Ghouta. Whether civilians choose to stay or leave, it is essential that they be protected against attack and have access to the essentials to survive. This is not just a plea on the grounds of humanity; it is a requirement under international humanitarian law. It is the job of the Council and all members of the Council to uphold international humanitarian law. Those who side with the regime in its actions are themselves guilty of violating that law. In concluding, I would like to highlight two further areas. The suffering of the Syrian people continues in Idlib, where civilians have been under attack by regime forces for many years. More than a million internally displaced Syrians live there, including those who have fled eastern Ghouta. In Afrin, we recognize Turkey's legitimate interest in the security of its borders, but at the same time we remain concerned about the impact of operations on the humanitarian situation, and my Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have raised the need for protection of civilians and access with President Erdoğan and his Ministers. It was good to hear from the Under-Secretary-General that there may at last be signs of progress in Afrin. After seven years of conflict, over 13 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria. The Al-Assad regime has created the situation and is now preventing humanitarian actors from relieving some of the horror it has inflicted. We call on Russia to use its influence to ensure that at a minimum the United Nations can fulfil its mandate to ensure humanitarian assistance and protection for Syrians on the basis of need, regardless of any other considerations. I was at Geneva in 2012. I think we all feel that that was a huge missed opportunity, in the light of events. The situation has escalated every year since that time, and, as the Under-Secretary-General said, the level of access is worse. The Council has a small opportunity to put measures in place to reduce the risk of reprisals. As you said, Mr. President, if the Security Council cannot do it, who can? Mr. Umarov (Kazakhstan): I join others in thanking Under-Secretary-General Lowcock for his comprehensive briefing. I also wish to welcome the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, His Excellency Mr. Stephanus Abraham Blok, who is presiding over today's meeting. Kazakhstan remains committed to all Security Council resolutions aimed at solving humanitarian issues in Syria. We believe that it is most important to preserve all possible humanitarian-access modalities, including cross-border assistance, which are indispensable in bringing humanitarian aid to millions of people in Syria. Implementing resolution 2401 (2018) is a collective responsibility, with each Council member and State Member of the United Nations playing a significant role. We must all continue to do everything we can to ensure full implementation across Syria. We look forward to continued reporting on the implementation of resolution 2401 (2018) to the Council through the regular Syria briefings and reports of the Secretary- General, as stipulated in the resolution. Urgent attention must be focused on long-term humanitarian assistance, with the assurance of safe humanitarian access by the United Nations and other aid agencies, and evacuation of the wounded. We commend the sterling contribution of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent for their provision of increased medical supplies and life-saving services, including surgical procedures. In that regard, we welcome the increase in humanitarian convoys gaining access to besieged areas in Syria in March, compared to previous months. It is necessary to take note of the worrisome humanitarian situation in Syria, as fighting in different parts of the country are causing massive displacement. We endorse the appeal of the United Nations to help stem the catastrophic situation for tens of thousands of people, from both eastern Ghouta and Afrin. We look forward to the next round of talks, to be held in mid-May in our capital, Astana, where the stepping up of efforts to ensure observance of the relevant agreements will be addressed. We also believe that the dialogue between Under- Secretary-General Mark Lowcock and the Government of Syria should be ongoing. We reiterate that all obligations under international humanitarian law must be respected by all parties. A further United Nations needs-assessment mission to these troubled areas, similar to that which Under-Secretary-General Lowcock led recently, may be required very soon. The Syrian authorities must cooperate fully with the United Nations and relevant humanitarian organizations in S/PV.8217 The situation in the Middle East 27/03/2018 12/21 18-08569 facilitating the unhindered provision of humanitarian assistance and thereby mitigating the suffering. Lastly, we are of the view that the crisis in Syria can be resolved only through an inclusive and Syrian-led political process, based on the Geneva communiqué of 30 June 2012 (S/2012/522, annex), subsequent Security Council resolutions and relevant statements of the International Syria Support Group. Mr. Meza-Cuadra (Peru) (spoke in Spanish): We appreciate the convening of this meeting and the briefing by Mr. Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary- General for Humanitarian Affairs, on the humanitarian situation in Syria. We also welcome your presence here today, Sir, in presiding over our meeting. Peru deeply regrets that violence and human suffering continue to characterize the situation in Syria, 30 days after the humanitarian ceasefire demanded by the Council. Resolution 2401 (2018) remains in full force, and we consider that the Syrian Government and other actors with the capacity to influence developments on the ground are obliged to ensure its full implementation. The ceasefire should be immediate and enable unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance throughout Syrian territory. While there has been some limited progress in that regard, the delivery of humanitarian assistance must be continuous and unrestricted. In view of the Council's responsibilities in line with international law and international humanitarian law, Peru will continue to advocate for the protection of civilians in all conflicts and humanitarian crises. An indeterminate number of Syrian citizens, including thousands of women and children, have been driven out of eastern Ghouta by the violence. We note with concern that the shelters in the vicinity of Damascus cannot cope and that they lack food, clean water and medical supplies. We must remember that international humanitarian law has mandatory provisions for the evacuation of civilians. It is also compulsory to take measures to safeguard private property from looting and destruction. Syrian citizens must be able to return to their homes and businesses when security conditions improve. We must also protect the majority of the remaining population in eastern Ghouta, who are particularly vulnerable to reprisals, forced recruitment and sexual violence. We are also concerned about the humanitarian situation in Afrin, Idlib and Raqqa, among other areas of Syria. The responsibility to protect civilians cannot be conditional or subordinated to political or strategic interests. We highlight the efforts of the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies, such as the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, to assist people in such a difficult situation. They have our full support. Given the intensification of violence in recent weeks and its devastating consequences for the population, we must once again reiterate how urgent it is to make progress towards achieving a political settlement on the basis of resolution 2254 (2015) and the Geneva communiqué (S/2012/522, annex). In that regard, we hope that progress will soon be made in the establishment and composition of the constitutional committee agreed on in Sochi. All the Syrian parties, and especially the Government, must engage constructively in this. Mr. Alemu (Ethiopia): We thank Under-Secretary- General Lowcock for his comprehensive briefing. We want to express our appreciation to the United Nations and humanitarian partners for their continued selfless and courageous service in providing assistance to all Syrians in difficult circumstances. We remain concerned about the humanitarian crisis in all the areas of Syria where it is prevalent. As the Under-Secretary-General said, the Syrian war has entered its eighth year, bringing unspeakable suffering to the people of the country. The escalation of violence that we witnessed last month in eastern Ghouta and other parts of the country has been a source of extremely grave concern. According to the statement issued on 21 March by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, shelter, protection, water and sanitation remain the key priority humanitarian needs of the internally displaced. In that regard, we thank the United Nations and its humanitarian partners for providing much-needed assistance. Alleviating the suffering of Syrians requires urgent and coordinated action on the part of all actors, while respecting the relevant resolutions of the Council, particularly resolution 2401 (2018). It was encouraging that the Council unanimously adopted resolution 2401 (2018), demanding a cessation of hostilities throughout Syria for at least 30 days so as to ensure the safe, unimpeded and sustained delivery of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations. In that regard, while much remains to be done to fully implement the resolution, compared to the previous month there has been positive 27/03/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8217 18-08569 13/21 action, including aid delivery to some of the areas that are especially badly affected and difficult to reach. The conflict has also diminished in intensity in some areas, according to the report of the Secretary-General (S/2018/243). However, this does not mean that the action taken has been sufficient. We therefore stress that it is vital to redouble our efforts to do everything possible to fully and comprehensively implement the resolution with a sense of urgency and enhanced political will. We believe that what the people of Syria need is a cessation of hostilities, along with protection and access to basic goods and services. All of those demands are contained and affirmed in resolution 2401 (2018). All Syrian parties should therefore respect and fully implement resolution 2401 (2018), and all States that have influence over the parties should try to bring the maximum pressure to bear on them, with the ultimate objective of helping to fully operationalize the resolution, which was adopted unanimously by the Council. In that regard, we hope that the Astana guarantors, Russia, Turkey and Iran, will play their role in implementing resolution 2401 (2018), strengthening the ceasefire arrangements and improving humanitarian conditions, as stated in their final statement of 16 March. In addition, while we acknowledge that the United Nations and its humanitarian partners have been able to reach millions of Syrians using all modes of aid delivery, the fact remains that humanitarian access, particularly inter-agency convoys, remains a critical challenge. In that connection, it is absolutely vital to ensure safe, sustained and need-based humanitarian access so that life-saving aid can reach all Syrians in need. Let me conclude by reaffirming that only a comprehensive political dialogue, under the auspices of the United Nations, can ultimately end the humanitarian tragedy in Syria. We reiterate our position that the only solution to the Syrian crisis is a political solution based on resolution 2254 (2015). We support the continued efforts of the Special Envoy and encourage all Syrian parties to engage with him constructively and meaningfully in order to revitalize the Geneva intra-Syrian talks and support the establishment of a constitutional committee, in line with the outcome of the Sochi congress. We fully concur with the Secretary- General, who states, in his report of 20 March, "Political efforts to bring the war to an end must be accorded priority and redoubled by all parties to the conflict." (S/2018/243, para. 48) While the primary responsibility for resolving the conflict lies with the Syrians themselves — a principle that is firmly embedded in resolution 2254 (2015) — the Council also has an important role to play in supporting the efforts in a spirit of unity, which we believe can have a positive impact on the ground in alleviating the suffering of all Syrians. That may be a tall order, in the light of the fragmentation that Ambassador Delattre mentioned earlier. However, the effort must be made. Mr. Inchauste Jordán (Plurinational State of Bolivia) (spoke in Spanish): We welcome your presence, Sir, and the fact that you are presiding over the work of the Security Council today. We would also like to thank Mr. Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, for his briefing. We support him in the difficult work with which he is entrusted. We must once again express our regret that this conflict has continued for eight years and that we are still witnessing the ongoing sieges and violence being endured by the Syrian people, particularly women and children. In addition to living with the psychological consequences of the situation, they urgently need humanitarian assistance. We unequivocally condemn the ongoing bombardment of civilian infrastructure such as hospitals and schools, and the military activities in residential areas in the cities of Damascus, Afrin and Idlib, as well as in eastern Ghouta. They have only led to more civilians being killed, wounded and displaced. According to the most recent report of the Secretary General (S/2018/243), between December and February alone, there were 385,000 internally displaced persons and 2.3 million people living in besieged and hard-to-reach areas. We regret that so far there are still obstacles preventing the full implementation of resolution 2401 (2018). We call on all parties involved to make every effort to ensure the effective implementation of the resolution throughout Syria in order to facilitate the safe, sustained and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid and services, as well as to enable the medical evacuation of those who are seriously ill or injured. In addition, according to the same report, since October 2017, 86,000 civilians have returned to the city of Raqqa, of whom 20,000 arrived in February alone. Regrettably, 130 civilians have died and 658 have been seriously injured by explosive remnants of war and anti-personnel mines. In that regard, we would like to highlight the visit by the United Nations mission to Raqqa last week. We reiterate that the work of clearing S/PV.8217 The situation in the Middle East 27/03/2018 14/21 18-08569 anti-personnel mines and explosive remnants of war is crucial to facilitating the safe return of the displaced. While it does not reflect what has gone on throughout Syrian territory, it is important to highlight the recent delivery of humanitarian aid through convoys, of which the first, on 5 March, was to Douma in eastern Ghouta, bringing food for more than 27,000 people. We also believe that cross-border assistance is an important part of the response to the situation, and we highlight the food assistance to 2 million people and the dispatch by the United Nations to areas of northern and southern Syria of 449 trucks carrying aid for 1 million people. We welcome the efforts of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, all the humanitarian agencies concerned and the Russian Federation that have enabled humanitarian assistance to be delivered to various populations, in particular in eastern Ghouta, which three convoys recently entered. We call for that assistance to continue as safely as possible. In that regard, we believe it is important to strengthen the dialogue and coordination among the humanitarian agencies, the United Nations and the Syrian Government in order to facilitate the entry of convoys and humanitarian aid workers, as well as the safe and dignified return of refugees and internally displaced persons. We emphasize the dangerous work of the personnel of the various agencies and humanitarian assistance bodies, whose staff risk their own lives in carrying out their dangerous work on the ground. We therefore reiterate the importance of full respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law. We want to take this opportunity to reiterate how important it is to build on the political momentum following the commitments made at the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi. That should be the channel for reinforcing the Geneva process, led by the United Nations in the context of resolution 2254 (2016). We hope for the speedy implementation of the Sochi outcome and, as a result, the establishment of a constitutional committee that can facilitate a viable political transition. In that regard, we support the results of the latest Astana meeting, which enabled the agreements establishing de-escalation zones to be strengthened. We hope they will be reflected on the ground so as to reduce the violence and meet the urgent humanitarian needs. We condemn any attempt to foment fragmentation or sectarianism in Syria and believe that it is the Syrian people who must freely decide their future and their political leadership in the context of their sovereignty and territorial integrity. Finally, we reiterate that the only way to resolve the conflict is through an inclusive, negotiated and agreed political process, led by and for the Syrian people, and aimed at achieving sustainable peace on their territory without foreign pressure of any kind. Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): We would like to welcome you as you preside over the Council today, Sir. We also welcome Ms. Karen Pierce, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, who is now here with us. We thank Mr. Lowcock for his briefing. The difficult humanitarian situation continues in a number of areas in Syria. The Russian Federation has been taking active steps to normalize things, including within the framework of the implementation of resolution 2401 (2018). While some here may not like it, it is a fact that we are the only ones who have been making concrete efforts to implement resolution 2401 (2018). Since we first established humanitarian pauses, with the assistance of the Russian Centre for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in the Syrian Arab Republic, and the participation and oversight of the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, nearly 121,000 people have been evacuated, on a strictly voluntarily basis — let me stress that — from eastern Ghouta. Many of them have talked about how difficult it has been for them to live under the repressive regime established by the armed group militants. Civilians continue to flee eastern Ghouta through the Muhayam-Al-Wafedin humanitarian corridor. There is real-time video of this running on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website. In just the past few days more than 520 civilians have left Douma. Russian agencies have organized the distribution to them of hot food, food kits and individual food rations, as well as bottled drinking water. Yesterday alone, Russian military doctors treated 111 civilians, including 42 children. At the same time, the Russian Centre for Reconciliation continues to organize the return of residents of Saqba and Kafr Batna. On 24 March, as a result of an agreement reached by the Centre with leaders of illegal armed groups, another checkpoint was opened for fighters and their family members to leave from Harasta, Arbin, Zamalka, Ain Terma and Jobar. In the past few days, militias from the Ahrar Al-Sham 27/03/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8217 18-08569 15/21 and Faylak Al-Rahman groups and their relatives have been evacuated along the corridor and bused to Idlib governorate. In three days, more than 13,000 people were evacuated from Arbin alone. However, many have decided to remain, taking advantage of the presidential amnesty. Incidentally, there have been active efforts to plant stories about detentions and torture and possibly even executions. They are lies. The Syrian police are ensuring that these operations are safe, under the oversight of specialists from the Russian Centre for Reconciliation and representatives of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Yesterday 26 Syrian soldiers and civilians who had been taken prisoner by Faylak Al-Rahman were freed. In our view, those facts clearly attest to the difficulty and extent of the work being done by the Russian specialists on the ground, in communication with the Syrian authorities and the leaders of the armed groups. There are some members of the Security Council who prefer wasting their time on inflammatory speeches and letters making groundless claims about our country, probably to conceal their own unwillingness to do anything constructive to implement resolution 2401 (2018) in cooperation with the groups they sponsor. At the same time, yesterday the fighters from Jaysh Al-Islam who remain in Douma detonated four mines yesterday in several districts in Damascus. Six civilians died and another six were wounded. Al-Mazraa, a residential neighbourhood in the capital was shelled earlier. As a result of mine explosions around the Al-Fayhaa sports complex, a 12-year-old boy died and seven children were injured. Hundreds of people have died from mine explosions in Damascus overall. This is apparently the message that the militants are sending every day about the willingness to implement the ceasefire that they loudly proclaimed in their famous letter to the Secretary-General. I want to again point out the importance of clarifying the data used in the Secretary-General's report (S/2018/138), including on possible attacks on civilian infrastructure and the victims of such attacks. Where does that information come from? The February report has a footnote that mentions various United Nations agencies and departments of the Secretariat. The main source cited is the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which does not have a staff presence on the ground. The big question, and what we are trying to get to the bottom of, is who is providing the United Nations staff with this kind of information? Is it the anti-Government groups and terrorist accomplices like the White Helmets? But they are interested parties. So why is there only a sprinkling of the information provided by the Syrian authorities? We call on the United Nations, humanitarian organizations and States to deliver urgent assistance to help the people who are evacuating eastern Ghouta. It is also essential to strengthen the United Nations presence around the humanitarian corridors. The Syrians need immediate assistance with the infrastructure reconstruction that the Syrian Government has begun in the liberated residential areas of eastern Ghouta. We would like to ask Mr. Lowcock to oversee that issue personally. We also hope that as soon as possible the coalition will create the conditions and provide the necessary security guarantees enabling a United Nations assessment mission to be sent to Raqqa and humanitarian convoys to the Rukban camp. The Syrian authorities gave their official consent to this some time ago, as Mark Lowcock confirmed today. We should note that we were shocked by the recent reports that more than 2,000 civilians may have died during the coalition forces' assault on Raqqa. Let me ask it once again — where were the weeping and wailing and calls for humanitarian aid then? We have noted the statistics in the Secretary-General's report on the numbers of people who have returned to Raqqa, but we would like to see similar information on other parts of Syria and the country as a whole. How many people are returning to their permanent homes? We would like to propose to the United Nations representatives that they designate the areas where those indicators are the highest as a priority for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and monitor how effectively it is being implemented. We also think it would be appropriate to include information on reconstruction assistance in the reports. Resolution 2401 (2018) stipulates that Syrian districts, including those that have been liberated from terrorists, need support in restoring normal functioning and stability. One of the key areas in that regard is mine clearance. We get the feeling that external donors are losing interest in delivering assistance to residents in areas under Syrian Government control. We are seeing signals from some capitals that only opposition-held enclaves should be helped. Such double standards go completely against the core principles of neutrality and impartial humanitarian assistance. We hope that we are wrong about this and that Mr. Lowcock will refute the S/PV.8217 The situation in the Middle East 27/03/2018 16/21 18-08569 possibility of such a trend. But if our suspicions are borne out, how does the United Nations intend to deal with the issue? Just the other day a meeting of senior officials was held in Oslo under the auspices of the United Nations and the European Union to address the humanitarian situation in Syria. No representatives of the Syrian authorities were invited. How does Mr. Lowcock view the prospect of another assessment of the humanitarian situation in Syria without the participation of its official representatives? Does he consider that a productive format? That is a very urgent question considering that the forthcoming second donor conference is scheduled for the end of April in Brussels. I would also like to ask Mr. Lowcock what is known at the United Nations about the facts of sexual services being provided in exchange for humanitarian assistance in the context of cross-border operations. There is information about that in the November report of the United Nations Population Fund, and the BBC did a journalistic investigation of the issue. If this issue is known about, why is it avoided in the Secretary- General's reports? And if it is not known about, it should be investigated. We hope that in close cooperation with the Syrian authorities and consideration of their views, the United Nations will agree on an emergency humanitarian response plan for this year as soon as possible, with an emphasis on the delivery of assistance to liberated areas. Ms. Wronecka (Poland): I would like to welcome you here today, Sir, and to commend the presidency's leadership. I would also like to thank Under-Secretary- General Mark Lowcock for his comprehensive but once again alarming update. Like many around this table, we share a sense of urgency on this issue, especially following the adoption of resolution 2401 (2018), which we adopted unanimously a month ago. Unfortunately, we have to recognize that it has not been implemented in the first 30 days since its adoption. We are meeting again when there has been no substantial change on the ground and the fighting is far from over. The military offensive in Syria continues and the human suffering is growing as a result. Any action, even against terrorists, cannot justify attacks on innocent civilians and civilian infrastructure, including health facilities. That must stop, and the parties to the conflict must strictly comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law. Accountability for serious violations is a requirement under international law and central to achieving sustainable peace in Syria. As indicated in the last report of the United Nations-mandated Commission of Inquiry, there is a need for the international community to take a broader view of accountability and to take urgent steps to ensure that the needs of Syrian conflict victims for justice and accountability are met both immediately and in the long term. We call upon all parties to alleviate the suffering of the civilians, including children, by granting them free and safe access to humanitarian assistance, including voluntary medical evacuation, which should be strictly overseen by the United Nations and the implementing partners in order to ensure the voluntary character of the process. While discussing evacuations, let me underline that people must have the right to return and to a safe location for settlement. Any evacuation negotiations should also include civilians. Humanitarian aid convoys to eastern Ghouta must continue for those who choose to stay. We would like to stress that all actors should use their full influence to immediately improve conditions on the ground. We urgently call for the cessation of hostilities in the whole of Syria. Attacks against civilians, civilian property and medical facilities must stop in order to alleviate the humanitarian suffering of the Syrian people. Some small positive steps have taken place, such as a larger number of humanitarian convoys reaching the besieged areas in March, especially when compared to previous months, when humanitarian access was almost completely blocked. That improvement shows that it is possible to make progress, although much more is needed. In that context, we call on Russia, Iran and Turkey — as the European Union did, and as the High Representatives did through their respective ministers after the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union in February — to fulfil their obligations and responsibilities as Astana guarantors. It is also important to note that the cessation of hostilities may also provide a chance for the peace talks under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva to gain momentum so that a political solution may finally be reached. Once again, let me underline that we should seek to reach an intra-Syrian framework political agreement, in line with Council resolution 2254 (2015). In that connection, we strongly believe that the conclusions of the Congress of Syrian 27/03/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8217 18-08569 17/21 National Dialogue in Sochi could and should be used to advance the Geneva process, especially with regard to the creation of a constitutional committee by United Nations Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura. In conclusion, let me stress the necessity of maintaining the unity of the Council on the question of the full implementation of the humanitarian resolution across Syria. The civilian population of Syria has already suffered too much. The adoption of the resolution was just the beginning of the process. We call on all with influence on the ground to take the necessary steps to ensure that the fighting stops, the Syrian people are protected and, finally, our joint humanitarian access and necessary medical evacuations continue. Mr. Ndong Mba (Equatorial Guinea) (spoke in Spanish): We welcome Mr. Stef Blok, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, to New York. We take this opportunity to congratulate him for the commendable presidency of the Netherlands during the month of March. The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is grateful for the holding of this informative meeting, which enables us to once again assess humanitarian resolution 2401 (2018), which we approved one month ago. We thank Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock, who, as he always does, has just given us a very informative and detailed briefing on the developments on the ground in Syria. The 30-day ceasefire throughout Syria, established under resolution 2401 (2018) in order to carry out humanitarian operations, has expired. Despite the diplomatic efforts of the United Nations team in Syria, violence has increased in eastern Ghouta, in Damascus, in Idlib and in Afrin, where there is an ongoing Turkish military offensive. Daily air strikes and bombardments have increased, including in residential areas, among Government forces, opposition forces and non-State armed groups, making it difficult to ensure the protection of all civilians and the immediate, secure and sustained provision of humanitarian aid. That excessive resurgence of violence, orchestrated by the various parties, only serves to exacerbate and aggravate the already grim humanitarian situation in those conflict zones. As we have reiterated, the solution to the humanitarian crisis in Syria is tightly linked with a ceasefire. The prolongation of the conflict can only further aggravate the tragic humanitarian situation, which in turn creates greater instability and negatively affects neighbouring countries that take in the millions of refugees fleeing the war. As the Secretary-General underlines in his 20 March report: "Our common objective" — and one of high priority — "should be to alleviate and end the suffering of the Syrian people. What the Syrian people need immediately has been made abundantly clear and affirmed in resolution 2401 (2018). Civilians need a cessation of hostilities, protection, access to basic goods and services" — and access to humanitarian and sanitary assistance — "and an end to sieges." (S/2018/243, para. 48) All parties involved in the Syrian crisis must accept that none of them can achieve a military victory. Government forces, opposition forces and armed groups must accept that no matter how much death and destruction they cause in their country, there will be no victor but rather one single loser — the Syrian people. Similarly, national parties and international partners that have significant political and geostrategic interests and that have the capacity to exercise their influence on their respective allies must redouble their efforts and political commitments in order to bring sustainable peace and stability to the country. Any party that insists on political red lines that block the necessary commitments must also consider the setback caused by the loss of innocent human lives. It is evident that the Council has not entirely reached its goal by unanimously adopting resolution 2401 (2018). The Republic of Equatorial Guinea will support any humanitarian initiative that seeks to definitively put an end to the suffering of the Syrian people. In conclusion, I renew the tribute of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea to Mr. Lowcock and to the entire humanitarian team of the United Nations for their noble and tireless work in Syria to provide relief to the Syrian people living through a humanitarian catastrophe. Mr. Dah (Côte d'Ivoire) (spoke in French): Like others, my delegation would like to welcome Mr. Stef Blok to New York and to congratulate him on the holding of the current meeting in the Security Council. My delegation also wishes to thank Mr. Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, for his informative briefing on the humanitarian situation in Syria. S/PV.8217 The situation in the Middle East 27/03/2018 18/21 18-08569 As we are all aware, the war in Syria has unleashed one of the most serious humanitarian crises in recent history and continues to have a devastating impact on the Syrian people. My country remains particularly concerned about the attacks and bombings, including those against hospitals and civilian infrastructure, that continue to punctuate the daily lives of people subjected to forced displacement in the areas of Afrin, Idlib and eastern Ghouta. Côte d'Ivoire condemns those actions and calls on the parties to take the steps necessary to protect people, civilian infrastructure and humanitarian personnel. More than a month after its unanimous adoption by members of the Security Council, resolution 2401 (2018), on which so much hope was pinned, has fallen woefully short of our expectations, much to our regret. The fact is that the demand for an immediate cessation of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid and related services, as well as medical evacuation of the seriously ill and wounded, in accordance with relevant international humanitarian law, has still not been adhered to, despite our joint efforts. The ongoing fighting has forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee to camps and makeshift shelters where living conditions are extremely difficult. Côte d'Ivoire calls once again for the effective implementation of resolution 2401 (2018) with a view to resuming the delivery of humanitarian aid, including medical evacuations from besieged areas and camps for internally displaced persons, in order to ease the suffering of people in distress. We urge the Council to overcome its differences and to demonstrate unity in order to ensure the effective implementation of the resolution, which is more relevant than ever. My delegation reiterates its belief that the humanitarian situation will not improve unless significant progress is made at the political level, as the two issues are closely linked. We therefore encourage the parties to prioritize political dialogue and resume peace talks in the framework of the Geneva process, in accordance with the road map established by resolution 2254 (2015). Mr. Wu Haitao (China) (spoke in Chinese): I thank Under-Secretary-General Lowcock for his briefing. China commends the active efforts of the relevant United Nations agencies to alleviate the humanitarian situation in some areas of Syria. The conflict in Syria is in its eighth year and has caused terrible suffering for the people of Syria. The humanitarian situation in parts of the country has recently deteriorated. China calls on all parties in Syria to put its country's future and destiny, as well as its people's safety, security and well-being first, cease hostilities and violence without delay, resolve their differences through dialogue and consultation and ease the humanitarian situation in Syria as soon as possible. United Nations humanitarian convoys have now gained access to eastern Ghouta in order to deliver aid supplies to the people there. China welcomes Russia's establishment of temporary truces in eastern Ghouta, opening up a humanitarian corridor for Syrian civilians. As a result of the efforts of the parties concerned, some ceasefire agreements have been reached and a large number of civilians evacuated through the corridor. In the circumstances, it is important to continue to promote the implementation of resolution 2401 (2018) so as to alleviate the humanitarian situation in areas such as eastern Ghouta. China welcomes the meeting between Foreign Ministers held by Russia, Turkey and Iran in Astana, and commends Kazakhstan for hosting the meeting. We hope that the upcoming meeting of the Heads of State of the three countries and the next round of the Astana dialogue will contribute positively to restoring the ceasefire momentum in Syria and supporting the Geneva talks. The international community should continue to support the role of the United Nations as the main mediator, and back Special Envoy de Mistura's diplomatic efforts to relaunch the Syrian political process. Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity must be respected, and all Syrian parties must be encouraged to reach a political solution to the Syrian issue, based on the principle of the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned peace process, and in accordance with resolution 2254 (2015), with a view to fundamentally easing the humanitarian situation in Syria and continuing to advance the counter-terrorism agenda, as mandated by the Council's resolutions. The Council should remain united on the Syrian issue and speak with one voice. China stands ready to work with the international community and to contribute actively and constructively to a political settlement of the Syrian issue. 27/03/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8217 18-08569 19/21 Mr. Orrenius Skau (Sweden): As the representative of Kuwait has already delivered a joint statement on our behalf, I will make my remarks very brief. One month ago, the Council adopted resolution 2401 (2018) by consensus, in response to the deafening calls for action to address the horrific humanitarian situation in Syria. Today we have heard around this table a continued commitment to moving forward with the implementation of that important resolution. I wanted to speak last in order to identify some points of convergence. From the discussion today, I believe that there are a number of critical areas where there is broad agreement within the Council. First, we all share a deep disappointment and sense of dissatisfaction and frustration with the lack of implementation. While a limited increase in access for humanitarian convoys shows that progress is possible, much more is needed. The resolution remains in force and all parties remain obliged to comply. Secondly, we have heard a common concern about the continuing hostilities throughout the country, particularly the ongoing military offensive in eastern Ghouta. Those who leave the area should do so voluntarily, with the right to return and a choice of safe places to go to. At the same time, humanitarian aid convoys must continue to support those who choose to remain. Thirdly, we agree that efforts to strengthen the protection of civilians must be stepped up by the United Nations and its partners, both inside eastern Ghouta and for those leaving and in the collective shelters. I want to emphasize that preventing sexual and gender-based violence should be an integral part of those efforts. We condemn the attacks in February that affected health facilities. Many colleagues also reiterated today that resolution 2401 (2018) applies across the whole of the country. I just wanted to mention our concern about the Turkish operation in Afrin and the statements that Turkey has made about expanding its military operations in the north, beyond Afrin. We are also concerned about the protection of civilians fleeing Afrin, as well as the difficult conditions for those remaining. We call on all relevant parties, especially Turkey, to ensure the protection of civilians and facilitate cross-border and cross-line humanitarian aid deliveries, as well as freedom of movement, for internally displaced persons. The need for the full implementation of resolution 2401 (2018) remains as urgent today as when it was adopted. As Ambassador Alotaibi has said, we will spare no effort in making progress on the implementation of resolution 2401 (2018). We will continue to work actively and tirelessly to that end, be creative in considering possible further steps, and remain ready to reconvene the Council at any time should the situation warrant its renewed action. We are convinced that the unity of the Council, as difficult as it may be, is the only way to effectively make a real difference on the ground and alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people. For our part, even when terribly frustrated, we will never give up trying to achieve that change. The President: I now give the floor to the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic. Mr. Ja'afari (Syrian Arab Republic) (spoke in Arabic): At the outset, I would like to convey the condolences of the Government and people of my country to my colleague on the Russian Federation delegation in the wake of the tragic incident that claimed children's lives in the commercial centre in Kemerovo. A few minutes ago, I was checking the list of the States members of the Security Council and I realized that two — only two — of its 15 members have embassies in Damascus. That is why the statements made by the representatives of those two countries offered the most accurate description of the humanitarian situation in my country. They were able to provide an objective and fair assessment of the situation there. In late 2016, right here in the Chamber (see S/PV.7834), we announced the good news to our people in Syria that the Syrian Government would liberate eastern Aleppo from armed terrorist groups, and as a Government, an army and a responsible State we have done just that. Today we announce to our people the good news that the time has come to liberate all of eastern Ghouta from these armed terrorist groups. We declare that we will liberate the Golan, Afrin, Raqqa, Idlib and the rest of our occupied territory because, as a State, we reject the presence on our territory of any illegal armed group or occupying Power, regardless of the excuses, just like all other States represented in the Council. Such victories would not have been possible if we had no just cause. They would not have been possible without the sacrifices made by the Syrian Arab Army, the support of our people and the support of our allies and friends. S/PV.8217 The situation in the Middle East 27/03/2018 20/21 18-08569 Facts that have come to light recently with the liberation of eastern Ghouta from armed terrorist groups again prove what we have always told the Council since the first day of the global terrorist war waged by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom and France against my country. We said that the suffering of Syrians is the result of the practices of armed terrorist groups against civilians. The testimonies of the tens of thousands of our people leaving eastern Ghouta underscore that those groups have continued to deprive them of their freedom, destroy their livelihoods, disperse their families and prevent them from leaving to areas under State control in order to continue using them as human shields. They have seized control of humanitarian assistance in order to distribute it to their supporters or sell it to civilians at exorbitant prices. They have also targeted the safe corridors allocated by the Government with explosive bullets and mortar shelling, which has led to the death of dozens of people, including some Palestinian brethren. We have borne witness to a state of hysteria in recent days and weeks in the Council as the Syrian Government has sought to exercise its sovereign right, combat terrorist groups and eliminate terrorists in Syria in order to restore security and stability to all Syrians and implement Council resolutions against terrorism. That state of hysteria proves that the States supporting those terrorist groups have never sought to end the suffering of Syrians. They have sought only to perpetuate and prolong their suffering in order to blackmail the Syrian Government, at the political and humanitarian levels, and save terrorists from their certain deaths. I would like to assure the supporters of terrorism, some of whom are present in this Chamber, that the plan that they have promoted for the past seven years has failed. Their plan was to deny that the Islamist takfiri groups were terrorists and instead present them as moderate Syrian opposition. That plan has failed. Eastern Ghouta has not fallen, as my colleague the representative of the United States stated. It was liberated in the same way we liberated eastern Aleppo. It is terrorism that has fallen in eastern Ghouta, not civilians. As the representative of the United States said, today should be a day of shame for the supporters and sponsors of terrorism and terrorist groups. They have supported those terrorist groups for years in order to topple the Syrian Government by force in favour of Islamist takfiri groups. Such actions have led to considerable suffering among the Syrian people, and I have proof of it. Two days ago, at the Senate Armed Forces Committee, led by Senator Lindsey Graham, the Chief of Central Command, General Joseph Votel, stated that "the change of the Government in Syria by force in favour a number of Islamist opposition groups has failed". The Security Council has to date held 49 formal meetings to discuss the so-called humanitarian situation in Syria and a number of informal emergency and Arria Formula meetings. The Council has read reports and heard briefings that were replete with falsehoods that senior officials of the United Nations sought to present in order to serve the policies of some influential Western countries that are members of the Council and to pressure the Syrian Government. Such reports and briefings were completely devoid of professionalism and objectivity. They have failed to take note of the attacks on the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, including the attacks by the international coalition, led by the United States, and those by the Turkish regime and the Israeli occupying force. Those same parties have also sought to provide all kinds of support to terrorist groups associated with Da'esh, the Al-Nusra Front and other militias fabricated in those countries. After 49 reports and hundreds of meetings, briefings and thousands of working hours, some countries continue to refuse to recognize that the humanitarian crisis in Syria is the result of an external investment in terrorism and unilateral coercive measures. Forty-nine reports have been issued, and I say today that my words are falling on deaf ears. People from the Netherlands say that beautiful flowers have thorns. The Netherlands is famous for its flowers. Perhaps that saying reflects the situation on the ground. Mr. Lowcock stated that the Kashkul was targeted by a missile but he did not specify its origin. He said there are eight shelters for those leaving eastern Ghouta. He did not mention the efforts of the Syrian Government to host the 150,000 civilians leaving eastern Ghouta. He does not know who manages those shelters. Perhaps aliens are taking care of the 150,000 civilians. Mr. Lowcock stated that the United Nations, its partners and the Syrian Red Crescent are helping people from Ghouta. He did not mention the Government at all. If the Government has no role to play, why ask it to help the Council? Why does the Council request its approval for the entry of humanitarian convoys? Mr. Lowcock stated that 153,000 people left Afrin and went to Tell 27/03/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8217 18-08569 21/21 Rifaat because of military operations. Who forced 153,000 people to leave Afrin? Was it not Turkey that forced them to leave? Was it not the Turkish aggression against Afrin that forced these people to leave? Mr. Lowcock mentioned the Syrian Government only once, saying that it approved the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Rukban camp. He did not say that the United States was behind the obstacles preventing the deployment of the humanitarian convoy in question. The United States occupies the Rukban camp and the Tanf area. I will not go into detail now for the sake of time. I will not even go into the details of the forty-ninth report of the Secretary-General (S/2018/243). I will give only one example to prove that the report lacks objectivity and impartiality. The report devotes nine paragraphs to the suffering of civilians in eastern Ghouta and the damage to the infrastructure there as a result of Government military operations, as the report claims — nine paragraphs. As for the situation of the 8 million civilians in Damascus, the targeting by terrorist groups of the capital with more than 2,500 missiles, the killing and injury of thousands, and the destruction of homes, hospitals and clinics, the report dedicates only one sentence to Damascus. The report says, "Attacks on residential neighbourhoods of Damascus also continued from eastern Ghouta, resulting in deaths, injuries and damage to civilian infrastructure." (S/2018/243, para. 8) We hope that the United Nations will not adopt in eastern Ghouta the same approach that it has taken in previous situations by not providing support to the areas liberated or achieving reconciliation. We hope that the United Nations will adopt a new approach in line with the Charter and international law, based on full coordination and cooperation with the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, which is the only party concerned with the protection and support of Syrians. We hope that the United Nations will not succumb to the dictates of certain influential Western countries in the Council that run counter to humanitarian action, the Charter and international law. During the past week alone, the Syrian Ministry of Commerce has distributed 4,000 tons of food to civilians leaving eastern Ghouta. I am not sure about the sources mentioned by the representative of France, because France does not have an embassy in Damascus. So its sources of information cannot be credible. In conclusion, the States sponsoring terrorism have instructed armed terrorist groups to use chemical weapons once again in Syria. I ask the Council to pay attention to this information. They asked them to fabricate evidence, as they have in the past, in order to accuse the Syrian Government. We sent this information to the President of the Security Council yesterday. According to that information, this theatrical act will be produced by the intelligence agencies of these countries, and the starring roles will be the White Helmets. The production will be directed by foreign media. This theatrical act will take place this time in the areas close to the separation line in the Syrian occupied Golan. Terrorist groups will use poison gas against civilians in Al-Harra. Afterwards, the injured will be moved to the hospitals of the Israeli enemy for treatment there. Council members can already imagine the testimony that will be offered by doctors of the Israeli occupation forces. The information we submitted also refers to another theatrical act in the villages of Habit and Qalb Lawza in the suburbs of Idlib, where a number of satellite transmitters and foreign experts have been spotted. This time, the cast will include women and children from an internally displaced persons camp on the Syrian-Turkish border. Once again, I provide the Council with this serious information. The President: There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers. I now invite Council members to informal consultations to continue our discussion on the subject. The meeting rose at 1.15 p.m.

The integration and inclusion of persons under international protection (i.e. persons granted asylum and refugees) into society proceeds through their contacts and interactions with institutions and residents in local communities where their reception and accommodation have been organised. In this process, the achievement of social, economic, cultural and all other dimensions of integration in local communities is facilitated by the activities of different national and local stakeholders in the integration system. Creating the conditions for Croatian citizens to familiarize themselves with refugees requires joint efforts by all system stakeholders and engagement to inform citizens and raise their awareness about the presence, rights and obligations of persons under protection, with a view to preventing and mitigating any negative manifestations of discrimination, exclusion and marginalisation, and to ensuring that persons under international protection become accepted and integrated members of local communities and society as a whole. With this in mind, this research has analysed capacities and challenges, and assessed the resources and needs of local and regional self-government units given their past or future experience with the reception and integration of persons under protection. Furthermore, this research has also identified the attitudes of Croatian citizens towards persons under protection and their readiness for the reception and integration of persons granted asylum in their local communities.The general purpose of the project is to support units of local (cities, towns and municipalities) and regional (counties) self-government in identifying the needs and challenges of integrating third-country nationals in need of international protection. To achieve the purpose of this research, both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies have been used. As a result, it was conducted as mixed-method research, that is, as two correlated studies. The quantitative segment of the research pertains to its first goal, which was to identify the attitudes of Croatian citizens and their readiness for the acceptance and integration of third-country nationals granted international protection in the Republic of Croatia, while its qualitative segment refers to the second research goal, to identify the needs of local and regional self-government units in the process of integrating third-country nationals granted international protection in the Republic of Croatia as well as the challenges they encounter or will encounter when it comes to the integration of persons granted asylum into Croatian society. The third research goal, to prepare checklists for assessment of needs and challenges of integration for local and regional self-government units and for persons granted international protection, has been achieved by synthesising the findings reached under the previous two goals and by preparing two checklists. One is intended for heads and staff of LSGUs and RGSUs so that they can assess the existing needs, resources and capacities of their communities in terms of planning and implementation of integration activities. The other is designed for persons granted asylum and serves for the self-assessment of their needs and the extent to which they are met. Accordingly, the starting point for tool selection and elaboration is the multidimensional concept of integration of aliens into the host society, which is focused on the processes and dimensions of integration of persons under international protection (either with full asylum or subsidiary protection status) into Croatian society as a whole, but also into individual local communities in Croatian regions covered by this research.Due to the specific character of the quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches, the report describes methodological aspects and results separately, first for the quantitative study conducted by a survey of citizen's attitudes towards the integration of persons under national protection, and then for the qualitative study of needs and challenges faced by local communities in the integration process. The target group of survey participants covered by the research was defined so as to include citizens living in selected counties (regional self-government units) and towns and municipalities (local self-government units). In order to form a sample of participants for the purposes of this research, Croatia was broken down into four regions: Eastern, Central and North-Western, Littoral and Istrian, and Dalmatian regions. In each region, the sample came to include between two and five counties (a total of 12) and between three and five towns (a total of 15). The Eastern Region encompassed the counties of Osijek-Baranja, Vukovar-Srijem and Požega-Slavonski Brod. The Central and North-Western Region included the City of Zagreb as well as the countries of Zagreb, Sisak-Moslavina, Bjelovar-Bilogora and Varaždin. The Littoral and Istrian Region covered Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Istria counties. The Region of Dalmatia consisted of Zadar and Split-Dalmatia counties.In the selected towns, the size of the sample was proportionate to the size of the town within its region, with the participants in each town selected by probability sampling. The sample of citizens aged 18 to 65 included 318 persons in each region, and probability sampling – together with the use of two levels of purposively selected clusters (region and town) – ensured that the sample structure, in terms of its socio-demographic profile, reflects the characteristics of the region's population, according to publicly available statistics. The sample formed in this manner and its size (N = 1,272) allowed inter-regional comparisons with regard to the relevant characteristics of the participants and measured constructs. Data were gathered using the CAPI (Computer Aided Personal Interviewing) method, in the period from 14 May to 10 June 2018. The response rate was 57%, which is quite high given the type of research in question.The survey questionnaire contained 67 items forming the following constructs and scales: (1) Attitude towards persons granted asylum; (2) Perception of realistic threat; (3) Perception of symbolic threat; (4) Support for the rights of persons granted asylum; (5) Perception of negative changes in the community; (6) Readiness to assist persons granted asylum; (7) Frequency of contacts with persons granted asylum; (8) Quality of contacts with persons granted asylum; (9) Sources of information about persons granted asylum; (10) Media portrayal of persons granted asylum; (11) Social proximity to persons granted asylum; (12) Attitude towards forms of acculturation; (13) Estimated number of persons granted asylum; (14) Change in the number of persons granted asylum; (15) Socio-demographic profile of participants. The scales used in this questionnaire show very good metric characteristics: a Cronbach's alpha internal reliability coefficient ranging from 0.77 to 0.93 and a clear construct validity and single-factor structure.The collected data were subject to a series of statistical analyses, including descriptive calculation of statistics (range, frequency, median measures, variability measures) at the levels of the aggregate sample and each region as well as inter-regional comparisons of the results derived from the measured constructs (variance analyses, t-tests, chi-squared tests). Also, by using regression analysis, a model was set to predict two forms of behavioural intentions among host populations: (1) readiness for social relations with asylum beneficiaries at different levels of proximity; and (2) readiness to help persons granted asylum in their integration. These two forms of behavioural intentions served as criterion variables, which were predicted on the basis of a set of predictors that included the participants' individual attributes (socio-demographic variables and regional affiliation), their religious and political orientation, their opinion about the number of asylum beneficiaries to be received by the country in future and about their social adjustment strategies (i.e. about acculturation strategies), their frequency of contacts with persons granted asylum and their perception of threats and expected changes in the community caused by the arrival of persons granted asylum (i.e. perceptions of realistic and symbolic threats, and expectations of negative changes in the community).The average results obtained on the aggregate sample show that, when it comes to attitudes towards persons granted asylum, the respondents express attitudes that are, on average, neutral. However, when assessing their perception of threat, they seem to feel a slight realistic threat, and a somewhat stronger symbolic threat. The participants also express what is, on average, a neutral attitude regarding the expected negative changes in the community. As for their readiness to help asylum beneficiaries personally, the participants are also neutral, stating they are not sure of their readiness in this regard, but showing a slight support for the rights of asylum beneficiaries. Concerning the frequency of contacts with persons granted asylum, slightly more than half of the participants (52.1%) reported that they had such contacts, describing them, on average, neutrally – as neither positive nor negative. Among those who reported such contacts, the majority stated that they were rare.The data collected clearly show that the mass media (print and online news outlets, television and radio) are the most common source of information for Croatian citizens – more than 90% of citizens receive information about persons granted asylum in this way. These are followed by social media, which are used as a source of information about asylum beneficiaries by nearly half of the participants (45.8%). It has been established that citizens deem the media portrayal of asylum beneficiaries slightly negative.As for social proximity, the participants are, on average, ready to accept persons granted asylum as their fellow workers or neighbours, where it is obvious that the citizens are, for the time being, not ready for the closest relations with asylum beneficiaries, although nearly 61% would be ready for friendly relations.The participants were also asked about acceptable acculturation strategies, that is, about how persons granted asylum should approach the Croatian culture and maintenance of their own culture. The majority of participants (70.7%) chose integration as the preferred acculturation strategy (both maintaining their own culture and accepting the culture of the host country). About one fifth of the participants champion assimilation as the preferred acculturation strategy; i.e. they expect persons granted asylum to relinquish their specific culture and accept only that of their host country. Separation, that it, the opinion that persons granted asylum should maintain only their own culture without accepting Croatian culture, is upheld by 3.7% of the participants. Looking at acculturation strategies as a continuum (from assimilation, through integration, to separation, or vice versa), the participants on average tend to support cultural integration of persons granted asylum.When it comes to estimating the number of persons granted asylum at the time of survey, only one fifth of the participants made a more or less accurate estimate. Somewhat more than a fourth of participants underestimated the actual number of asylum beneficiaries, whereas almost half of them overestimated the number of cases of granted asylum. These results are consistent with the replies regarding preferred projections of the number of asylum beneficiaries in the future. Specifically, the majority of participants (45.8%) feel that their number should remain the same, only slightly fewer are those who would reduce it (45.6%), while less than a tenth holds that the future number of asylum beneficiaries in Croatia should go up.The analysis of regional differences demonstrates that the least positive attitudes towards persons granted asylum, the highest perception of both realistic and symbolic threats, the lowest support for the rights of asylum beneficiaries, the highest expectations of negative changes, and the lowest readiness to assist are present among participants in the Dalmatian Region. It is followed by the Eastern Region, and then the Littoral and Central Regions, where these attitudes are more positive. The frequency of contacts with persons granted asylum is low in all the regions, with the lowest levels reported in the Eastern and Dalmatian regions. However, there are no regional differences in the quality of contacts, as it is everywhere seen as neutral. Readiness for close contacts is the lowest in Dalmatia, followed by the Eastern Region, with its highest levels reported in the Littoral and Central regions. The citizens of all regions choose integration as their preferred acculturation strategy, while participants in Dalmatia divided their preferences between assimilation and integration. The number of asylum beneficiaries is mistakenly estimated in all regions. Indeed, it is overestimated everywhere except the Eastern Region, where the figure is underestimated. Furthermore, while the citizens of the Central and Littoral regions would prefer to keep the future number of asylum beneficiaries at the same level, those in the Eastern and Dalmatian regions are keener to reduce it. When predicting the readiness for social proximity with asylum beneficiaries, the key predictors include the attitude towards the number of asylum beneficiaries in the future and acculturation strategies. The readiness for a higher level of proximity is demonstrated by those citizens who feel that the future number of asylum beneficiaries should be increased, as well as those who champion integration. The predictors of marginal importance include practising religion, where the participants who do not declare themselves as practicing believers tend to be ready for a higher level of proximity with persons granted asylum, as well as the perception of symbolic threat and the fear of negative changes in the community, where those who perceive a higher symbolic threat from asylum beneficiaries and expect more negative changes in the community due to the arrival of persons granted asylum tend to be ready for a lower level of proximity with them. These results generally apply to all of the four regions.When it comes to predicting the readiness to assist asylum beneficiaries personally, it can also be said that – allowing for minor regional particularities – the key factors include the participants' opinion that the number of asylum beneficiaries should increase in the future and, again, the perception of a higher symbolic and realistic threat. Those participants who feel that the future number of asylum beneficiaries should increase are readier to help, whereas those whose perception of threat from asylum beneficiaries is higher are also less prepared to assist them personally. Another highly significant predictor is the frequency of contacts with persons granted asylum. Those participants who reported more frequent contacts with asylum beneficiaries are also more prepared to assist them. Finally, the variables of marginal significance include gender and political orientation, where women and those on the left side of the political spectrum would be readier to help asylum beneficiaries.The conducted regression analyses show that the most frequent predictors for both criteria (social proximity and readiness for personal assistance) include the perception of symbolic and realistic threat, expectation of negative changes in the community due to the arrival of asylum beneficiaries, opinion that the future number of asylum beneficiaries in Croatia should be increased and the choice of integration as the preferred acculturation strategy. It follows that a more favourable attitude of Croatian citizens can be expected if they feel less threatened by persons granted asylum, that is, if they understand that their arrival does not pose a threat to the existing identity and culture nor jeopardise the resources of local communities, if they expect less negative changes in their communities due to the arrival of asylum beneficiaries, if they think that the number of asylum beneficiaries in Croatia needs to be increased in the future, and if they believe that integration is the acculturation strategy appropriate for Croatia.The second part of this research deals with the assessment of needs and challenges which are or will be encountered by LSGUs and RSGUs, and also of the capacities and resources required for integration with regard to the current or anticipated accommodation and stay of asylum beneficiaries in their local communities.This part of the research was conducted through a series of interviews and focus groups with different stakeholders in the integration system, which are in one way or another involved in or will in future be responsible for the processes of reception and integration of persons granted asylum. Stakeholders from LSGU and RSGU include representatives from county-level and town-level public authorities and various professional institutions, while the CSO stakeholders include representatives from the non-governmental sector, religious organisations and civic initiatives. The perspectives of integration processes were, whenever possible, complemented with those of asylum beneficiaries in the local communities in which they live. For sampling purposes, a list of 30 units (9 counties and 21 towns) was drawn up, taking into account the criteria of regional representation, town size, experience with the integration of asylum beneficiaries and available state-owned housing units. Along with the four regions, the City of Zagreb was taken separately as it considerably differs from other regions in terms of the number of integration stakeholders and capacities, as well as the number of asylum beneficiaries it hosts. The persons included in the sample had the attributes of schoolants based on their role and office they held, their experience and knowledge of the needs and challenges relating to the integration of asylum beneficiaries in local communities. In keeping with the principle of maximising the variability of key informants, a total of 168 interviews and four focus groups were conducted with 227 participants, including 26 interviews with persons granted asylum. Once all of the methodological requirements were met in the process of qualitative-data gathering, 158 transcripts obtained from 216 interviewees were subjected to analysis. The other transcripts did not contain any useful information because some interviewees were totally uninformed about the topic of the research. Of the total number of analysed transcripts, 143 contain data obtained from 191 representatives of municipalities, towns and counties, state-administration offices at the county-level, professional institutions and the civil sector, while 15 transcripts of interviews and focus groups contained information obtained from 26 asylum beneficiaries. The analysis made it possible to identify some specific features of statements made by representatives of the selected local communities about their needs, challenges, opportunities and expectations. A comparison has been made among the four regions and the City of Zagreb, and similarities and differences have been analysed among statements made by stakeholders from different sectors.The results for all regions (except the City of Zagreb) equally suggest that most of the integration-system stakeholders from LSGUs and RSGUs (towns, municipalities and counties) generally had no direct experience of contacts and work with persons granted asylum or, if they had, then they encountered asylum beneficiaries in rare, individual cases. On the other hand, interlocutors from Zagreb recounted and described experiences of direct and immediate encounters with persons granted asylum, mostly through participation in projects with SCOs and the OHRRNM, while CSOs in all the regions have very little direct experience with asylum beneficiaries. A large portion of LSGUs and RSGUs in each region state that they are not aware of the Action Plan for Integration, or are aware of it only partly, or since a short time ago. Stakeholders in various sectors and regions have not developed their own action plans and protocols for integration, independent of the Action Plan. Professional institutions do not have their own plans either, but many of them perform tasks relating to the integration of persons granted asylum as part of their daily work and remit, and some have their own internal prodecural protocols, most often based on their previous experience with marginalised groups or guidelines from relevant ministries. All stakeholders in all regions agree that the lack of funding poses a serious structural constraint and that allocations for integration activities should be increased. They stress that the entire budget is centralised and that they lack special resources earmarked for integration, noting, however, that budget allocations could be repurposed or activated if and when the need arises.When it comes to understanding the importance and indicators of successful integration, there are no major differences between either sectors or regions. As far as the key dimension of integration is concerned, all stakeholders across all regions highlight communication, that is, learning the Croatian language, as a crucial prerequisite for all other aspects of integration, especially for the inclusion of children in the education system, participation of adults in the labour market, addressing housing issues and, generally, enabling asylum beneficiaries to get along in local communities. In the Central Region, professional institutions claim that integration could also be facilitated by the community's experience with refugees during the Croatian War, and the history of coexistence with national minorities. In the Central Region, they feel that integration would be more successful if asylum beneficiaries were accommodated within the community rather than isolated, and if they were provided with appropriate care and inclusion in community life. All stakeholders across all regions voice some sort of concern because, when it comes to the accommodation of persons granted asylum, they expect negative reactions from the host population due to cultural and religious differences, especially in smaller communities, with the general opinion being that larger towns would be readier to accept asylum beneficiaries. Interlocutors in Zagreb are the most critical of the local community as a favourable environment for integration, with professional institutions stating that negative sentiments are the greatest problem, stemming primarily from fear of the unknown among the local population. Nonetheless, almost all of the interviewed asylum beneficiaries highlight the positive experiences they had with their acceptance in local communities, noting, however, that it took a while for them to feel accepted by their neighbours. Only three out of 26 interlocutors report having negative experiences upon their arrival in the community, consisting mainly of unpleasant verbal comments. Persons granted asylum generally do not see any major cultural barriers to their life in Croatia, but in their view the integration system is not well-organised and includes some contradictions.At the intraregional level alone, and particularly at the interregional level, the integration stakeholders from different local communities show considerable differences when estimating the integration capacity of their communities. The majority of LSGUs believe that organising language courses falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Science and Education, expressing concerns about the duration of courses (too few lessons) and uncertainties about their funding, while RSGUs also stress their lack of human and logistic capacities to organise courses. Professional institutions shift the responsibility for organizing courses to administrative bodies – from the local, through the regional, to the national levels. Only representatives of Zagreb-based SCOs report more direct involvement in the organisation of courses – some of them offer them in a formalised manner, and others through voluntary engagement. As to the inclusion in the education system, most stakeholders stress the problem of slow-moving administration and emphasize the heavy teaching workload, suggesting that there is a need for additional teachers as well as the necessity to work additionally with asylee children. Further difficulties mentioned are related to the lack of personal documents and the issue of recognising diplomas and previously acquired qualifications. In the Littoral and Central regions, they also highlight a lack of interpreters and teaching assistants, over which they have no control, but depend on the relevant ministry.Most of stakeholders from LSGUs and RSGUs are actually unaware of the existing accommodation capacity because they do not own any housing units or have already allocated all they had to beneficiaries from certain social categories. They see a possible solution in the conversion of the existing vacant buildings or renting of private flats, where they report problems with landlords, i.e. the unwillingness of landlords to let out their flats to accommodate persons granted asylum and the high rents they impose. Persons granted asylum are mostly concerned about their initial accommodation in reception centres, with which they were partially (dis)satisfied and, in addition to prejudice by landlords, the interlocutors also stressed high prices. In their local communities, asylum beneficiaries have been recognised as a desirable workforce in sectors with labour shortfalls. The LSGU representatives stress the need for a skilled workforce in the construction and public works sectors and, in the Eastern Region, agriculture. In addition to feeling that employers should be informed of opportunities to hire asylum beneficiaries, LSGUs are somewhat keener to consider potential retraining and additional training schemes as well as efforts to overcome the language barrier, referring to professional services which should take over that task. Many see the opportunities to employ asylum beneficiaries primarily in low-skill and ancillary jobs, such as kitchen or warehouse assistants and so forth. While the asylum beneficiaries themselves are highly motivated to take part in the labour market, since they see employment as a key prerequisite to gaining independence, they are aware of the economic situation in Croatia and do not want to become a public charge, but rather an active and productive segment of the society.Almost all interlocutors attach great importance to public information and awareness-raising campaigns, and most of them also recognise the role of the media in this process and believe that it is extremely important to get the local population acquainted with good practices and examples of successful efforts to integrate asylum beneficiaries, and to inform them about their culture and customs. This would prevent the development of prejudice and discrimination, where the LSGU representatives often see their role in such efforts unlike RSGUs, among which only a few recognise it. Professional institutions also leave the role of awareness raising to the media and, for the time being, carry out awareness-raising activities in the form of workshops and cultural events mainly with support from CSOs in Zagreb. The training of staff members and professionals has also been stressed as extremely important, yet largely non-existent in most institutions, offices and organisations.Nearly all interviewees from all regions agree that asylum beneficiaries have been provided with adequate social welfare, just like all of its other beneficiaries. Some of the representatives of LSGUs and professional institutions from the Dalmatian and Eastern Regions noted that asylum beneficiaries were not supposed to be singled out, that is, afforded greater rights and priorities than domestic social-welfare beneficiaries. All local communities feel that asylum beneficiaries have been provided with adequate health-care, but the interviewees highlight a lack of physicians and the overload of the health system, as well as communications. When it comes to providing adequate social welfare and health care, a common problem stressed in all regions is the insufficient capacity of institutions, while other aggravating circumstances include slow systems, uninformed staff members, shortcomings in the monitoring of asylum beneficiaries, uncertainties about the financing of health-care services and lack of coordination between different stakeholders. The same issues are also reported by the asylum beneficiaries themselves.Professional institutions have, for the most part, already established cooperation with almost all stakeholders involved in the integration process. In this context, they most often point out line ministries, as well as significant cooperation with CSOs. Only the Central Region (including Zagreb) highlights the existing cooperation with LSGUs and the OHRRNM, or with international organisations. The LSGU and RSGU representatives are somewhat more likely to expect more significant engagement by and cooperation with CSOs, which they consider more capable of writing projects and mobilising funds for work with asylum beneficiaries or count on their human resources. Some professional institutions are also focused on inter-city and inter-county cooperation, for example, with other social-welfare centres, in order to compare their experiences and share good practices. The SCO stakeholders state national and local authorities make insufficient use of the capacity and experience of local SCOs.All stakeholders criticize administration primarily because of the lack of timely and transparent exchanges of information, given that they are perceived as responsible for the entire system. Stakeholders in local communities feel that they operate without specific guidelines and decisions, everything being left to improvisation. Professional institutions hold that the measures defined in the Action Plan are not applicable to the realities in the field, stressing that the system is not prepared to respond to current challenges and needs such as, for instance, securing accommodation and interpreters. There is also concern about the duplication of work by different institutions and organisations, and shifting responsibilities to CSOs. It has been stressed that a protocol in needed which would contain descriptions and guidelines for the implementation of steps in the integration of persons granted asylum, which should define the sequence of implementing integration measures, those in charge of their implementation, including their responsibilities, as well as the forms of their cooperation. Such a protocol and guidelines would enable LSGUs and RSGUs to rely on these documents in their work and to act in compliance therewith. All stakeholders emphasize the need to receive timely and reliable information about the number, structure and time of arrival of persons granted asylum in their areas because this information is crucial for them to be able to prepare themselves for different aspects of their integration. A distribution plan is a document cited by all self-government units as essential to launch preparations for the asylum beneficiaries, in accordance with the aforementioned protocol.All stakeholders highlight interpreters and cultural mediators as a very pressing need in all regions. It has been stressed that interpreters should be professionally trained, rather than semi-skilled individuals or family members, let alone children. All stakeholders realize that securing housing is a key prerequisite for the reception and integration of persons granted asylum, and that it falls within the remit of the central government, rather than the local community. The Eastern and Dalmatian Regions place special emphasis on the need to provide adequate accommodation for unaccompanied children under international protection. Also, all integration stakeholders feel that efforts are needed to speed up administrative procedures because there is a gap between what has been set forth in legislation and what can really be implemented due to technical barriers, including children's registration in school e-registers, medical records, access to Croatian language learning, and verification of previously acquired qualifications and job competencies which is a requirement for education or employment. To achieve all this, sound intersectorial cooperation is required.The integration stakeholders in all regions show a clear need to prepare, raise the awareness of and train the staff directly involved in the integration process for contacts with and providing services to persons granted asylum. Since professional institutions are places of direct and on-going contacts with asylum beneficiaries, there is a need for continuous training of their professional staff. The training of all integration stakeholders should include learning about the culture and customs of asylum beneficiaries and it should be based on the principles of intercultural communication. In some professional institutions whose staff are engaged in direct and intense work with families of asylum beneficiaries, such as counselling and psychosocial support, there is an increased need for continuous mental-health care and stress prevention among staff members through supervision and professional support.Given that they believe that the responsibility for integrating persons granted asylum rests primarily with the state, a number of LGSUs, professional institutions and some CSOs expect the state to bear the related costs. The LSGUs in the Central Region see the opportunity to secure funding by applying for EU projects and drawing money from EU funds. In the Dalmatian Region, the LSGUs expect the state to issue fewer instructions, and to focus more on direct care for asylum beneficiaries. At the LSGU level, help in meeting community needs in the integration process and their own efforts is expected from the Government of the RoC, primarily the OHRRNM as the central coordinating body. Some RSGUs believe that they will successfully carry out all tasks imposed by law and those received from the competent state authorities, and that they will tackle problems only once asylum beneficiaries arrive in their territory. LSGUs and RSGUs see their role in coordinating different integration process stakeholders, such as professional institutions and CSOs, at the town and county levels. Some LSGUs also see their role in supporting other stakeholders when they lack capacity in the integration process, and in networking with other institutions within the community. In this context, they stress their role in providing information to asylum beneficiaries and improving intersectorial cooperation because they "have a good overview of the activities of different services." Some LSGUs feel that a person should be assigned to each integration stakeholder as its key informant about how asylum beneficiaries can exercise their rights.The LSGUs see their key contribution to integration in their efforts to raise the awareness of and inform the public about the arrival of persons granted asylum and the process of their integration, being aware there resistance to their arrival in some communities. In the Eastern Region, they warn that greater resistance to the arrival of asylum beneficiaries may be expected in communities that are traditionally more closed and host a larger number of immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who were forced to leave their homes due to armed conflicts with the Muslims. In the Central and Littoral regions and the City of Zagreb, they believe that the experience they have with proven integration mechanisms for socially vulnerable groups, referring to members of the Roma national minority, will help them in the process of integrating asylum beneficiaries. The LSGUs feel they can also directly support integration efforts by providing initial financial assistance to asylum beneficiaries, helping in the process of their reception and accommodation, offering aid such as food and toiletries, facilitating children's inclusion in educational institutions, covering their kindergarten costs (Eastern and Littoral regions, Zagreb), as well as helping asylum beneficiaries to find employment. Professional institutions will address integration as part of their daily activities, by providing services for persons granted asylum as well as any other beneficiaries. The LSGUs, RSGUs and professional institutions see the important role of CSOs in complementing services provided to asylum beneficiaries by professional institutions. Most of the CSOs plan to expand their present activities to meet the specific needs of asylums beneficiaries, and represent a major integration potential for local communities, highlighting their networks of volunteers as a key asset in work with persons granted asylum. The CSOs feel that a coordination mechanism should be put in place at the LSGU level so as to bring together all the stakeholders, including the civil sector, and ensure transparent financing of services for asylum beneficiaries.Croatia has few communities with any reception and integration experience and most of the local communities covered by this research have not considered or prepared themselves for this challenge. Yet, the integration stakeholders in all units included in this research stress that they crucially need timely and reliable information about the plans for the arrival and distribution of persons granted asylum, and that information from the relevant ministries, particularly from the OHRRNM, will enable them to launch preparations for integration activities and possible reception of asylum beneficiaries. Finally, the recommendations derived from this research will facilitate improvements in policies and practices for the integration of persons under international protection, making it easier and less painful to achieve the objectives stemming from Croatia's commitments as an EU member state, as well as its legislation and action plans of the Government of the RoC.

This article describes the Spanish for Specific Purposes Certificate (SSPC) program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), the first undergraduate certificate at the University, which was established in 2007. The SSPC caters to the professional needs of both traditional, degree-seeking students and non-traditional local professionals. The SSPC coexists with the long-established major and minor programs in Spanish in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. The goal of the SSPC is to fulfill the needs of its dynamic, millennial students and of the increasingly diversified community. ; To cite the digital version, add its Reference URL (found by following the link in the header above the digital file). ; SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES CERTIFICATE (SSPC) PROGRAM Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 62 The Spanish for Specific Purposes Certificate (SSPC) Program: Meeting the Professional Needs of Students and Community Lourdes Sánchez-López University of Alabama at Birmingham Abstract: This article describes the Spanish for Specific Purposes Certificate (SSPC) program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), the first undergraduate certificate at the University, which was established in 2007. The SSPC caters to the professional needs of both traditional, degree-seeking students and non-traditional local professionals. The SSPC coexists with the long-established major and minor programs in Spanish in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. The goal of the SSPC is to fulfill the needs of its dynamic, millennial students and of the increasingly diversified community. Keywords: Business Spanish, certificate programs, languages for specific purposes (LSP), medical Spanish, Spanish for occupational purposes, Spanish for specific purposes (SSP), translation and interpretation, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Introduction Society is changing rapidly and drastically. In a world that is no longer round but flat (Friedman, 2005), students prepare for a globalized job market that is open to anyone in the world. This means that the jobs that once were available to only a few, now are available to millions. And, often times, the decisive factor for an employer is the multilinguistic and multicultural qualifications of applicants. Recent studies and their data suggest a pressing need to revise foreign language curricula in the United States to better meet the needs of students and society ("Foreign Languages and Higher Education," 2007; "Report to the Teagle Foundation," 2009). Many university programs in the US are responding to these needs by adapting existing language programs or developing new ones (Doyle, 2010; Jorge, 2010; Sánchez-López, 2010). Two decades ago Grosse and Voght (1990) reported the results of the first extensive survey conducted in 1988 in the US regarding the status of languages for specific purposes (LSP) nationally. Linking their study to a report from the President's Commission on Foreign Languages and International Studies (1980), Grosse and Voght reported that LSP courses had gained a place in the higher education curriculum since the 1980s in the US. Their study suggested a decline of foreign language skills in the US and a need of language courses specific for the professions, and their survey results indicated that over 60% of language departments offered some type of LSP courses. However, these data also suggested that LSP still had a minor role in the foreign language curriculum overall. In a recent survey study by Long and Uscinski (2012) and following the model of Grosse and Voght, the authors report that the current "presence of LSP courses in colleges and universities across the United States has remained about the same over the past 30 years." (p. 175). There is no significant difference in the number of institutions that offer LSP courses. However, Long and Uscinkscy's timely study sheds new light on the type of LSP programs (e.g., majors, minors, certificates or graduate programs) that are offered SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES CERTIFICATE (SSPC) PROGRAM Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 63 nationally. The results of their study suggest that 27% of the respondents offer some type of LSP program, most of them at 4-year universities. The authors conclude that LSP has steadily and quietly settled in as another curricular option, beside literature, cultural studies, and linguistics, in institutions where students demand it, thus providing the students who are motivated to enter these fields with valuable applied skills in both language and cultural understanding. We predict a continued steady presence of LSP in university curricula for years to come. (Long & Uscinski, p. 188) Two decades ago Grosse and Voght (1990) optimistically predicted growth of LSP in the US that, according to Long and Uscinkscy (2012), has not materialized yet. However, according to both of these studies, the status of LSP in the US is strong and has become slowly more visible with time, with dozens of new LSP programs that cater to new societal needs (for a list of some of these programs see Sánchez-López, 2010). One of these new programs is the Spanish for Specific Purposes Certificate (SSPC) program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), which was established in 2007 and was the first undergraduate certificate at the University. The SSPC caters to the professional needs of both traditional, degree-seeking students and non-traditional local professionals. The SSPC coexists with the long-established major and minor programs in Spanish in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures (DFLL), and it attempts to fulfill the needs of its dynamic, millennial students and of the increasingly complex community. Background The University of Alabama at Birmingham is a medium-sized (about 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students) public university in Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham is a metropolitan city with a rapidly growing Hispanic population over the last three decades. Just recently, the state's Hispanic population grew from 1.7% in 2000 to almost 4% in 2010, a nearly 145% increase (US Census Bureau, 2010). Because of this, hospitals, clinics, police and fire departments, government offices and local businesses have seen the increasing need to be able to communicate with Hispanic patients, customers and clients in Spanish. However, this rapid and steady growth has recently and abruptly come to a halt due to a newly passed state immigration law. In June 2011, the state of Alabama Government passed the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, commonly known as H.B. 56 (State of Alabama, 2011). This is one of the strictest immigration laws in the country, which has led to a general state of fear among undocumented individuals. It has already impacted demographics of the state with a significant decrease on the growth of Hispanics in the state, including children (Center for American Progress, 2011; Novak, 2012; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2011). UAB was established in 1945 originally as the Medical Center of Alabama. The academic side of campus was later established in 1969, branching off from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. For decades both the medical and the academic sides functioned as two almost independent units, with very little interaction between them. Today, although most faculty, students and staff still refer to the west or the east side of campus SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES CERTIFICATE (SSPC) PROGRAM Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 64 (or the medical and the academic side of campus), institutional efforts attempt to portray both sides of the University as one unit, with a synergetic relationship, interdependent, with everyone on board moving in the same direction. Health-care and diversity are two of the best-known and most marketed landmarks of the University. The UAB vision is: "A world-renowned research university and medical center—a first choice for education and healthcare" (UAB Vision, 2012). In addition, The Princeton Review has ranked UAB as the 5th most diverse campus nationally in 2011 (The Princeton Review, 2013). Many undergraduate students choose UAB because they would like to pursue a career in a health-related field. Pre-medicine is a popular track among UAB undergraduate students with an annual average of 44% of entering students who declare a pre-medicine track (UAB Office of Planning and Analysis, 2012). The UAB Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures (DFLL) was established in the late 1960s as most languages departments were at the time, with a focus on language, literature and culture. UAB had a language requirement for the core curriculum up to the late 1990s, when it was eliminated. Since then, there is no language requirement at UAB. In the early 2000s, the DFLL combined their two majors in Spanish and French into a major in Foreign Languages (with Spanish and French tracks), largely due to a state requirement for viability. In addition, the DFLL also offers minors in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. A large percentage of students in the major are double majors in Spanish or French and another disciple (biology, chemistry, criminal justice, international studies, pre-medicine, pre-nursing coupled with Spanish are some of the most common double majors). With an eye toward the long-term needs of the department in 2001 the UAB, DFLL hired me as the first applied linguist for a dual purpose. I was charged with developing linguistics courses at all levels and with developing and teaching certain Spanish for Specific Purposes (SSP) courses, such as medical, business, professional Spanish and translation and interpretation. All of these courses (linguistics and SSP) were never intended to replace the existing literature and culture courses, but rather, to expand the repertoire of offerings to cater to a larger pool of students and professional interests. The SSP courses were well received and offered on demand with regularity. After a few years, additional instructors were asked to teach these courses as well, becoming specialists in the different areas, such as business, health and translation and interpretation. However, the vast majority of students enrolled in the SSP courses were regular UAB students (either majors or minors, or students who took one or two of these courses as electives). The Department received frequent inquiries from individuals in the community and local businesses wishing to learn occupational Spanish, but, unfortunately, the University admission system did not make it easy for them to enroll as non-degree seeking students. Faculty also received almost daily requests from the medical side of campus, from other hospitals and clinics, from government agencies, from court services, and from different local businesses asking for translation and interpretation assistance. Faculty and/or students would help depending on the situation. As these challenges increased over the years, the DFLL decided to explore other options to better meet the needs of the community and the local professionals; and at the same time to reward the regular students who were successfully completing many or all of the SSP courses, but were not receiving any particular degree or recognition in SSP. At such point, offering a certificate program SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES CERTIFICATE (SSPC) PROGRAM Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 65 in SSP was an interesting and promising idea, which materialized in the fall semester 2007. A Journey to the Spanish for Specific Purposes Certificate: Program Design: Approval and Description Due to the success and high demand of the SSP courses offered in the UAB DFLL and to the increasing requests for assistance with translation and interpretation to cater to the Hispanic community, in 2005 I was asked by my chairperson, Sheri Spaine Long, who sought to respond to societal trends, to investigate models of certificate programs worldwide and to explore if a certificate program in SSP would meet the specific needs of the DFLL, the UAB undergraduate population and those of the community. Over the course of several months, I investigated models of certificate programs and other types of languages for specific purposes programs nationally and internationally. Based on a careful assessment of the information gathered, the chairperson and I decided that a certificate program was an optimal option for UAB and for the Birmingham community. Then, the second and most detailed stage of the process started: the design of the program and the development of a program proposal. I was asked to design a program that utilized the resources of the DFLL and the courses that were already offered, at least at the outset. I met with a variety of institutional constituents (Office of Admissions, Office of Undergraduate Affairs, and Office of Undergraduate Policies and Procedures) at different stages during the design of the program proposal. These constituents gave me valuable advice on how to craft the program and what the prerequisites should be. Over the course of the following year, the SSPC proposal was approved at each stage by the DFLL, the School of Arts and Humanities Curriculum and Educational Policies Committee, the University Office of Undergraduate Policies and Procedures, and, finally, by the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama System in May 2007. The SSPC was the first undergraduate certificate at UAB, and it was first implemented in the Fall 2007. It was lauded as a model program to meet societal needs and consolidate and expand language enrollment. The SSPC program was designed for traditional as well as non-traditional students. The main objective of this program was, and still is, not only to fulfill UAB students' academic needs for their future, but also to create connections with local professionals. Because of the steady growth of the Hispanic population in the nation, with almost 17% percent of the population (US Census Bureau, 2012), each day more and more pro-fessionals, such as teachers, medical care professionals, business people, law enforcement officers and others, have the need to communicate with the Hispanic community. The courses are content, vocabulary and culture-based. Students learn the vocabulary, language and cultural background that they use in their professional field through extensive practice in the classroom and also out of class through service-learning opportunities. Publication and promotion of a new program is paramount for its success. An easy to navigate and informative website is critical for the SSPC (http://www.uab.edu/languages/ssp). The website houses the necessary documents that offer information to prospective students and local professionals, and a detailed description of the application process can also be found there. Once the website and all SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES CERTIFICATE (SSPC) PROGRAM Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 66 documentation (e.g., program application form, student manual, checklist, and flier) were created, the program was ready for promotion and student recruitment. Promotion and recruitment efforts included regular information sessions (2–3 per semester) open to all students and the general public; briefings at academic advisors general meetings; presentations at specific business, health and international studies classes; and announcements in local newspapers, magazines and UAB's website and newspapers. The SSPC program requires completion of a minimum of six classes (18 credits) in SSP, of which at least 12 credits must be at the advanced level. Students may choose classes within the professional track of their interest (e.g., health care, business or translation and interpretation), but they are required to take a phonetics and phonology course and a foreign language service-learning course for the completion of the SSPC requirements. The foreign language service-learning course must be taken towards the end of the program to ensure that students have the desired occupational language skills to function well working with a community partner.1 Students must receive an A or B grade in all courses and maintain a minimum of 2.8 GPA in Spanish to maintain a "good standing" status. They can retake courses for a higher grade if necessary. The final program requirement is to pass an oral interview at the level of intermediate-mid or above, according to the ACTFL speaking guidelines.2 There is a program application process that is open all year. Regular UAB students must submit an electronic application. Local professionals must first be admitted as non-degree seeking students at UAB before they can apply for the SSPC.3 The SSPC program director reviews applications and sends acceptance or rejection letters. Then, she communicates with the UAB Director of Academic Records who updates the students' records and transcripts. SSPC candidates are asked to meet with the SSPC advisor at least once a year for an advising session, although many students choose to meet more frequently. Outcomes, Program Assessment and Outgrowth The SSPC has become a popular program in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. In its five years of existence, the program has enrolled 86 students, of which 27 have already successfully graduated from the program. The program offers three tracks: health care, business, translation and interpretation. Each track offers two courses, one at the intermediate and one at the advanced levels. Not surprisingly, due to the specific context at UAB and in the Birmingham area, the most popular and highest enrolled courses have usually been the Spanish for health professional classes, which are offered every semester (three times a year). The rest of the classes are offered once or twice a year, depending on demand and instructor availability. Because some of these courses are not offered every semester, it is very important that SSPC candidates meet regularly with the SSPC advisor to ensure that they graduate in a timely manner. One of the main and most visible successes of the SSPC are the collaborations that have been established with other units on campus, such as the Schools of Business, Dentistry, Health Professions, Nursing and Medicine. The advanced Spanish for Health Professionals course is offered cross-listed with the School of Nursing courses, creating a unique and enriching learning environment for all students, who share the same classroom. The SSPC faculty design and teach courses for students in the Schools of SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES CERTIFICATE (SSPC) PROGRAM Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 67 Dentistry and Medicine with regularity. Recently, a former Spanish major from the DFLL and a current medicine student, partnered with the DFLL and the SSPC to organize a short Spanish course for medical students. The course was designed and taught by an SSPC faculty and offered during the winter break between sessions in the School of Medicine (Davidson & Long, 2012). Furthermore, weekly Spanish conversation tables are offered by SSPC faculty, which are open to any student on campus with an interest in health related professions. In addition, the Graduate Student Associations of the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry have separately organized weekly Spanish conversation tables led by SSPC faculty and students. All of these efforts clearly indicate the high level of interest to learn Spanish from the part of the students in health-related professions, who are doing whatever they can to include some level of medical Spanish study in their busy academic schedules. Another success of the SSPC is the quality of student research, which is linked to the professional interest of the student within a local context. Two illustrative examples, from the inception of the program to the most recent are "Legalese and Spanish: The Hispanic Immigrant Experience with the Legal System in Birmingham, Alabama" (Hall, 2007) and "H.B. 56 and Its Impact in the State of Alabama" (Novak, 2012). In the former, SSPC and Spanish Honor's student Brittlyn Hall conducted a survey study among law firms in Birmingham to investigate the level of legal support offered to the Hispanic population and the specific Spanish needs of these firms. In the most recent, SSPC graduate and current MBA student in the School of Business investigated the economic impact of the new State immigration law known as H.B. 56 mentioned earlier (Novak, 2012). Both studies linked the students' professional interest to their community. The studies taught them not only valuable information about their professions and future careers, but also gave them firsthand experience about how their professions interact with their community and the synergistic relationships that are born from such interactions. An integral part of the long-term success of a new program is periodic program evaluations to assist in implementing necessary modifications. At the end of the program students are asked to complete an SSPC Exit Survey, in which they provide useful feedback about the program. This is mainly a demographic and a student satisfaction survey (see survey in the Appendix) used to get to know our students, their needs and their expectations better and to make adjustments as necessary. One important modification that has already been implemented in light of the students' feedback is an additional course on translation and interpretation at the intermediate level (the original certificate only offered advanced translation and interpretation). This new course was necessary as a stepping-stone to the advanced course, which was regarded as too challenging by many students. Another important addition to the program occurred in 2010. The SSPC and the Department of Art and Art History partnered to have a student competition to design a logo for the SSPC. As a class requirement, all students in an advanced graphic design class were asked to design a logo. This was a unique and incredible experience for students, since not only was this their first real assignment, but they also were competing for the first time for a real client. There were 27 entries. Graphic design students met with the SSPC Director and explained their logo, motivations and meanings. After that, the SSPC Director asked all faculty in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures to vote on their first three choices. The logo with the most votes was selected as the SSPC official logo (see logo at http://www.uab.edu/languages/ssp).4 SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES CERTIFICATE (SSPC) PROGRAM Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 68 In an effort to strengthen the business Spanish track of the SSPC, in 2010, the interim chairperson of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures John K. Moore and the SSPC Director met with administrators in the School of Business to discuss ways in which to collaborate. After several meetings, it was clear that there was a need and an interest for Spanish (and Chinese) in the business world. However, the business curriculum at UAB is rather inflexible due to their accreditation limitations. Because business students at UAB are unable to incorporate the SSPC program into their regular curriculum, the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures offered to design a new and shorter 12-credit program catered to business majors: a new minor in Spanish for Business. The new minor employs courses already existing in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures: Spanish for the Professions, Business Spanish and any other two intermediate or advance Spanish courses. The proposal was approved by the University in April 2011 and was first implemented in the fall of 2012 (for an overview of the program, visit: http://www.uab.edu/languages/images/pdfs/news/Minor_Spanish_for_Business.pdf). As this new program is in its first year, it is still premature to make an accurate evaluation. However, due to the overall success of the SSPC and to the growing globalized economies and markets, we predict a successful prospect for this new program. We look forward to report related findings in the near future. Conclusions and Future Directions As the results of surveys by Grosse and Voght (1990) and recently by Long and Uscinski (2012) have demonstrated, LSP courses and programs in the United States are no longer peripheral within the educational curriculum in higher education. They have become highly demanded by a dynamic student population that is in charge of their own learning and wish to be well prepared for an extremely competitive future in a globalized world. This article has described the recently established Spanish for Specific Purposes Certificate program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham within a local context. This program caters to traditional and non-traditional students who share educational goals and classroom experiences. Because it is a highly practical and applicable program in real life, and because it is available to all students and local professionals, the SSPC has become one of the fastest growing programs at UAB with almost 30 graduates in its short existence. Most importantly, the program has created strong and synergistic connections and collaborations with local companies (e.g., hospitals, clinics, charity organizations, banks, libraries, law firms, government offices, schools and early learning centers) through the foreign language service-learning course required for the SSPC. In addition, the SSPC has established collaborations with other units on campus, such as the Schools of Business, Dentistry, Health-Professions, Nursing and Medicine. Furthermore, SSPC students produce high quality research linking their professional interest to their communities and exploring its synergetic relationships. SSPC graduates move on to a variety of professional fields in health, business and translation and interpretation services, or to graduate programs in related fields in which their knowledge of occupational Spanish is (or will be) useful and beneficial to them, their companies and their community. SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES CERTIFICATE (SSPC) PROGRAM Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 69 One significant outgrowth of the SSPC is the new minor for Business Spanish established in fall 2012 utilizing SSPC resources. This new program seals collaborative efforts between the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and the School of Business and aims to cater primarily to Business students, but is also open to any student with an interest in pursuing an international career. As mentioned earlier, an integral part of a successful program is periodic program assessment. The SSPC Exit Survey taken by graduating students gives the SSPC director and faculty regular opportunities to reflect upon the progress of the program, and thus, to make revisions where necessary. In addition to this informal form of student satisfaction evaluation, it is important to conduct some type of performance assessment to investigate the impact that the SSPC classes have on students' Spanish performance. This performance program assessment has been projected to take place within the next academic year and we look forward to new findings. Acknowledgments I would like to sincerely thank former UAB DFLL chairperson Sheri Spaine Long for her full and constant support in the creation, development and implementation of the SSPC and for her always brilliant ideas, as well as for her input on earlier drafts of this paper; to former UAB DFLL Interim chairperson John K. Moore for his full support in the continuation of the SSPC and his critical role in the conceptualization and establishment of the new minor for Business Spanish; to SSPC faculty María Jesús Centeno, Krista Chambless, Brock Cochran, Belita Faki and Malinda O'Leary for their extraordinary work teaching the SSPC courses—the program would not be the same without these remarkable instructors; to all SSPC students who are our source of inspiration every day; and finally, I am grateful to the reviewers of earlier drafts of this paper for their accurate feedback. Notes 1For a detailed description and a sample syllabus of the Foreign Language Service-Learning course required for the SSPC, see Sánchez-López (2013; forthcoming). 2American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages proficiency guidelines can be found at http://www.actfl.org/files/public/Guidelinesspeak.pdf. 3Non-degree seeking students must have a minimum of 12 credit hours of successful college level work (grade C or above in all courses), with the following distribution (minimum): at least 6 credit hours in Area 1 (English Composition), at least 3 credit hours in Area 2 (Arts and Humanities), and at least 3 credit hours in Area 4 (Social Sciences). 4The artist of the SSPC logo is UAB's graphic design student Alan Heiman. The faculty member of the graphic design class that participated in this project is Professor Douglas B. Barrett. References American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages Proficiency Guidelines (1999). Retrieved from http://www.actfl.org/files/public/Guidelinesspeak.pdf SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES CERTIFICATE (SSPC) PROGRAM Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 70 Center for American Progress (2011). Retrieved from http://www.americanprogress.org/ Davidson, L., & Long, S. S. (2012). Medical Spanish for US medical students: A pilot case study. Dimension, 1–13. Retrieved from http://scolt.webnode.com/ Doyle, M. S. (2010). A responsive, integrative Spanish curriculum at UNC Charlotte. Hispania, 93(1), 80–84. Foreign languages and higher education: New structures for a changed world. (2007) MLA ad hoc committee on foreign languages. Profession published by the Modern Language Association, 2007 (May). Retrieved from http://www.mla.org/flreport Friedman, T. (2005). The world is flat: A brief history of the 21st century. New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux. Grosse, C., & Voght, G. (1990). Foreign language for business and the professions at US colleges and universities. The Modern Language Journal, 74, 36–47. Hall, B. (2007). Legalese and Spanish: The Hispanic immigrant experience with the legal system in Birmingham, Alabama. Unpublished paper. Jorge, E. (2010). Where's the community? Hispania, 93(1), 135–138. Long, M., & Uscinski, I. (2012). Evolution of languages for specific purposes programs in the United States: 1990–2011 [Special Issue]. The Modern Language Journal, 96, 173–189. Novak, J. (2012). H.B. 56 and its impact in the state of Alabama. Unpublished paper. President's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies (1980). Strength through wisdom: A critique of US capability. The Modern Language Journal, 64, 9–57. Report to the Teagle Foundation on the Undergraduate Major in Language and Literature. (2009). MLA ad hoc committee on foreign languages. Profession published by the Modern Language Association, 2009 (February). Retrieved from http://www.mla.org/pdf/2008_mla_whitepaper.pdf Sánchez-López, L. (2010). El español para fines específicos: La proliferación de programas creados para satisfacer las necesidades del siglo XXI. Hispania, 93(1), 85–89. Sánchez-López, L. (Forthcoming 2013). Service learning course design for Languages for Specific Purposes programs [Special Issue]. Hispania, 96(2). Southern Poverty Law Center (2011). Retrieved from http://www.splcenter.org/ State of Alabama (2011). Retrieved from http://www.ago.state.al.us/Page-Immigration The Princeton Review (2013). Retrieved from http://www.princetonreview.com/TheUniversityofAlabamaatBirmingham UAB Minor in Business Spanish. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.uab.edu/languages/images/pdfs/news/Minor_Spanish_for_Business.pdf UAB Office of Planning and Analysis. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.uab.edu/opa/ UAB Spanish for Specific Purposes program. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.uab.edu/languages/ssp United States Census Bureau. (2010). Retrieved from http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/ United Stated Census Bureau. (2012). Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html UAB Vision. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.uab.edu/home/about University of Alabama at Birmingham (2013). Retrieved from http://www.uab.edu/ SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES CERTIFICATE (SSPC) PROGRAM Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 71 APPENDIX The University of Alabama at Birmingham College of Arts and Sciences Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures Spanish for Specific Purposes Certificate (SSPC) Exit Survey Note: This survey is anonymous. Please, be as honest as possible when completing it. Thank you for providing us with valuable information to get to know our students and to improve our SSPC program. I. Personal Information (circle one) 1. Gender: Male Female 2. Age: 18–20 20–23 24–26 27–30 More than 31 3. Regular UAB Student Non-regular UAB student (local professional) 4. Work: Full-time job Part-time job Unemployed 5. Work place: ______________________________; Position: __________________ 5. Race: African American Caucasian Hispanic Indian Asian Other 6. Major/s: ____________________________ Minor/s: ________________ 7. Previous Higher Education Degrees: _____________________________________ 8. Your first language/s is/are:____________________________________________ SSPC related 1. How long did it take you to complete the SSPC program? ____________________ 2. In which of the three tracks did you specialize (health, business, translation & interpretation)?: ________________________________________________________ 3. Please explain why you pursued the SSPC: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Did the SSPC fulfill your expectations? Yes No Please explain why? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES CERTIFICATE (SSPC) PROGRAM Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 72 5. Did the SSPC classes fulfill your expectations in general? Yes No Please explain why? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What did you like the most about the program? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. What did you like the least about the program? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. Please give us your suggestions on how to improve the SSPC program: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. How will the SSPC impact your current or future career? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 10. Would you recommend the SSPC to your friends or colleagues? Yes No 11. Finally, do you give your permission to use the information that you provided above anonymously for statistical and research purposes? Yes No Note: If you have further comments, please use the back of this form. GRACIAS.

Part nine of an interview with Gloria Mulcahy and Marion Madonia. Topics include: People who were important to their father's campaign. Their father as a religious man and how Father Duran was a personal friend of the family. Time they spent at Whalom Park. Dating. Carrying on Italian traditions. How their father lost his election for a fourth term as mayor. Their father became a state representative. Their father's retirement. ; 1 SPEAKER 1: Well, let's see. When he put on our thinking caps. Well, a lot of Italians helped him, too, I think. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: You know, like a lot of the businessmen. I would say, I think… did Bill Gerone help him? SPEAKER 3: I'm sure he did. SPEAKER 1: [Unintelligible – 00:00:16]? SPEAKER 3: Sure. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, he was really active. And Mike Bernanti. SPEAKER 3: Mike Bernanti, too. SPEAKER 1: He helped a lot. SPEAKER 3: But they're both… they're gone now. SPEAKER 1: Everybody is… SPEAKER 3: They're dead. SPEAKER 1: Did Joe die too? SPEAKER 3: Didn't he? Yeah, I think he did. SPEAKER 1: Of course, every -- yeah. So that's it. You know, look, the women are… we're past the age that they were. SPEAKER 2: That's why it's important that we're trying to capture this history before it goes. SPEAKER 1: Okay. It goes. Because that's it. We try to explain it to the children, our children. And they wish that they were around when this happened, you know. But they were -- they enjoyed the times at the house with my mother and father every Sunday. They enjoyed being with their grandparents on holidays, you know. That was a lot of fun. Our family, we did have a lot of fun together. SPEAKER 3: Oh yeah, yeah. SPEAKER 1: That was one thing that we -- the closeness. And in what they did to us is five… there are five sisters. And we're still close. SPEAKER 3; We're still close.2 SPEAKER 1: We talk every day. We talk to all our sisters. SPEAKER 3: We have to call and talk to them. SPEAKER 1: Usually sisters don't get together. We just had a get-together Sunday. SPEAKER 3: We had two christenings. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. So, I mean, our closeness as a family stayed, and we want to have that with our children, too, and their children, you know. But times have changed a little bit because of problems, which… SPEAKER 3: Right. SPEAKER 1: But, I mean, every Sunday we were at dad's house and mom's, you know. And the kids just loved it. They'd put on shows for us. Remember? SPEAKER 3: Yeah, yes. SPEAKER 1: And dad. Oh, and then when my mother got sick, you know, we had this priest friend, Father Duran. He would come and say Mass… SPEAKER 3: At the house. SPEAKER 1: At the house. Every Christmas, especially. Every Christmas, and we would all be there, the whole family. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: Of course. And he would -- even on Sundays, he would say Mass because my mother was very religious, of course, you know. And my father was, too. But my father -- but at the end, he would be -- because he was getting so elderly that he'd be saying the Mass with Father Duran. Remember? SPEAKER 3: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: He'd be saying the words, I mean, because he was, you know. The last 15 years that he stayed in. He went out, but he was in most of the time, you know, because he was getting, he was sickly. SPEAKER 2: Now Father Duran, was he from Fitchburg? SPEAKER 1: Well, he came from -- or he lived in…3 SPEAKER 3: Oxford. SPEAKER 1: Oxford, yeah. But then he came to Fitchburg when he was in his thirties, and he was a close friend of mine, and he married all our children just about. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. He's a minister now. He changed… SPEAKER 1: Yeah, he's a minister now. Father Duran. Personal friend of the family. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: Once you know him, he just knows you. I mean, he'll call you by your first name. And he helped us get through the time of our sicknesses that we had with my mother and father. And coming to say the Mass was great because we could -- and, remember, our kids, remember, would -- one of them, one time actually -- once in a while would say the readings in church—not in church, in the living room—because they had a big living room, so that was nice too. But we were always used to entertaining, because we always had people. I'm trying to think who we had. Did Margetti have -- well, I remember now going when we were kids with Daddy and Ma. Now, even though he was busy in politics. And Bernie Monahan used to come. SPEAKER 3: Oh, yes. SPEAKER 1: We'd always go to Weiland Park. You know, Weiland Park was a big thing in Fitchburg. SPEAKER 3: Right. SPEAKER 1: In Nuremberg and Leominster. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: And we used to go to Weiland Park on Sundays and go on all the rides. And I remember Dad being with us. I mean, even though he was so busy being in politics and all these organizations that he belonged to. SPEAKER 3: He took time.4 SPEAKER 1: He always took time, yeah. And we always had fun. And then another thing, one more thing I'd like to think of. And I just carry it on to my family. When my father -- when we got to be 16, say, or 17, whenever we could get our license, our driver's license, he'd let us have the car for the whole day. So imagine, five daughters taking the car for the whole day, you know. You know, when it was each by our years, you know. So then I remember when I had my children, I was alone. I went through a divorce. And when they were 16, that was our only car in the house, and I let them take it for the whole day. I thought it was so nice that he, you know, trusted us to drive alone. And we always got in accidents almost. SPEAKER 3: Almost, but we didn't. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I remember I would always be with you. And there were always like tagalongs because we were always sisters, you know, with the boyfriends and the girlfriends. SPEAKER 3: Right. SPEAKER 1: I thought that was a nice thing to do. I mean, because nowadays, I hear a lot of parents say, you know, "Oh, my son can't take the car," or my daughter. SPEAKER 3: We always took his car. He was good in that way. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, he was very -- he was an easy father. He was -- the only thing he was strict about was the boys. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: Because girls weren't supposed to date until we were like 17. SPEAKER 3: And come home a certain time. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. He was strict about that. SPEAKER 2: Was it important for him that you married Italian? SPEAKER 1: No. SPEAKER 3: No. SPEAKER 1: No, because…5 SPEAKER 3: He never pushed us. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, he didn't want to… as long as we were happy, he was happy. But like two of us married Italians, Evie and I. Oh, and Paula did. I forgot. He is half Italian. SPEAKER 3: Oh, okay. Ray. SPEAKER 1: That's right, Ray. I forgot, gosh. Yeah. SPEAKER 2: Was it important to marry the same religion? SPEAKER 1: Yes, it was. But if you met… SPEAKER 3: And marry. SPEAKER 1: Tell her about it. SPEAKER 3: Mike, he was what, part Irish and English? He wasn't Catholic, but he didn't object to it, no. SPEAKER 1: As long as they were going to be happy. SPEAKER 3: Right. And they are. They're still married. SPEAKER 1: They're still married. SPEAKER 3: 51 years married, yeah. SPEAKER 1: And Evie is still -- Evie was the first one to marry an Italian. She was the third in line, okay. We all got married in line. Isn't that funny? SPEAKER 2: Wow. SPEAKER 1: It's just, you know, by age. SPEAKER 3: By age. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. And we still do things that way. Like when we decide things, we go by our age and we go down, and we try -- we all talk about it and say these things. But Evie, she's still married to George, and he's Italian. Then I was the next one. SPEAKER 3: But he never said… SPEAKER 1: He never said no. SPEAKER 3: --he had to be Catholic or Italian. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. In the beginning, they thought -- because in those days -- that was the thing, you know, to get married in a Catholic church.6 SPEAKER 3: Right. SPEAKER 1: It had to be proper. But then it changed. When Mary got married to Mike, the first one, well, they were going to get married in the rectory, and then they changed the laws just then that they could get married behind the altar. SPEAKER 3: In church. SPEAKER 1: We called it kneeling… you know, you couldn't go on the altar because in those days -- now you go on the altar, but in those days you just knelt on the kneeler, and then -- so that was the first marriage, I think. I mean the first in our family anyway. SPEAKER 2: What was the first family? SPEAKER 1: Well, I mean that he was non-Catholic, you know. SPEAKER 2: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. And he wasn't Italian. But, no, he didn't insist. No. Because I think they might have… you know. You know how parents think, you know. Well, let's face it. We all think, like myself. Like I just want my kids now to be happy because nowadays, you know, how they marry all different ethnic groups in college and stuff, so you just want them to be happy. SPEAKER 3: Right. SPEAKER 1: When I say that. SPEAKER 2: [Unintelligible – 00:07:54]. SPEAKER 1: You don't -- I know, yeah. But they were good parents when it came to… Yeah, they just wanted to see us happy and healthy. But they wanted us to carry on. That's why we want to carry on the Italian tradition because we are Italian. The daughters are anyway, you know. SPEAKER 2: So in which ways do you carry it on? SPEAKER 1: Holidays. SPEAKER 3: Yeah, holidays. SPEAKER 1: The oldies.7 SPEAKER 3: We get together. Mum taught us how to make the meatballs. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, right. Yeah. SPEAKER 3: Different recipes. SPEAKER 1: And we'd say a few words in Italian. Not much. Slang words [laughter]. No. And… by listening and by having Italian music, you know, listening to the Italian music. And I belong, like I said, I do things at Italian club. I don't know what else. What else? We really don't talk Italian. SPEAKER 3: In church. SPEAKER 1: In our church, Italian church. And we have a lot of Italian friends. SPEAKER 3: Right. SPEAKER 2: How do you celebrate Christmas Eve? SPEAKER 1: Now, we just do it by our own family. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. We used to years ago go to mom and dad's, and then we always opened gifts on Christmas Eve. And now we have Christmas. So, I have Christmas Eve. Now my children come to my house here, and we do it separate on Christmas Eve with our own families. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, with our own families. Yeah. Right. SPEAKER 3: Christmas this year, we got together. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. SPEAKER 3: When mom was around and dad, both days. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. Like your tradition now is to get with your own. SPEAKER 3: With my own. SPEAKER 1: With your own family. You know, that's what we do now. SPEAKER 3: And the children, we get together. SPEAKER 2: What kind of -- do you keep the same food that your mother used to cook for around Christmas Eve? SPEAKER 1: Not always. SPEAKER 3: No. Mom didn't bake fish. SPEAKER 1: No.8 SPEAKER 2: No? SPEAKER 1: No. Yeah, Dad -- see, my father didn't like fish. So we didn't have a tradition of… SPEAKER 3: No, like a lot of Italians on Christmas Day would have their ravioli and all that. And Christmas Eve, we would have sausages. SPEAKER 1: We'd eat meat and sausages. SPEAKER 2: Sausage was the big thing then. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, because our father wouldn't eat fish. SPEAKER 3: No. SPEAKER 1: Not in those days, he didn't eat fish. When he got older, I know [unintelligible – 00:10:17]. If I made it, he'd eat it. SPEAKER 3: Then he would. Yeah. SPEAKER 1: He stopped it. So my mother's tradition and our tradition when we were kids, 'cause we -- our tradition in those days when we were little kids, you know, Santa Claus was coming, we'd go to bed early. You know what I mean? It's like nowadays, it's so different. SPEAKER 3: They want to stay up, right. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, because it's like you stay up on Christmas Eve and go to midnight Mass. Like, I know when I was 15 or so -- no, 16, when I started dating Dick. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: Remember, we -- 'cause my mother had Paula. That's right, when Paula was born, things changed because Paula had to go to bed early. You know what I mean? On Christmas Eve, before we used to -- we could stay up and we'd go to the Medonia's. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: I'm trying to remember what we did Christmas Eve, because it was just Ma and Dad and the five of us, four of us, because Paula came along when I was 11. So Christmas Eve, we'd go to bed. We'd probably just have our supper and then go to bed, because we'd 9 wait for Santa Claus to come. In those days, you didn't celebrate, did we? SPEAKER 3: Right. Well, we used to go… SPEAKER 1: Did we? SPEAKER 3: Mother, Jack and I would go Christmas Eve. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, but when we were real little. I'm talking about before you got married when we were kids. SPEAKER 3: No, it was Christmas Day when… SPEAKER 1: Yeah. Christmas Eve, in those days, you went to bed early. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. We didn't have a celebration then. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, you didn't really in those days. SPEAKER 3: Yeah, not until later on, right. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. And then we didn't have the fish. We had sausages or whatever. I can't even remember what we had, but we didn't have -- I know it's like -- I have another friend, Florence, and her tradition, her mother, they cooked all kinds of fish, and they still do. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. But, see, we never did that. Mother never did, so we don't. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. But now you make Italian foods even Christmas Eve because your kids… SPEAKER 3: Yeah, I do. They like it. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. SPEAKER 2: So you know, getting back to your dad and the Sicilian -- you mentioned something about a pizzeria? SPEAKER 1: Yeah. SPEAKER 2: Were there a group of Sicilians that hung around at that club? SPEAKER 1: Yeah. [Pepezia] or something they used to call it. I can hear it. Yeah, the pizza was the best, so thick. You know, it's Sicilian pizza. I used to love it there. SPEAKER 2: And what would they do down there?10 SPEAKER 1: They had a club. It was a [unintelligible – 00:12:35] club. But that isn't listed there, no. SPEAKER 2: [Unintelligible – 00:12:40]. SPEAKER 1: It doesn't say anything about the pizzeria. SPEAKER 2: No. SPEAKER 1: That was more, I think, just… SPEAKER 3: It's a group of… SPEAKER 1: Group of Sicilians, yeah. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. They sat around. SPEAKER 1: Sicilians, I think, yeah. I don't remember. But I can remember the Pepe Club, yeah, because we used to go down and get pizza and hang around. I don't know. SPEAKER 2: What does it mean to be Italian to both of you? SPEAKER 3: We're proud of it. SPEAKER 1: Oh, very proud of it, yeah. SPEAKER 2: But why? Where does that proudness come from? SPEAKER 1: I like being Italian, to tell you the truth. Isn't that awful? SPEAKER 2: No. SPEAKER 3: We should be proud, right? SPEAKER 1: Yeah, like you're saying about how groups, how people -- how we split up, like, like I always say -- and I still do it now. SPEAKER 3: What? SPEAKER 1: I have -- all my friends, I have my Italian friends. And then when I went to work at city hall, I got my Irish friends from there. SPEAKER 3: Sure. They're proud to be Irish like we're proud to be Italian. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, yeah. SPEAKER 3: We were in line. SPEAKER 1: The schools separate you, yeah. So to be proud of being Italian, I like the ethnic background that Italians have. I think they have the looks, especially. I just can't help it. I'm still into Italians: the eyes. My first thing that I always loved. And, I mean, Italian men, 11 I still am drawn to them. I guess I married an Italian man, and yeah, I'm kind of drawn to -- I just don't know what it is. SPEAKER 2: That's fine. How did your father's career end? Did he decide not to run for mayor for a fourth term and then became… SPEAKER 1: No, he was beaten. SPEAKER 2: He was beaten? SPEAKER 3: Yeah. And that was… SPEAKER 1: By a farmer. That was a little hurt. That was very sad. It was… SPEAKER 3: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: He lost by only a few votes see. So… we had to have a recount and everything. It was only like 60 votes. SPEAKER 2: Wow. SPEAKER 1: It was by. So there were some 60 people there that -- or 65 people that either didn't go vote, or… I always said jealousy, but you know, from that same nationality, could be jealous too, you know. But I doubt that should be said, so erase that because actually, I don't need to say that. SPEAKER 2: You think so? SPEAKER 1: I don't know. SPEAKER 3: Everywhere. SPEAKER 1: It happens everywhere. SPEAKER 3: Every nationality, people are jealous. SPEAKER 1: But we just felt bad because who beat him was -- he used to go up and go and give -- he had a farm, and he'd give those free vegetables to everybody, and we figured that's why they voted for him. You know, we couldn't give anything free. We couldn't give away anything. My father couldn't afford it. And, you know, he was married. He didn't have the money. That's why he almost lost his business, because he was dedicated to the people of Fitchburg and to his city, our city. And I can understand why he was, because it's a beautiful city. With Fitchburg State College, I 12 mean, now it's even beautiful. I mean, it really is. So I just think of… but yeah, so he lost. And we were sick, all of us. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. But someone has to win and someone has to lose in politics. SPEAKER 1: Right. And then it gave him a better opportunity to run for state representative and so then, and so he did that. From losing being mayor, then he went to state rep. And then he held that office, and then he retired. SPEAKER 3: Right. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, he had to retire. SPEAKER 2: Did he run almost immediately? SPEAKER 1: Yeah, yeah. Wasn't it '57? He lost in '56, the next year. SPEAKER 3: I think around that time. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, the next year, in '57. He ran that next fall in '57. SPEAKER 3: Right. SPEAKER 1: Then he started in '58, January of '58. SPEAKER 2: So how did his life change after he became state rep? SPEAKER 1: Yes. He went to Boston five days a week. But it didn't… he felt that that would be easier than being mayor because people weren't calling you every day, every minute, you know. SPEAKER 3: Yeah, and there weren't as many meetings like he had. SPEAKER 1; Yes, and then you vote at the house, you know. You vote and you talk to the people that call him. Like the voter friend, I tell them what to vote for, and he was always voting for what the people wanted, you know. He used to -- I mean, he enjoyed that. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. He enjoyed that. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, it was a piece of cake. Yeah, it was good. And then he was on a couple of state committees, so he had some meetings. Was it aeronautics and cities? He was in the… yeah, they told us that he was… And I thought he was on Ways and Means, but it wasn't in that book. But I remember him once saying. But, you know, they 13 got on committees, different representatives. Very interesting. I don't know how long he was there, but he enjoyed that. SPEAKER 3: He did. SPEAKER 2: And then he retired? SPEAKER 1: Then he retired, yeah. SPEAKER 3: Yes. SPEAKER 1: Because, let's see, he was… It was '61 that he retired, or '62. SPEAKER 2: Okay. So he was about 60 then. SPEAKER 1: Okay, yeah. Oh my. Yeah, and then they moved. Then Ma and Dad went to Florida. No, I know it was '61 or '62, because I remember going -- right when Chip had surgery, and Joe, my son, was at my mom's. I was sleeping at my mother's house when my ex had major surgery on his back, spinal fusion. And I remember. So then we'd be driving to Boston. I'd drive with dad, and then I'd come home with him at night. And Chip was in the hospital in '61. Joe was born October '61. This was '62. So I think he was in office for '58, '59, '60, '61. Anyways, yeah, he retired because he got sickly… '62. SPEAKER 3: I don't know the date or year. I don't remember. SPEAKER 1: I know. We should have gotten them. All right, so he -- yeah, he didn't, I don't think -- he wasn't defeated. He retired. SPEAKER 2: He retired. SPEAKER 1: He retired from that state house. No, no one ran against him and beat him, because he retired. SPEAKER 2: Did he run as a Democrat? SPEAKER 1: Oh, yes. SPEAKER 3: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: Oh, yeah, democrat always. SPEAKER 3: Right. SPEAKER 2: But when he first won mayor, it was because of a coalition of Republicans and Democrats?14 SPEAKER 1: Right. SPEAKER 3: He was still a Democrat, but they… SPEAKER 1: But he was a… See, and George was a Republican. George Stanton was a Republican. Or was he a Democrat? I don't know. It doesn't matter. It was at state. SPEAKER 3: [Unintelligible – 00:19:50] SPEAKER 1: Yeah because he needed backing to win. But, yeah, for state rep, he just… /AT/pa/ke/es

Part two of an interview with Antoinette Carchidi of Leominster, Massachusetts. Topics include: She never felt discriminated against. Her and her husband made wine during prohibition. Social activities and what she did for fun. How her husband developed his tailor business. How she became a U.S. citizen. Her feelings about the U.S. How American food compares with Italian. ; 1 GREG CARCHIDI: And as our tape ran out the last time, she was just finishing, uh, when she was, uh, uh going to night school and it got to be kind of tough to travel from Charlestown to the North End. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. Right. GREG CARCHIDI: Okay. And you just remembered a story about -- you also, you remembered a story about, uh, the boat when you were coming over. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. When the people took over… GREG CARCHIDI: There was a strike, right? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: It was strike. When the people -- working people, I mean the passengers that was on the boat took over, they found a bomb. GREG CARCHIDI: A bomb on the boat? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: On the boat. And good thing they took, took over and found that, otherwise we would all be gone. GREG CARCHIDI: A bomb, right? SPEAKER 1: Disaster, disaster. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Disaster. That's right. GREG CARCHIDI: Wow. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: That's right. GREG CARCHIDI: So, what, what did they do when they found the bomb? They just got rid of it? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: They get rod of it, I don't know… GREG CARCHIDI: You don't know. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: … how they did it, but the rumors that's where [unintelligible – 00:01:15]. So we was all saved. But they probably got them on this history. They, they probably have it in… GREG CARCHIDI: In the books? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: In books. 2 GREG CARCHIDI: Yes, it must be on record. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Record. GREG CARCHIDI: Somewhere. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Somewhere. GREG CARCHIDI: Probably on record somewhere. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: That's right. GREG CARCHIDI: Yes. SPEAKER 1: And the news media must have said something about it. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. Sure, sure. GREG CARCHIDI: Okay. After you were in Leominster for a while, or just looking back now on, you know, being an immigrant, do you remember anything? Like did people discriminate against you, do you think? Did they call you [guinea]? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: No. GREG CARCHIDI: No? They didn't find that at all? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: We lived with Irish people. GREG CARCHIDI: Really? Where? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: In Charlestown. GREG CARCHIDI: Yeah? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: And they all liked us the first day they see us. GREG CARCHIDI: So they liked you. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: We could say yes, and they took us and make a tea, sit at the table for us to drink a cup of tea with them. How nice they were. And the people living upstairs with us, they [send] their husband, which -- she was Irish, and then her husband was Italian and said, "You go upstairs," because we were young anyway. "You go upstairs, see my wife and even if you don't know how to talk English," he says, "she, by [unintelligible - 00:02:59] her, you learn." And so, we said: "We're ashamed to go upstairs. We don't even know how to say yes, you know?"3 GREG CARCHIDI: You didn't even know how to say yes? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: No. "And so, we can't go upstairs. Make your wife come downstairs," we'd say to him. And so, we have a little baby, and so she don't like to, you know, come down with the baby. That's it. GREG CARCHIDI: They treated you nice? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: They treated -- all the Irish people treated us wonderful, believe me. GREG CARCHIDI: All your experiences were nice. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. And I now I'm going to tell you, near the window, an Irish lady called her cat, "Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty!" I went to the kitchen to my mother, [laughter] and my sister says, "I learned a word. I know how to say, call the cat in English. It says, 'Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty.'" [Laughter] I was so happy. GREG CARCHIDI: Because you learned how to say a word. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: To say one word. [Laughter] Yes, I did. And that's it. I guess… GREG CARCHIDI: That's funny. Outside of work and everything, I know you worked at the tailor shop… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: With grandpa… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: You kept the house and raised the kids. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: Cooked and sew, whatever. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: You know, you did a lot of work. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. 4 GREG CARCHIDI: Did you belong to any clubs, like what did you do for excitement? Like I know prohibition was on. You used to do the wine, right? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Oh, yes. GREG CARCHIDI: You made the wine? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes, we make the wine. But then we didn't -- just for house. GREG CARCHIDI: You didn't sell it? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: No. No. GREG CARCHIDI: But you made… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: We made wine. We give wine to doctors, lawyers… GREG CARCHIDI: But you didn't sell it [laughter]. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: But never did take a penny. GREG CARCHIDI: Police chief, fire chief [laughter]. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah, we did, because I remember – GREG CARCHIDI: Nobody could buy it. Somebody had to make it. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. Well, anyway, we used to make just for family… GREG CARCHIDI: Friends. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Friends. But doctor come in our house, of course your grandpa sew for the doctors. GREG CARCHIDI: Oh, he used to sew. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: So he made suits for doctors and for the judge. You know, the… judge from the bank. We used to make suits for him, and they'd drink the best booze they had, and they liked our wine. GREG CARCHIDI: They liked your wine? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Mm-hmm. Sure, they liked our wine. And they asked, they said, "Can we buy?" "We don't sell it," we'd say. We never did sell one glass of wine. We give. Give it away, yes. But not sell the wine. GREG CARCHIDI: That's was the way to do it. That's good.5 ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: I lived in [unintelligible – 00:06:35] we make our living sewing. GREG CARCHIDI: So everything else was fun? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Fun. GREG CARCHIDI: Right. And I know you must have had a lot of fun, because I… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. We had… GREG CARCHIDI: I remember… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: … good times at home. And for the club, like, [unintelligible - 00:06:51] they had a Christmas party, New Year's parties. We enjoyed with them. GREG CARCHIDI: You used to go? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: And they danced. They had a dance downtown first, and we used to go dance on the street. GREG CARCHIDI: Yeah? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: They used to have a dance on the street, and your grandfather used to be band leader. GREG CARCHIDI: Yeah? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: And we used to go on the band concert, take my children on the carriage and go down and hear the music. That's it, that's a good time. It was before, you know? They didn't have like they have it over here now. Everything is changed. GREG CARCHIDI: Oh, yeah. Did you ever own a car when you were living… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: No, no. GREG CARCHIDI: Yes. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: A car, we never owned it, but with a nickel you took a bus. You don't really need a car then. GREG CARCHIDI: Yeah. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: You'd take a bus and you joined in. The summer, your grandfather hired a cab to go…6 GREG CARCHIDI: He hired a cab? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: To go on the beach and to have a good time for his children. All the time, we used to -- two or three times a year we used to go out, [unintelligible - 00:08:35] the cab, or with a friend. We paid gas and go, two families, and we had good times. But that's it. GREG CARCHIDI: I remember you used to tell me a story that he used to say something about the cars; he used to walk faster than the car could go. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: He used to say, "Why should I buy a car?" ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. He… GREG CARCHIDI: "Who needs a goddamned car? I can walk faster than that." SPEAKER 1: [Laughter] I don't remember that. GREG CARCHIDI: You used to tell me about it. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. GREG CARCHIDI: He used to walk fast to work down the street. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: He would love to walk because we live near town anyway, used to live near town. GREG CARCHIDI: Yeah. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: And walk, you enjoyed to… we never took a lunch because he liked to sit down on the table and eat. He says, "That's my pleasure, to go home and eat." Until he couldn't do it anymore, when he was sick he couldn't do no more, and I had to make lunches then. Until then, we could go, we walk. And we've taken busses to, that's it. GREG CARCHIDI: Did… okay. Were there any real problems because of… did you think because you were immigrants? Did you have any problems like getting work? Like how did you establish? You must have already been established as a good tailor.7 ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: Were there ever any problems about people getting enough work? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: When he come in, in this country, it was different than when I come in. GREG CARCHIDI: Oh, he came a lot earlier. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: He came earlier. But he had a little complication because he come -- see, over here there were all English people, and he didn't know how to talk English and he had to go in the shop. He went and worked in a shop until one friend that came from [Broughton] and see him, and he says, "What do you do with your trade? You left your trade?" "No," he says, "I'm going to take you with me in Broughton," he says, "because this trade is worth money to you in years to come." So, then he left Leominster for a couple of years until he learned how to talk English, and he went to work as a tailor again in Broughton. For a couple of years he stayed in Broughton, your grandfather. But he was not married then. He was only a little kid himself, you know, young fellow. I don't know the story before, but that's what he told me. He says, "If it wasn't for this friend, I will never have this tailor business again. That's it. Because I come, I didn't know how to talk English." He went with a Jewish fellow to help him, but then if he need a thread, he didn't know how to say it. If he needed line, he didn't know how to say it. So that's why he had to leave. That's it. GREG CARCHIDI: But then he proved to be successful. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. Yes, he was very, very successful. It was a good business. Yeah. We made a very good living then.8 GREG CARCHIDI: All right. What else have I got? Oh, Boston. When did he get sick? I know he died the year I was born. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah, right. GREG CARCHIDI: But I never saw him or anything, I never got to know him. But when did he get sick? Did he get sick right… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Ten years before he died. He was 10 years sick. Then, on 25th anniversary, they give us a party in Boston, a party in Broughton. And so, when we went and visited Broughton, that's when he got sick, the 25th anniversary. GREG CARCHIDI: Did he have a heart attack? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: He had a shock or a stroke. Then after five years, he had the second shock. And so, in 10 years, he died. That's it. GREG CARCHIDI: I remember -- did you mention while he was sitting down or something and he just…? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. Well, the first shock, we was visiting Broughton. You know, we had -- she was in first year training. GREG CARCHIDI: Nursing? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Nursing training. And your father came back from… SPEAKER 1: Graduated. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Graduated? Yes. SPEAKER 1: When he graduated, he must have come back to Broughton. I was on duty. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah… You're sure? SPEAKER 1: Yes, I'm sure. It was about 1950. [Pause for 10 seconds.] GREG CARCHIDI: It must have been around … ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: I don't remember, because I think you're still were sick in school. Because Joe probably can – yes. SPEAKER 1: No, I working in [unintelligible - 00:15:24]. GREG CARCHIDI: So anyway, what happened? When he went away, he was at the party?9 ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Party, yeah. And that's when we had to call the doctor there, and we stayed there about five, six days, and Joe come get him with his car. And he was not married yet to Kaye. And so… GREG CARCHIDI: So it must have been in the '40s. That was in the late '40s. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Late '40s. Well, sure, because '57 -- it was probably '49. GREG CARCHIDI: '49, '50. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: '50, yeah. He probably was [unintelligible - 00:16:15], right. Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: So he had a shock then, and… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. And that's it. GREG CARCHIDI: Did he still work? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah, five years. He didn't work -- at the second shock he couldn't do it too much. He couldn't do too much. GREG CARCHIDI: But he lives to be -- how old was he when he died? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Sixty-seven. GREG CARCHIDI: Sixty-seven? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Sixty-seven years old. So, that's it. GREG CARCHIDI: Yeah. Okay. Do you have any opinions about America in general, you know? Coming here, did you really like living here, you know? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Oh, yes. GREG CARCHIDI: You spent a lot of your life here. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. I lived here more than I lived in the country I belong. GREG CARCHIDI: Yeah. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: I enjoyed living… GREG CARCHIDI: You're glad you came here, right? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. Yes, very. GREG CARCHIDI: Yeah. Have you ever been back to Italy? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: No.10 GREG CARCHIDI: No? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: No. GREG CARCHIDI: What do you think about it? Do you wish you went back? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah, I wish I visited, yeah, but not to stay. GREG CARCHIDI: Yeah. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: I like this country. I'm a citizen in this country for many years now. GREG CARCHIDI: What did they ask you when you went to become a citizen? Do you remember? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: [Laughter] Yeah, I remember few things. They asked me if a colored guy can be president. GREG CARCHIDI: A colored guy? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. They asked you that? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes, they asked me that. GREG CARCHIDI: What did you say? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: I said yes, all depend on the votes. And he say, "Good." [Laughter] GREG CARCHIDI: All depends on the votes [laughter]. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. All depend on the people, and that's it. Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: You're right. All depends on the people, whatever the people want. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: They told me -- he says, "How old the president should be before he…" GREG CARCHIDI: He could become president? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Become president. Well, I said, "35." GREG CARCHIDI: All right! ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: He said: "You're right [laughter]." They were surprised of me [laughter]. GREG CARCHIDI: Did you study it? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: No [laughter]. GREG CARCHIDI: You guessed?11 ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Guessed [laughter]. I says, "Well, you know, at the 35, this is -- before, how could you be, you know, a president? You can't be a president before because you're too young." And… I mean the senators, they were in the state house. GREG CARCHIDI: You mean the White House? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: The White House. GREG CARCHIDI: You mean the… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: White House, yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: The federal government. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. And I told them 96. GREG CARCHIDI: Yeah, now there's a hundred. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes, well, at that time 96. GREG CARCHIDI: Forty-eight states. When did you do this, get your citizenship? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Nineteen… GREG CARCHIDI: Was it… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: It was the 1940… GREG CARCHIDI: Oh, 1940. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: '42 or something like that. GREG CARCHIDI: Yes. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: It was in the fall, anyway. I still got it, you know, by this time. And that's it. I became citizen. I didn't have any trouble. They made me read, they explained me how to -- if I knew what I read, and then I had to explain. Everything was okay. GREG CARCHIDI: It was good? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. They say, "Oh, no trouble with you." They pulled the book they gave me to read and says, "You're all right [laughter]." And that time, it was hard to become a citizen, too. GREG CARCHIDI: Yes. So you became a…12 ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. You had no… GREG CARCHIDI: And then you were proud, right? Proud to be an American? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. Oh, yes, yes. GREG CARCHIDI: Good. Have you got any development in favorite hobbies when you came? I know sewing was your business. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: Let's say cooking. How about cooking? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Cooking, yes. I cook quite a bit, but I cook -- we had little parties in the house, and I cooked for them. I had company all the time from out of town. GREG CARCHIDI: Yeah. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: I'd cook for them. And it was -- that's okay. That's okay. GREG CARCHIDI: I want to ask you another question about food, because I've interviewed -- I've already interviewed about four other people. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: And every one of them has said, mentioned things about American food. What do you think about the American food? Do you think it's… would you rather eat the Italian food or the American food? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: I like some American food too. All depends, you know? I don't like all Italian cooking either. GREG CARCHIDI: Yeah. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: You know? And the same way, the American cooking, the same thing. I like something that, I like it more than the Italian cooking, you know? And I like the Italian cooking too. GREG CARCHIDI: But do you basically think that the American food is not as tasty as the Italian food? It's not like… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Some are not. GREG CARCHIDI: Oh, yes. Some.13 ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Some are not tasty. GREG CARCHIDI: Yeah. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: That's right. The way they eat is different, right? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah, well… GREG CARCHIDI: They don't eat… they rush. [Speaking in Italian], you know? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. They have to have dessert all the time, which Italian people, we eat substantial food and then you can eat dessert if you wanted to. GREG CARCHIDI: Yes. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: I like dessert. But if you eat Italian food, it won't fit to you [laughter]. That's it. GREG CARCHIDI: I always find that. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: If you eat about a half a dozen sausages, and then… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes, right. GREG CARCHIDI: Macaroni, where are you going to fit pie? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Pie [laughter]. That's right. GREG CARCHIDI: Where are you going to put the pie? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: That's right. American people eat dainty. You know, they -- a little of this, a little of that, and they have dessert, which I think is nice. GREG CARCHIDI: Have you ever -- this is the all-time American question. Have you ever been to McDonalds? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. GREG CARCHIDI: A hamburger place. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. [Laughter] GREG CARCHIDI: You're not American until you go to McDonalds. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: [Laughter] I enjoy McDonalds [laughter] better than Papa John's.14 GREG CARCHIDI: Papa John's is a rip off. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: Too expensive. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. It's… if you get the hamburger, which I do -- sometimes we like a hamburger, and it's quick and it's tasty. I enjoy it. GREG CARCHIDI: Oh, yes. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: What's wrong? I don't find anything wrong. It's cheap. The price is right [laughter]. GREG CARCHIDI: See, you can tell you're American. The price is right. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: [Laughter] Right. GREG CARCHIDI: Okay. Let me see. I think -- yeah, that's good. We've done about over an hour or so. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: I think that's plenty. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: It's a good one. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: You've given me a lot. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Pretty good, yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: Thank you very much. You know, a lot of people, especially a lot of teachers, they don't… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: You know, they're smacked, they're all doctors, they know their field very well, but a lot of times it's good to have… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. GREG CARCHIDI: A real first-hand interview with someone that has lived through… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: That's right. GREG CARCHIDI: … what you have. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: That's right, that's right.15 GREG CARCHIDI: Have come to another country, developed here, and got a good job, and… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yes. [Clanking of the dishes] That's okay. That's okay, don't worry about it. This little table is too little. You get – you burn yourself? GREG CARCHIDI: And it's all on tape [laughter]. Okay, we're back now after a slight accident [laughter]. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Well, it was not your fault. It's a bit… GREG CARCHIDI: That's okay. Okay, well… ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah? GREG CARCHIDI: We've got -- I think we have a good example here of immigrant experiences in the United States. ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Yeah. Well, it went… GREG CARCHIDI: Would you like to say something in your native tongue? Wishing the people a merry Christmas or a happy New Year, or…? ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: Of course. With the gladness. I wish everybody merry Christmas and happy new year, and I'm very happy that I'm in the United States [laughter]. GREG CARCHIDI: Okay. Can you say something in Italian? Say, "I wish you a Merry Christmas?" ANTOINETTE CARCHIDI: [Speaking in Italian]. GREG CARCHIDI: Oh, all right. Thank you very much. This was Antoinette Carchidi, an interview with her grandson Greg Carchidi. Thank you very much. And now [laughter], the end./AT/lj/es

Interview with Mary Anne Taylor and Rosemary Mazzaferro Pepin. Topics include: Memories of their grandmothers. Their parents spoke Italian. The difference between children in Italy today and children in the United States. Living close to family. The work Mary Anne and Rosemary do. What their mother is like. Italian food and cooking. Faith and going to church with their families. The importance of education, getting good grades, and going to college. Mary Ann and Rosemary went to Holy Cross. The differences in how Mary Ann and Rosemary were raised compared to their brothers. The support of their parents. Memories from living on Central Street. Growing up with their cousins nearby. What their Italian heritage means to them. The immediate impact of September 11th. Mary Anne's hair accessory business. Their parents' strong work ethic. ; 1 INTERVIEWER: …with the Center for Italian Culture at 12:55. And [unintelligible - 00:00:10] at their parents' house at 575 West Street. If you could just tell me your names, just so I can make sure this is being recorded. ROSE MARY: Rose Mary Peppin. MARYANNE: Maryanne Taylor. INTERVIEWER: Okay, now it's working. I'll be asking questions. MARYANNE: 'Cause I don't know what this is about… INTERVIEWER: Now, I'd like to -- I'll go out with, first of all, tell me a little about you grandparents if you remember them at all. MARYANNE: The only ones we could remember is our grandmothers. Both are grandfathers were passed on before we were born. Our grandmothers were elderly when we were small, right. So as far as I remember, my grandmother, my father's mother, [unintelligible - 00:00:57], she stayed at home and she cooked and took care of her family, and it was the same with my mother's mother, Carmela Guglielmi. She did pretty much the same thing. INTERVIEWER: Yeah. Were they living close by to each other? Or… ROSE MARY: My dad's mother, [unintelligible - 00:01:18], she lived not far from Saint Andrew's Church. And [unintelligible - 00:01:24] about her because she passed on when I was… MARYANNE: I was eight. ROSE MARY: So I was like six. I just remember her being in the kitchen and just kind of stirring things around. I don't really have a great recollection… MARYANNE: She used to make Italian cookies. That's the one thing I remember about her. She always made the best. And she always had [unintelligible - 00:01:49] or very often when we came to visit. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember [unintelligible - 00:01:53]?2 ROSE MARY: They spoke English, but they spoke Italian with their children. They spoke English to use, but they didn't speak it very well. A bit of a broken English. Not extremely, but -- and Italian accent. MARYANNE: Broken English for sure with dad's mother is what I would always remember, and pretty good [unintelligible - 00:02:15]. ROSE MARY: Right. They would always speak Italian to each other when they didn't want us to know what they were talking about. We remember that. Do you remember that? MARYANNE: I remember that. INTERVIEWER: Your parents would speak Italian, in the house with the kids? MARYANNE: I don't remember that. But I remember with their friends that were Italian, and again, if they were explaining something that was not for the kids' ears, they would get into Italian. ROSE MARY: They would speak Italian with their parents but not with us. And not with each other, I don't think. Not with their brothers and sisters. They spoke English. INTERVIEWER: Do you ever wish that you had learned? ROSE MARY: Definitely. I have learned a little bit of Italian myself. MARYANNE: I did learn a little bit myself also. ROSE MARY: I spent a couple of years living in Italy. And so -- and at that time I could speak Italian. Not fluently, but enough to get by. But that was in the early '80s, and because nobody speaks Italian, I have forgotten just about everything. But I do very much wish that I had Italian. I'm in touch with my Italian relatives in Italy. A lot of them speak English because they learned it in school, but it would be nice to be able to speak Italian to them also. It would be easier to communicate. INTERVIEWER: Why did you live in Italy? ROSE MARY: Well, my ex-husband was in the military. He was in the Navy, and we were stationed there for two and a half years. So we were stationed in Naples, Italy. So at that time I spent a lot of time 3 visiting relatives. And I got to know them and maintain those friendships right up to today. Last summer, my son and I—my son just turned 14—we went to visit with them. And the neat thing about it is that it is hard to keep in touch with people that live in Italy because the long distance phone calls and everything. But now because of email, my son, who is 14, has a teenage cousin over there that they can email each other back and forth, and it's no more expensive than talking with your friends through email. And they can communicate on all different levels. Some of them are very good with English. Some of them are really struggling, but they all study it in school. So they are able to communicate. It's a little strained with some of them because they really have to think about what they want… INTERVIEWER: What were the years that you lived in Italy? ROSE MARY: It was 1982 to 1985. INTERVIEWER: Getting back to your son, and we will get back to the other things, I'm sorry but, your 14-year-old son. Do you see any differences between him and… ROSE MARY: The ones that live in Italy? Yes, I do. Maybe actually I don't. In some ways I think that their families are a lot closer there. I mean, we have a close family, but I think that -- for example all the cousins in Rome, they all live very close to each other, and they want to be that way. None of them want to leave Rome. They all want to be with their family and live near the family. Whereas I think these kids, they want to go off to college, they want to go live somewhere else, they want to experience things that are away. Other than that they seem very similar in a lot of ways in that they love the same things. They love rock music, they love going to the beach, they love going to the clubs, you know. 4 A lot of the Italian kids listen to American music. So they have that in common. Video games, they play video games. They have a lot of things in common. There is not drinking age in Italy. And according to all my Italian relatives there is no problem with alcohol. Alcoholism is rare in Italy. And kids wanting to drink, they are able to drink. They are able to go to bars from their early teens, pre-teens, and they aren't that interested in drinking. But they may order a drink at the age of 14 or 15 but they don't get drunk. And we did go to bars when we were visiting them last summer. They were all about the same age 14, 15, 16 to 18, and they would order a drink or two drinks at a bar, but they would never get drunk. INTERVIEWER: What about your son? ROSE MARY: My son isn't really interested in drinking. He's, you know, like I said, he just turned 14, so he was actually only 13 last summer. He would try them, just take a taste, to have the taste of the Italian liquor that, you know, we can't get here, but that's all. He wasn't really interested in drinking. He is still very young for that. MARYANNE: Something that you mentioned about the kids now, with your son and the numerous [unintelligible - 00:07:17] to my parents. I think what you said about them wanting to go experience new things, I think college and then, you know, look for different jobs than we are, I didn't have any interest in being back in Leominster. I wanted to, you know, live elsewhere and just from where college took me to different jobs. And then just 10 years later, I am back in Leominster, and you know, just the way things happened. And then, and you look at and you value the families more, I think when you do have kids. And I think with my mother and father it was just totally different world then, but they -- just the way things happened, Leominster boy meets Fitchburg girl, and they marry, 5 and everyone is from the same area. So I think that's just the change… INTERVIEWER: What do you think is the stimulus for that? MARYANNE: Education. I think the opportunity you can do whatever… ROSE MARY: And also, I think that the generation that is growing up right now [unintelligible - 00:08:22] our generation is more like my parents' generation. For example, my mother's family, my mother has three sisters and herself. She's the one that moved farthest away, moving from Fitchburg to Leominster. But her sister, one of her sisters never got married and stayed right in the house and still lives there today. You know, she has been living in the same house for 70 something years. Her other sister moved next door, built a house next door. Her other sister moved just up the street. My father's side the same way. His father and mother had a house. One of his brothers moved next door. One of his brothers moved behind the house, and the others were all kind of in the area. And the people seem to be like that still. They get married but they just move very close by. In fact, my cousins in Italy -- I don't work, we have a big family business with the plastic factory. I don't work in the family business. And my cousins in Italy had a hard time understanding that. Why, because when there is a family business in Italy, the whole family works in the family business, and it doesn't make sense to work somewhere else. They couldn't, you know -- it's a different kind of thinking. They couldn't understand that oh, well I want to do something different. INTERVIEWER: Did your parents? ROSE MARY: Oh, yes. They don't have any problem with it. Like my sister just said, she never even thought that she would come back and work in the family business. And it wasn't really a thought that we had to work in the family business growing up. We could do whatever 6 we wanted. But in Italy it's just more expected that you work in the family business. They still have that kind of thinking, I think, that, you know, they're all tied up with their families and all working together, all living close by each other. INTERVIEWER: How is it that you both ended up back in Leominster even though you didn't foresee that? MARYANNE: I went out to college and then got a journalism degree in Chicago. And then from that I was looking for jobs in the newspaper industry, and the job I got took me to Florida. So I lived in Florida for about three years and got a little discouraged with that just because of the -- it just wasn't a great fit for what I wanted to do, and the pay was not very good in Florida and also in the newspaper industry. So I started doing different sales jobs. And so I did that for a while, and then my mother was calling and saying come back, come back, and I just was -- I was happy there; I just wanted to experience life outside of the area. But then my brother, who was actually working in the family business, he was saying we really need some help in the family business doing sales. And so I thought about it and thought about the climate, because also the Florida heat was not grand. I did like the skiing and all that, so I just, I came back at that point and lived in different, lived in the area, and then lived in the Boston area for a little bit. And that's how I came back. INTERVIEWER: So then you ended up marrying someone? MARYANNE: Actually, I married someone from, who grew up in Westborough, Mass. We just met at a local health club. And we just were friends and then we got married and ended up finding a house in Leominster. And now, I actually -- well, now I don't really work in the family business, but I used to be part of it, and I bought part of the business, and it's a hair accessory business. And then -- so 7 that's still based in Leominster and is -- because it's tied into plastics, and I used [unintelligible - 00:12:12] some of the products so it just made sense that I'm here and being now 40. But even at 30 I could just see the benefit of Leominster, the town of Leominster, versus living in Boston with the traffic and all that. And it's a nice place to raise kids. So that's why I'm back here. That's the long story. INTERVIEWER: Does your husband work in the business? MARYANNE: Right before the birth of my second child he left his job to work with me, which -- it would have been a hell of a business because I couldn't do it with two kids and using daycare as we wanted, limited daycare. So he did join the business, and now the two of us are together. It's called Good Hair Days, Incorporated. INTERVIEWER: I love that name. Who thought up that name? Did you think of that name? MARYANNE: Yes. It's six years old now, and it started in 1996. INTERVIEWER: How did you end up back in Leominster? ROSE MARY: It was really just kind of by chance. I did want to come back to New England because I live in different places that didn't have any seasons. I loved the change of seasons in New England. And I just wanted to come back to New England, and it just turned out that it was convenient to live in Leominster. You know, the housing market at that time was good for me. One I got settled in, I just didn't move. INTERVIEWER: Were you still married at that time? ROSE MARY: At that time I was still married. Yes. But not now. Though it kind of worked out for me to stay in Leominster. I mean, I had a very small child, a one-year-old, on my own, so it did help to be around family. INTERVIEWER: And what business are you in? You're in real estate?8 ROSE MARY: I'm in real estate. Real estate broker, and -- no, I don't. I work at the Boss realty group in Leominster. INTERVIEWER: What's the name of it? ROSE MARY: Boss, B-O-S-S. That's my life in English, certified to be a high school, English teacher. But I haven't done it. I've actually done teaching when I was in Italy. In fact I taught English as a second language at the adult night school, which is a very fun job. When I came back here I was actually going to go into teaching, but at that time I was starting to go on my own at that time, so I went into something else where I could make a little more money. INTERVIEWER: Thought of the plastics industry? ROSE MARY: Yeah, I thought of it. I did work for a little while in it, when my son was young, but it's just not something I wanted to stay with. And I do like what I do. And it's working out well for me. INTERVIEWER: In fact, you invest in real estate property. ROSE MARY: Right. Mainly I do real estate investments. I do brokerage also but mainly I do investing. And it's been working out very well, so. I'm my own boss, which I really like. You know, I do work for a company, but as a broker you're an independent contractor, so you do your own thing pretty much, your own hours, things like that. INTERVIEWER: Your family rarely spoke about your father's mother. What can you remember about your mother's mother? ROSE MARY: Mother's mother was living until we were well into our twenties, probably mid or late twenties. 1983 is when she passed away. [Unintelligible - 00:15:32] MARYANNE: We visited, and she used to come around. She had a lot of energy, like my mother, is what I remember. Going to the Cape house, a weekend on the Cape. And I can remember going shopping. We were teenagers or adults or something, and it would be my mother, my mother's mother, and, you know, several kids. And I can 9 remember my grandmother just wearing everybody out shopping. She kept going and going. ROSE MARY: She loved to shop. MARYANNE: Picking out for her, however many grandkids she had. She just, would keep shopping. ROSE MARY: Going and going. MARYANNE: [Unintelligible - 00:16:15] Christmas tree shops and wherever else and just shop. And also she would always, whenever we visited, she would have Stella Doro cookies, and we had to take them home. No matter if we were on diets. ROSE MARY: She loved us like that. MARYANNE: You gotta eat. You gotta eat, and that's the way my mother is, too, with us, I can remember. And now with our kids, trying to eat lunch, early supper. ROSE MARY: Very religious, she went to mass every day, which my mother does now too, every morning. She would walk to church all the way up until she was well into her mid to late eighties. She would walk to church. INTERVIEWER: And what street was that that they lived on? ROSE MARY: She lived on Belmont Street, and she would walk down to Saint Anthony's Church. Actually, one year she did fall and break her hip on it. But she -- we used to visit her every Sunday. It was a regular routine every Sunday. We would go to church and then we would visit the grandmothers. One or the other or both. INTERVIEWER: Would she have a big dinner for all of you? ROSE MARY: There would be a lot of food and she would love to feed us. She would just keep offering food. And I remember one occasion when my brothers decided they wouldn't say no, they would just keep eating everything that was offered. MARYANNE: I think I remember that.10 ROSE MARY: And she never stopped offering and they just kept eating. I don't know how it finally stopped. They just couldn't do it anymore or something, but she was like that. INTERVIEWER: What was the relationship like between your mother and your grandmother? MARYANNE: They visit each other like once a week. I don't remember if they did talk every day. ROSE MARY: Yeah, they would. You know, that's what I recall, my mother calling at least every day on the phone. INTERVIEWER: Do you have any similarities between the relationship with your mother that she had with hers? ROSE MARY: Yes. Yeah. I say I see a lot of similarities between the way my mother is and her mother is. They both go to church every day, every morning. My mother, you know, they like to tell you how to raise the kids and that kind of thing. And her mother would do that to her. And Ma will do that to us, shoes and those kinds of thing. And my diet and the children's bedtime. All those things, you know. Not in a bad way. Same kind of thing. I think the grandmothers, they like to tell their daughters how to, the best way to raise their kids. MARYANNE: I've had -- you've had 14 years with it. My kids are young, 18 months and three, so. ROSE MARY: Oh, when they're little, I guess. Not as much now. And my [unintelligible - 00:19:07] loves to cook. Every time the kids come in she cooks. It doesn't matter what time it is. She gives them food, she feeds them. You know, feeding them all the time is a really important thing. Especially when they were little. She always had food for them, made a lot of pasta for them. There was always a lot of pasta when we were visiting our grandmother's. And there's a lot for our kids. 11 INTERVIEWER: [Unintelligible - 00:19:35] have you tried to keep up that tradition? ROSE MARY: A little bit. Not like my mother. My mother does cook Italian food. And her mother cooked Italian food… MARYANNE: I know my mother has a meatball recipe that was given to me, and I made it. ROSE MARY: And lasagna recipes. MARYANNE: I know that Nana Mazzaferro had some kind of Italian soup that is a combination of everything [unintelligible - 00:20:02]. My father's sister has that recipe, and she makes it now and then. ROSE MARY: [Unintelligible - 00:20:10] we've taken, and [unintelligible - 00:20:12]. And I love Italian. A lot of the foods that I -- I've actually learned to cook some Italian food when I was in Italy, from my cousins, actually, or just from people that I knew. And I do have those recipes at home. And a lot of the Italian food that you can get in Italy are ingredients, you can't find them here. So, I do try to carry on, I mean, just because I enjoy it. Not really for the sake of the tradition, but I do enjoy the food. You can't, you have to go to the north end, in Boston, to find them, some of the ingredients. [Unintelligible - 00:20:51] I don't know if you ever heard of that. But that's hard to find. INTERVIEWER: What other kinds of traditions to do you try to carry on? What about church? ROSE MARY: I'm not really a regular, but you know, we do try. MARYANNE: [Unintelligible - 00:21:12] about getting there. But you know, we talk about God and Jesus. But they're only… she's only three and one and a half. So one and a half. INTERVIEWER: Whether or not you go to church, that's kind of irrelevant? ROSE MARY: Oh yes, yes. Faith is important. MARYANNE: I believe in God and I believe in teaching them about that.12 ROSE MARY: We would say our prayers every night before going to bed, and I carry that on with my son. Even at 14 he says his prayers every night. You know, we do have faith. A lot of activities. MARYANNE: I remember as a kid growing up that whenever we had -- our cousins would attend, I'd say, my mother -- when we were little I see movies. They were big movie takers, my parents, it seems. The birthday parties were celebrated. And I think we try to do that now with the grandkids. But as they get older they don't want a birthday party, so that's understandable. But for the young ones we still do get together. MARYANNE: As they get older they just want to have birthday parties with their friends. When they were little they all, we all, had birthday parties and we'd all attend. All the aunts, uncles, cousins, so. INTERVIEWER: While you were in school did she work outside of the home? ROSE MARY: Probably when we all reached about junior high school level, and not when we were in elementary school. But she worked with my father in the family business, the plastics business. That's mainly what she did. MARYANNE: I think when I was around 14 or so I think is when she went to college for the first time. So she started studying. Even as we were young kids, babies and all, she would help my dad with any of the accounting business, and just doing some paperwork after the kids were in bed. ROSE MARY: She helped my father all along. She would do paperwork and things on a fulltime basis. Once we got to the junior high school level, and then like you said, when we even got just a little bit older she went back to college. INTERVIEWER: Tell me about that, her going back to college. MARYANNE: I thought it was great. It was something that she wanted to do, and I thought it was great.13 ROSE MARY: Yeah, we thought it was something she always wanted was a college degree, and she was finally able to do it. We were all old enough to take care of us once in a while. We were all in high school. I was in high school at the time. My older brothers were in college. It certainly wasn't a burden on us, not that we couldn't get our own meal or do things like that, so. It was her first opportunity to do it. She would fall asleep at the kitchen table, I remember that, studying. MARYANNE: She'd have her book in front of her and be asleep at the kitchen table. She was doing school plus taking care of the household and the kids and all. She knew it was important, so. INTERVIEWER: What kinds of things can you -- college, was it an option? MARYANNA: Good grades or that sort of thing. ROSE MARY: If we fell below As and Bs, if we got Cs, we were, you know, we had to bring them up. We had to bring our grades up. As and Bs were fine, Cs weren't. They didn't make us crazy about it or anything, but you know, we might have to go and go for some extra help to get that C to a B at least, you know. So yeah, it was always very important that we did very well. She would look at our homework. We were all good students on our own pretty much. On our own we did it, I think. But if we were struggling at any subject she would make sure that we would get extra help and get the grade up. But for the most part we were pretty good on our own. College, yeah, college was just kind of automatically we knew we were going. MARYANNE: As long as we tried, and [unintelligible - 00:25:23] remember getting Bs and Cs, but when you are in grammar school, it's no big deal. But we would try and, like she said, we did pretty well. What I remember though, I guess when I became a teenager, I wanted to earn money and was able to work in the family business, and they sent me to work summers in packaging. And when I 14 experienced working in the packaging department it would be assembly line work, doing the same thing eight hours a day, five days a week, all summer long. I was like, "I'm not gonna do this, I'm going to college." That was my understanding. I wasn't going to stop at high school because I didn't want to work in a factory for the rest of my life. That's kind of what stuck in my mind. And then being the fifth, follow the leader kind of, it just was assumed and I wanted to go. But in retrospect I think if I had waited a year that probably would have been real good, try out different jobs and get direction, but then… INTERVIEWER: Did all of you go to Holy Cross. Did I already ask that question? ROSE MARY: Yes, we all did. INTERVIEWER: How did that… ROSE MARY: That's where they really wanted us to go, and we all just went. INTERVIEWER: Oh, because your father went there, right? ROSE MARY: Right. INTERVIEWER: Because I forgot about that. ROSE MARY: Yeah, he went there. And he's still involved in the college, so. I don't exactly know what he is on, but he's on something. MARYANNE: I think just an alumni; I don't know, like, club or something. ROSE MARY: Right, so. That's where they wanted us to go and… MARYANNE: I think it was just always a backup. I think, you know, they really wanted us to go there, but we had other choices. I don't know if in your situation, but when you got into maybe one or two schools… ROSE MARY: I think that my mother probably didn't want us to go to school in Boston. I think that would have been my choice, but she was a little was a little nervous about Boston. So we ended up at Holy Cross in Worcester, so. It really [unintelligible - 00:27:36] old-fashioned Italian. Right, right. They don't want their daughter going off to the big city. But… INTERVIEWER: Were that many other Italians there?15 ROSE MARY: Actually, no. There weren't. It was mainly Irish Catholics. But all Catholic, but Irish. I think I probably was one of the few 100 percent Italian. MARYANNE: I think I generally -- except maybe this area, that there's not a lot of Italians. ROSE MARY: By the time you get to this generation it is kind of unusual to meet someone all Italian. MARYANNE: There are a lot of French Italians in this area. But, college I don't recall anything unique about being Italian in college. There were not Italian clubs or anything like that. ROSE MARY: There were a few Italians there, but I think the majority weren't. But it really didn't matter, you know. It wasn't a problem. INTERVIEWER: So by that generation… ROSE MARY: I don't think so, no. MARYANNE: It is just having a little bit of Italian in you. ROSE MARY: [Unintelligible - 00:28:40] read the Italian menu in the Italian restaurant a little better, but no, I really -- there was really no difference. INTERVIEWER: Was it important to you? ROSE MARY: Yes, that was probably part of the reason we ended up going there. Religion has always been important. My mother's always wanted us to go to Catholic schools. You know, we started out at Catholic elementary school. Couple years there before we went to public junior high school, just because there was no Catholic junior high school. Otherwise we probably would have ended up in a Catholic junior high at that time. Then we went to a Catholic high school and a Catholic college. My mother's the one that had more to do with our education. Definitely, you know, roles, my mother, the kids in the house, my father's role was earning the money. So yes, [unintelligible - 00:29:28] she wanted… MARYANNE: My mother.16 ROSE MARY: My mother, yeah. Probably not because of Italian, just their personalities. You know… MARYANNE: And then just being home, my dad, I just remember him working all the time. ROSE MARY: Right, dad worked a lot. He was always working. So, mom was home. So mom was the one that took care of the kids. You know, made sure the homework was done. Mom was always involved with educations, whereas dad was busy working. Not that education wasn't important to him… it was, but you know, working full time doesn't leave helping kids with their homework and making sure everything gets done. INTERVIEWER: Oh, why? SPEAKER 1: Maybe it was my. INTERVIEWER: Maybe your parents had different goals. Did the children also -- were there big gender differences growing up? ROSE MARY: I think when we were younger I would feel that -- I have three brothers, and I think the girls always have to do the housework. MARYANNE: Setting the table, clearing the table… ROSE MARY: Setting the table, clearing the table, Saturday morning vacuuming, dusting, and my brothers basically didn't have to do any of that. It was just the way it was with my parents. My mother took care of the house. My father took care the outdoors. My brothers had to take the trash out and mow the lawn. But… MARYANNE: Snow blow. ROSE MARY: Snow blow the drive way. They never really did any work indoors. And yeah, I remember I used to feel that it was unfair because we seemed like we had more work to do than they did. But, I mean, they got -- they were raised that way but now that they're older and they're -- they're not that way at all. They do, you know, housework and everything else, but they were raised 17 definitely for the girls to be trained in doing this and the boys to be doing that. INTERVIEWER: [Unintelligible - 00:31:14]. ROSE MARY: No. I only have one son, and I do have him do some cooking so he learns how to cook and he does some housework so he learns how to do housework. He doesn't do a lot. I mean, typical 14-year-old, right? But I do have him do some things so he'll know how to do things when he has to do them on his own. INTERVIEWER: Were their expectations different? ROSE MARY: No, I don't think so. I think we were all expected to get educated, and it just was around the house, I would say that we were definitely doing the housework. The girls, yeah. MARYANNE: Yeah, I agree with that. INTERVIEWER: What about socializing? Could you go out as much or date as much, or…? ROSE MARY: And my brothers, I think there was a lot more protection for us. We weren't allowed to do as much. MARYANNE: You're older and you remember… ROSE MARY: I was the icebreaker… ROSE MARY My older brothers Abel and Tony doing things and probably, you know, wearing down our parents a little bit, and then, you know, the first son does something and the second son wants to do this. But then when the first daughter comes along, she had [unintelligible - 00:32:29], and then by the time I came along it was like, oh okay, you know, it's okay, Maryanne did that and I can do that. But there weren't as many battles for independence. ROSE MARY: But I think when it was my turn I wasn't allowed to do things my brothers got to do at the same age, so. INTERVIEWER: Then to college. Were you expected to do certain things on the weekend? Did you -- were you expected to come home on weekends?18 MARYANNE: No. No. They never expected us to come home on weekends unless we wanted -- stay there and do whatever we want. Go to the sports events. Go to the parties. Socialize. Be involved in whatever. No, there was no pressure to come home. No, there was no pressure to marry an Italian. But I heard my father say once, "It would be nice to have one of my kids marry an Italian." But there was never any pressure. INTERVIEWER: Did that happen? Are there any Italian spouses? No. ROSE MARY: No. No. Not one. Not even part Italian, I don't think. INTERVIEWER: But did you marry in the same religion? MARYANNE: I think yes. For my mother, especially. Yeah. ROSE MARY: That didn't happen either. Not with everybody. Ed's married to a Catholic. Abel's married to a Catholic. I wasn't married to a Catholic. Three out of five. Not bad. INTERVIEWER: Do you find that important to your children to marry the same faith? ROSE MARY: No. I don't think so. I think what's more important to me is that, you know, something that's extremely different would probably be a little difficult for me just because we didn't -- take Christmas. If my son were to marry somebody that, for example, was Jewish, and didn't celebrate Christmas, and you had [unintelligible - 00:34:27] because a lot of people do. They marry somebody who's Jewish, and then he didn't celebrate Christmas anymore. It would be a little difficult, because you know, we enjoy celebrating [unintelligible - 00:34:37] holidays together, and a lot of them are based on the religion—Christmas, Easter and -- so that would be that be a little hard not to be able to celebrate those things with him anymore. But I would accept it, totally accept it if that's what he wanted, if that's what made him happy. 19 MARYANNE: Yeah. I think the person that they marry and the relationship that they have, you know, [unintelligible - 00:34:59] would react today. [Unintelligible - 00:35:03] family together. ROSE MARY: You know, my [unintelligible - 00:35:09] both my parents, you know, it's important. MARYANNE: I think that they supported us a lot. I know just like we supported each other. My brothers were active in sports, and they, you know, basketball. My brothers were in high school, the whole family would go and watch the games and that would happen frequently. They just did that. So we knew that we were important to them. In college they would drive out to the games and try to go watch the games or the games so they could watch their son or daughter. Family just was normal. INTERVIEWER: Because it didn't all get picked up. Just about your parents going to see the games. MARYANNE: With my brothers, and they would just follow the family. If it was a sporting basketball games or football games, they would drive wherever if it was going to Worcester, they would just go and watch, and they did that in college, junior high school, and grammar school and when the kids were young, the kids would go right along. So we were just together as a family. And it was just -- that was normal life for us was to go and watch the brothers and sisters play basketball. ROSE MARY: Plus they treated us all family, so there wasn't -- the family relations were always important, and we were raised and taught that from a very early age: be good to your brother, be good to your sister. Watch out for your sister, you know, watch out for your little brother, whatever, kind of thing, so. INTERVIEWER: Do you feel that's an Italian-related trait? ROSE MARY: Yes, I think so. I mean, not just Italians. I'm sure there's probably lots of groups that, you know, the family is very important. But 20 yeah, I think there are a lot of families that the family is not important at all. But I don't see that that much in Italian families. I see that the family is there. When someone has a problem everybody supports them and helps them out or whatever. And probably when we were growing up, when we were little, you know, Sundays. Sundays, it was the same routine every Sunday. Get up. Go to church. Go out to lunch after church or go to the grandmothers. And that would be the Sunday. But that's when we were little. Then when we get older, everybody's got their own activities, sports events, whatever. So everybody, once we get older, we didn't really have a special family… MARYANNE: While everyone else in was the country, we used to watch Walt Disney. I remember playing cribbage. I'd learned how to play cribbage with my dad and used to on occasion play blackjack with pennies at the kitchen table and the whole family would do that. It all kind of goes by. I mean, it just goes by in a blur. INTERVIEWER: [Unintelligible - 00:38:07] important to your family? ROSE MARY: Yes. My mother wanted us all to learn to play the piano, right? So it was important that we could read music and play an instrument. INTERVIEWER: I got the impression that you quit, maybe? ROSE MARY: Oh, sure. Like every other kid. Actually, I was [unintelligible - 00:38:27] but that's how you feel when you get older, right? MARYANNE: I taught my daughter that. ROSE MARY: I know. Yeah, you can tell your daughter that. MARYANNE: Yeah, and expose her. She wanted to expose us to different things, and my dad also would as we got older, he'd want to take us to a different restaurant, and [unintelligible - 00:38:42] something unusual. Just -- and have a well-rounded background. And always the one thing and then Maryanne and I, we just left them. But we continued with it to the point where we wanted to. It wasn't like they expected us to perform or the same thing with piano. If we 21 had natural ability, great. But there was some exposure. And, you know, I'm glad about that. INTERVIEWER: How did they make each of you feel special? [Unintelligible - 00:39:19] But, I mean, think of it, five kids. ROSE MARY: We used to all feel special. Gee, how did that happen? Well, I think that if we did something that deserved a compliment, we would get a compliment. I don't think that they ever praised us when we didn't deserve any praise, but they would, you know, say things like better, or I would expect something better from you or something like that. MARYANNE: I can just think of some specifics. Just little compliments that when you get to the age that -- and this would be probably in the mid to late ' 60 where my mother had [unintelligible - 00:40:08] home from school and then I could go run to the post office and then she could just drop me off and I'd run do that and say, "Oh, good little helper." INTERVIEWER: But just like little things like that? ROSE MARY: Right. Yeah, little compliments here and there, you know. I always made my bed in the morning and put all my things away. I'd hear, you know, that you're always as neat as a pin, you know, or things like that, just little -- on everyday kind of activities, every day, everyday things. MARYANNE: Didn't realize when it was happening, but now you think back… ROSE MARY: Right. Right. Exactly. You just have to think about what did they do to make me feel special. INTERVIEWER: Can you think of anything. a big event that stands out in your mind? Just little everyday things that add up over time. What's your hardest experience growing up? ROSE MARY: I'm trying to think, my hardest experience. MARYANNE: I have to get going in a short while because I'm away from work.22 INTERVIEWER: Okay. MARYANNE: Is there something that you wanted to ask specifically? INTERVIEWER: I want to ask about Central Street. How long did you live there? ROSE MARY: I was eight when we moved out. MARYANNE: So that was 1960… ROSE MARY: Seven. August of '67 is when we moved here. I remember we had not moved in. I had my 6th birthday party here before we moved in because we moved in, in August, so. MARYANNE: I remember running around in the backyard at Central Street and my aunt lived over the hill in the backyard, and running over there. I don't remember a whole lot being that age. INTERVIEWER: Italians living around here? ROSE MARY: Yeah. I think at that time there were a lot of Italians in that area. And our aunt, again, lived right behind us. And I had a uncle that lived just a little ways across the street, down the street a little bit. I remember a lot about living on Central Street because I was a little bit older. It wasn't like a heart-wrenching thing to move or anything, it was actually a very tiny little house, and my parents [unintelligible - 00:42:17] one child. When they moved out they had five children. INTERVIEWER: So a small… ROSE MARY: It was a very small ranch, and we were very crowded in there. And I can remember my mother just constantly arranging the furniture. Everything was like it happened all the time to me, but it probably didn't happen that often. Just trying to fit things in, you know, having to move the boys to another bedroom, because now there's three boys, and that's what I remember. So it wasn't -- we really needed a bigger house. So when we moved here, it was amazing. This house is three times bigger than the other one, and we had just one bathroom at that house. And there was five children and two adults living there. 23 So we have four bathrooms here. And I remember the first time I went to the bathroom, I had a hard time deciding where to go, which one to use. It was like I never had a choice before. But it wasn't an upsetting event or anything. It wasn't hard. It was really exciting. It was really exciting to move into a bigger house. Maybe I was nine years old when we moved. But I do remember being very crowded at that house. It was a three-bedroom ranch. One bedroom was used as an office for my father because at that time he was doing a lot of CPA work, so it was really just two bedrooms. MARYANNE: And my parent's bedroom was the living room. You walk in the front door and that was their bedroom. ROSE MARY: And my parents used the living room as their bedroom. And my brothers, for a while, they were out on this addition, which was like a porch but it was like a three-season porch. It was heated, but it was my brother's bedroom for a while and then we rearranged the whole house again, and you know… INTERVIEWER: Maybe we don't remember just the feeling that you had living in that neighborhood compared to this. ROSE MARY: Right. MARYANNE: Maybe that house wasn't even built before. I don't know. ROSE MARY: Yeah. I guess I remember that neighborhood really knowing everybody—mom, the kids. I could go door to door there. In this neighborhood, it took a while for meet people, and I didn't know, I don't even know the young people next door, but I might know the people two doors down or three doors down because they had kids. But in that neighborhood, I can remember back to when she was very little and she started to walk, now she must have been one. I can remember taking her for a walk around the whole 24 neighborhood, going from door to door to door, because I knew all the neighbors and showing them her. MARYANNE: I was her baby. ROSE MARY: She was my baby, right, and she was walking. You probably were a year old because it was summertime, and you were born in August. You were probably just a year because I was probably like three and a half, so. And that's the kind of neighborhood it was. I mean, I knew all the mothers. I knew all the kids. It was very safe. Can you imagine letting a three-and-a-half-year-old take a one-year-old for a walk now? But I did. . MARYANNE: There weren't a lot of houses though, I mean, it was… ROSE MARY: No. MARYANNE: It was Basset Street, which was just Aunt Eva's house. ROSE MARY: Right. MARYANNE: I don't know if you know that area, but with the [unintelligible - 00:45:19] is. INTERVIEWER: Your mother took me a long time ago. MARYANNE: It's a very short street, and then there's Christie Street, which probably at the time there was only about six houses on there. MARYANNE: Yeah, most of the houses are [unintelligible - 00:45:30]. ROSE MARY: Now, it's much further developed. MARYANNE: But still, I would never allow my three-year old out of sight… ROSE MARY: Right. And I was completely out of sight from the house. I mean, you couldn't see where I was from our house was. Yeah, [unintelligible - 00:45:47] in those days, or in that neighborhood. INTERVIEWER: You must have cousins, right? ROSE MARY: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: That are living, that grew up in Leominster in that small neighborhood… ROSE MARY: There's no differences between myself and my cousins and my father, probably the only one in his family that went to college, 25 right, I think? No. There's a big difference in the way, you know, his brothers lived compared to him. But I think their kids, for the most part, have gotten, you know, my cousins have gotten education and jobs, and you know, we're all living about the same. I mean, some people have more, some people have less. There isn't a big difference between myself and my cousins, but there is a difference my parents and their siblings and cousins. INTERVIEWER: How about growing up? MARYANNE: Every kid growing up, we just were playing with our cousins ,and what my dad did and their dad did didn't really -- we used to be able to play hide and seek a lot more, run around in the yard. ROSE MARY: Right. There was no judgment at all. And I don't think we really noticed a difference when we were growing up. It's true that we did, we probably the biggest house, but I don't think we had more than my cousins. We probably had the same amount. We didn't have better clothes or better toys or anything. We had about the same. You know, the kids all had about the same. We didn't have more clothes and more toys because my parents had more, but we probably did live in a bigger house. But kids I don't think noticed that as much. I don't remember noticing any difference. I think that actually my parents are very successful, but when we were growing up, they were building their business and they were building up their [unintelligible - 00:47:30], you know, so I think that a lot of money they had was really tied up in the business. So it never felt like we had a lot of money. I mean, it felt like we had everything we needed. We were perfectly comfortable. We had some luxury items, you know, my family had some luxury items, but I never really felt like we were rich or anything like that. I mean, I don't [unintelligible - 00:47:50]. But I never really felt 26 that, I mean, but the house, yeah, you might say that, you know, we would know that. But I think that a lot of money was always tied up. And probably when we got into our 20s, it seemed like suddenly that they had more money, because I think at that time, the businesses really just boomed, and that's like 20 years ago. But by that time we were already grown, you know, and on our own. Half of us were on our own, at least. Other than we had the big house where we usually the holiday parties were here and everything. Yeah, there was a tennis court. I guess that would make us seem like we had a lot. But it was different in those days, too. I mean, it was just a hard top, but it wasn't -- it wasn't beautifully sealed and painted and striped and fenced in. It wasn't. It was just like a black top. Really, it had a tennis net going across it, but it wasn't as nice then as it is now. We would just ride our bikes on it. We would play chicken. MARYANNE: Chicken, four square. ROSE MARY: Yeah. You had -- we didn't use it for tennis that much. I mean, a little bit but… MARYANNE: When we got older we did. ROSE MARY: Yeah. And then we'd just ride our bikes out there. Yeah. INTERVIEWER: So [unintelligible - 00:49:13] a hard question? MARYANNE: It's really not something that I think about. You know what, I'm just who I am, and I have to think family is important to me. But my husband, who's French, and his family is very close too. So I don't see a difference… SPEAKER 5: Only your kids are too young. They wouldn't even know. ROSE MARY: My son, you know, probably considers himself Italian. He's half Italian, because I'm 100 percent Italian, but the other half is a lot of 27 different things. He says he's half Italian, you know. Plus that we've been to Italy and he has formed a bond with his cousins in Italy. Been there twice, so. He likes his Italian heritage. MARYANNE: I could see that, but first I have my own business and I have friends, so I scramble every day for time. So I would want to take care of both of those things first and as they grow, I can see myself doing some of that, but not to the extent that she does. Traveling -- she's what, 79? But to see them and be part of their lives. ROSE MARY: For me, I probably just see myself, I'd say, would have more time on my hands and do some volunteer work. Probably not to that same extent, 'cause my mother has a lot of energy. But I do see myself doing some things, yeah, definitely. When I have more time. I think that Leominster's very worthwhile. I don't have time to enjoy it, you know. I like the open land that we're trying to preserve through the Open Land of Leominster. I think that's really being developed, and we've really wiped out all our open space. So we're down to our last apple orchard, which at least we've saved. You probably know about Sowan Farms? I'm very glad that we saved that. It was one apple orchard, one apple farm. So I can see myself getting involved in things like that, plus the Historical Society of Leominster does a lot to teach people about Leominster's past, which I guess the city's changing a lot, it's really developing. Something like that. Right now, like I said, I'm totally consumed with work and being a single parent and not just having much time for anything, but as things get easier, my son gets older, I have more time, maybe I can be involved with the Center for Italian Culture. Actually, I love Italy. I've spent some time there and I've traveled back a couple of times. I do speak some Italian, but like I said, I've lost it over 28 the years, but I would love to get it back so that when I go to Italy and visit I can have a little… INTERVIEWER: To have a Center for Italian Culture? ROSE MARY: No, it's preserve history for the future generation. INTERVIEWER: Do you feel that way? MARYANNE: Yeah, I think so. I think it's good. I don't know a whole lot about what's being done, but I think it's good that people will have questions. The next generation, a terrible tragic thing that happened for the whole country. I think there's [unintelligible - 00:52:52] in the paper last night about dollars this anti-terrorism campaign is costing. I have a lot of customers in New York, and they were greatly affected. And everywhere, it touched everyone in the world, something like that happening. ROSE MARY: That thing, I feel, is very heartbreaking to imagine happening. It has changed, probably, my activities a little bit as far as going on vacation this year and getting on a plane. I don't feel it's a very good job of wiping out terrorism. We haven't done it yet completely. MARYANNE: It did make me think about family quite a bit more because I've passed on two opportunities to fly since then, and I weigh what to do, and one would be -- oh, and they were both for business -- but if it was just a decision about going on vacation somewhere, then I look at what my first job is, and it's to stay alive and raise my kids. The business, I'm going to do all that I can by phone and email and websites, and I'm going to avoid traveling until things are better. But then it can change at any time. They might change later, but I don't have a desire to getting in an airplane. ROSE MARY: Plus, actually, my oldest brother lives in New York City and when we first heard the news, of course we didn't know, and it was a while before we could get through on the phone because all of the 29 phone lines were jammed up to find out that he was actually traveling on business that day. MARYANNE: Actually, he traveled the day before, flew To California on the Monday. ROSE MARY: Right. He was nowhere around. He doesn't work in the building, but he does go by that train station, right? He gets off the train there every day. So I mean, the first initial reaction to hear that was, "Is he okay?" And the panic, you know, and then to find out that he's okay, but then to think about all the people that found out that their family members were gone, too. INTERVIEWER: How did you get the idea for the hair accessories? I realize the family owned the plastics business, so… MARYANNE: Well, I worked at Cardinal Comb & Brush, and they made combs, a couple of brushes, and they had some hair accessories. I did a lot of different things there, but I worked in sales and I created a hair accessory product that did quite well, and it sort of opened my eyes, because the hair accessory portion of Cardinal Comb was very small. And after that product did real well, I started thinking, "Oh, I should create other products," and this and that, but the products that I was creating were of a better quality, more upscale, and the combs that Cardinal were making were more -- good-quality but much lower in cost. It just was something -- I didn't think about having my own business, but it just kind of happened. My brother had said, "Oh, why don't you take a hair accessory business and do this and that," and it just worked out. So we talked about it, we figured out what to do and we made the deal. They continued to manufacture the plastic for me, and probably 1994 that the product got started, and at the time there was a product called Topsy-Tail, which was that you make a 30 ponytail and you put this little plastic needle with a loop. That just opened my eyes more. INTERVIEWER: So that wasn't your product… MARYANNE: That wasn't my product, no, but suddenly the whole marketplace was looking at hair accessories as something. So after the product I created did well in '94, we just started talking, and by '95 we had decided to split that portion of the business, and that's when the hair things got started in January of '96. It was called the French Twist kit, and what it did was it combined some really handmade side combs with hairpins in one package, and then on the back gave very detailed instructions and illustrations of how to put your hair into a French Twist. That's really the product that sold in many different markets, and from that I said, "Oh wow. You should keep doing more." INTERVIEWER: About the products, called, are they Good Hair Days? MARYANNE: The name Good Hair Days is on all the packaging, and there's another brand called Grip-Tuth, which are these handmade combs I'm talking about. So there's always Good Hair Days on the card, but in some products there's Grip-Tuth as well. Some of the products are sold without the name; they're just plastic parts that are sold in the bridal industry or the craft industry by the designers. They're taking the combs and putting them… INTERVIEWER: Right now, who owns the company? MARYANNE: Well, I'm the President of the company. I do the sales and marketing of our new products. Whatever it takes. Production -- my husband now is doing production, shipping, all the day-to-day paperwork you know. Payables, receivables. And we have someone who works part-time for us. I know, we have a running joke. It's like, "So, good morning! How was your weekend?" But we get along. We're probably -- few. We get along, we laugh with each other. 31 We actually value the time with our kids. I was lucky I was able to bring my daughter into the office and take care of her, and she didn't start daycare until she was 15 months. I would take care of her, work the phones. I had a playpen set up in the office. She'd fall asleep, take a nap, I'd run out and do shipping or whatever needed doing. So that's very fortunate; may people have to put their kids in daycare. I kind of set up home, also, to work, so I was able to put time in the office and time at home. Technology today is great because you get messages, you get paged; you can take care of business on your own hours and in between diaper changes. INTERVIEWER: You both live in Leominster? ROSE MARY: I live on the other side, right neat Lancaster. MARYANNE: I live probably, like, a mile, two miles, a mile and a half or so down this way. I think what I've gotten from him, if that answers the question, is they both have a very strong work ethic. What I remember about my dad is that he was always leaving, going to work on Saturday mornings. It was like a, "Where are you going?" kind of thing, and just doing what it takes. And Mom would do everything it took in the house so they wouldn't need to do anything, and they worked and take care of -- hardworking, and that would be one thing I want to carry on. ROSE MARY: Both had a lot of integrity. Honesty, integrity. MARYANNE: And work integrity. Honesty. That sort of thing. INTERVIEWER: Tell me about… MARYANNE: I couldn't even think of what you asked to begin with. INTERVIEWER: Well, thank you very much. ROSE MARY: Okay, you're more than welcome. INTERVIEWER: It's hard to do./AT/pa/cs/mfb/es

A 2018 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in partnership with computer security company McAfee, estimated that cybercrime costs the world almost $600 billion or .8% of the global Gross Domestic Product (CSIS, 2018, p. 4). In response to this booming element of transnational crime, states, private sector entities, non-governmental organizations, and individual citizens have sought to implement systems for the investigation, prosecution, and restitution of these crimes. One such solution is the development and enactment of international law. On December 27, 2019, the General Assembly of the United Nations passed Russia-led resolution A/74/401, entitled "Countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes (United Nations, 2019, Countering the use)." Vehemently opposed by Western states such as the United States, the resolution approved the establishment of a committee of experts to evaluate the potential for an international cybercrime treaty (United Nations). While international cooperation of this kind is commendable, Western states and human rights groups have professed concerns that the vague language of the resolution has the potential to erode the human rights protections afforded to citizens under international law (Hakmeh & Peters, 2020). The purpose of this paper is to identify the human rights concerns of Russia's proposed United Nations resolution and analyze the obligations the international community has to uphold relevant human rights protections while balancing international cooperation necessitated by international law and legal norms. The first section of this paper provides historical background on the relationship between cyber issues like cybercrime and international law. ; Winner of the 2020 Friends of the Kreitzberg Library Award for Outstanding Research in the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies Graduate category. ; Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 1 International Law & the Cyber Domain: Assessing the Human Rights Concerns of Cyber Legislation GD520 International Law and the International System Dr. John Becker Norwich University College of Graduate and Continuing Studies Kathryn R. Lamphere 23 May 2020 Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 2 Introduction A 2018 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in partnership with computer security company McAfee, estimated that cybercrime costs the world almost $600 billion or .8% of the global Gross Domestic Product (CSIS, 2018, p. 4). In response to this booming element of transnational crime, states, private sector entities, non-governmental organizations, and individual citizens have sought to implement systems for the investigation, prosecution, and restitution of these crimes. One such solution is the development and enactment of international law. On December 27, 2019, the General Assembly of the United Nations passed Russia-led resolution A/74/401, entitled "Countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes (United Nations, 2019, Countering the use)." Vehemently opposed by Western states such as the United States, the resolution approved the establishment of a committee of experts to evaluate the potential for an international cybercrime treaty (United Nations). While international cooperation of this kind is commendable, Western states and human rights groups have professed concerns that the vague language of the resolution has the potential to erode the human rights protections afforded to citizens under international law (Hakmeh & Peters, 2020). The purpose of this paper is to identify the human rights concerns of Russia's proposed United Nations resolution and analyze the obligations the international community has to uphold relevant human rights protections while balancing international cooperation necessitated by international law and legal norms. The first section of this paper provides historical background on the relationship between cyber issues like cybercrime and international law. International Cyber Law Background The cyber domain is often presented as another realm, a world that exists outside of the mostly tidy borders the international community has used to separate themselves. Aligning with Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 3 this view is the notion that cyberspace cannot be regulated because it expands beyond the traditional idea of territorial sovereignty (Kanuck, 2010, p. 1573). These ideas raise two concerns over the identification and prosecution of cybercrime. The first concern is the conflict between "cybercrime, which is global in scale, and police activities that are confined to national borders (Cangemi, 2004, p. 166)." The conflict arises in the very structure of the Internet, which "can be characterized as a multitude of individual, but interconnected, electronic communications networks (Zekos, 2008, p. 30)." This interconnectedness has created a grey area within the legal system, where no one entity has regulatory control over what happens in that area. The second concern is far more technical and highlights the transient nature of information and data (Cangemi, 2004, p. 166). The source of information can be easily masked to hide its actual location, and data "may be amended, moved, or altered in a few seconds (p. 166)." The speed in which data travels presents a significant hurdle to the legal and law enforcement mechanisms typically used to investigate crimes. As Cangemi notes, this creates "an appreciable risk that the evidence of cyber-offences will disappear" long before implementing the required resources (p. 166). Nevertheless, despite these concerns, "nation-states do strive to exercise their sovereignty over cyberspace (Kanuck, 2010, p. 1573)." The physical elements of cybercrime, such as the location of the people perpetrating the crimes or the location of the hardware used to execute the crimes, are used as a connecting link to allow governments "to address cyber conflicts involving both state and nonstate actors as matters to be resolved by sovereign powers under their respective legal systems (p. 1573)." When evidence moves beyond territorial borders, states seek to invoke bilateral or international action to further pursue the crime. This model follows the same formula that society developed over time, whether it be in stopping crimes such as international drug trafficking or heinous acts of terrorism. The international community is well-Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 4 versed in this cycle, and the "nature of the international legal system affords this sovereign-centric approach primacy under the United Nations (U.N.) Charter regime (p. 1573)." If the international community is content in continuing to use this cycle, then "international legislation and action are essential to combat the phenomenon" of cybercrime (Pocar, 2004, 27). The essential requirement of international involvement and negotiation has rung true in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, as the international community takes steps to evolve international law to include cyber issues, specifically cybercrime. The 1980s introduced international consultation on cybercrime by multiple organizations. In 1983, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) commissioned a two-year study focusing "on the possibility of harmonizing and internationalizing national cybercrime laws (Brenner, 2012, p. 133)." OECD later published a report in 1986 summarizing the results of the study and recommending countries criminalize certain cybercrimes. In 1985, the Council of Europe convened its own study, which involved a four-year focus on "the legal issues raised by cybercrime (p. 133)." In 1997, the Council of Europe convened another study tasked with "the drafting of a cybercrime treaty that would harmonize national laws dealing with cybercrime offenses and investigations (p. 133). In 2001, the study's efforts came to fruition in the creation of the Convention of Cybercrime. Also referred to as the Budapest Convention, the international treaty entered into law in July 2004 with the principle objective of "pursuing a common criminal policy aimed at the protection of society against cybercrime, especially by adopting appropriate legislation and fostering international co-operation (Council of Europe, 2001, Preamble)." As of 2018, 29 states have ratified the treaty, but the rapid development of technology has resulted in the convention becoming outdated, leaving governments and organizations calling for a new treaty (Murphy, 2018, p. 549) (Shackelford, 2014, p. 312). Russia's 2019 United Nations resolution is the latest attempt to modernize international cyber Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 5 law and has received much adulation despite its vague, concerning language and human rights implications. The next section of this paper addresses human rights and provides an overview of states' obligations to this arena as members of the international community. Human Rights & the International Community Modern international human rights law begins with the first article of the Charter of the United Nations (UN), which dictates that one of the purposes of the UN is to "achieve international cooperation…in promoting and encouraging "respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion (Buergenthal, 2006, p. 785)." While the Charter provided minimal specificity as to what "respect for human rights" entailed, this provision and others within the Charter catalyzed a new international perspective on human rights. In joining the United Nations, members inherently accepted "the proposition that the Charter had internationalized the concept of human rights (p. 787)." Furthermore, the Charter insinuated that "states were deemed to have assumed some international obligations relating to human rights (p. 787)." Articles 55 and 56 of the Charter cemented the beginnings of these obligations, requiring member states to "take joint and separate action in co-operation with the Organization for the achievement of purposes" such as promoting "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all (United Nations, 1945, Article 55, 56)." The specificity of human rights became more overt when the United Nations devoted the UN Commission on Human Rights to the task of drafting non-legally-binding human rights instrument. In December 1948, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (Murphy, 2018, p. 402). Composed of thirty articles, the declaration instituted vital human rights and eventually "served as a template for numerous subsequent treaties on human rights (p. 404)." As a result, the Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 6 Universal Declaration on Human Rights "has come to be accepted as a normative instrument in its own right (Buergenthal, 2006, p. 787)." Both documents uphold two pedestals of traditional international law as it pertains to human rights. The first pedestal retains responsibility for "the treatment by one state of another's nationals, an area known as state responsibility for injury to aliens (p. 389)." Although addressed at the state level, this notion asserts that individuals are afforded certain protections when in another state. The second pedestal, advanced by scholars such as Hugo Grotius, focuses on "the protection of persons against the acts of their own governments (p. 389)." It is this pedestal that introduces what is now known as humanitarian intervention, or the "idea of state intervening to protect the other state's nationals (p. 389)." Together, both the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration are "considered to spell out the general human rights obligations of all UN member states," of which there are now 193 (Buergenthal, 2006, p. 787) (Murphy, 2018, p. 59). Each international legal instrument has lent itself to the creation of international institutions dedicated to monitoring "compliance by the states parties with the obligations imposed by these instruments (Buergenthal, 2006, p. 788)." Such institutions include entities like the UN Human Rights Council and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (p. 788). Together, the instruments and institutions "laid the normative foundation of the contemporary international human rights revolution" and "influenced, in part at least, the contents of the legal norms under which international criminal tribunals operate today (p. 791)." The criticality of these elements to the international system, particularly as it pertains to international law, is justification for using each as measuring tools with which to judge the new UN cyber-focused resolution objectively. The third section of this paper will assess the purpose of the resolution and explain the supporting argument for its contents. Supporting Arguments & Analysis of A/74/401 Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 7 In order to truly understand the intent of international laws, it is crucial to develop an understanding of the stances actors take concerning the specific issues at hand. This understanding is of particular importance when discussing Resolution A/74/401 and the underlying views of cyberspace. Two opposing perspectives lie at the heart of debates surrounding the cyber domain and Internet governance and center around the notion of sovereignty. The first perspective is that "many governments are attempting to exert sovereignty in cyberspace in the same way as they do in physical domains (Nocetti, 2015, p. 111)." For these governments, the dominance of private sector institutions within cyberspace and "the unfettered internet access of their fellow citizens" are causes of concerns (p. 111). This sentiment is particularly true within the Russian government. Under its traditional views of governance, Russia "conceives of cyberspace as a territory with virtual borders corresponding to physical state borders, and wishes to see the remit of international laws extended to the internet space (p. 112)." Furthermore, Russia's domestic fears of an open Internet fuel its international concerns. Russia sees the Internet as "politically disruptive because it enables citizens to circumvent government-controlled 'traditional media (p. 113).'" It aligns this perspective "with the inherently authoritarian nature of the Russian regime (p. 114)." Russia's negative perception of the Internet as it is today ultimately lends itself to Russia's ideal mechanism of perpetuating its belief that "global internet governance is envisioned as an issue of high politics in which states - and the interstate balance of power-play – play an essential role (p. 116, 117)." Under this mechanism, it is little wonder that Russia has led international legal initiatives to refine control over the Internet since the Council of Europe's enactment of its Convention on Cybercrime. In a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release following the General Assembly's adoption of Resolution A/74/401, Russia proclaimed that the "resolution shows that the world community urgently needs to develop a universal, comprehensive, and open-ended convention Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 8 on countering cybercrime (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2019)." The adopted resolution's language appears to align with this projected intent from Russia. The resolution stresses "the need to enhance coordination and cooperation among States in combating the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes" and notes "the importance of the international and regional instruments in the fight against cybercrime (United Nations, 2019, Countering the Use)." In order to fulfill these objectives, the resolution establishes an "intergovernmental committee of experts, representative of all regions" that will "elaborate a comprehensive international convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes (United Nations, 2019)." Remarks of supporting nations support this appearance of cohesion. The representative from Nicaragua indicated the resolution would address cybercrime "in a more representative, democratic and transparent manner, taking into account the individual circumstances of developing and developed countries (Third Committee, 2019, Meetings Coverage)." China echoed this support, stating the resolution "is conducive to filling legal gaps in international cooperation (Third Committee)." At the same time, Belarus declared that "international cooperation is vital in investigating and combating cybercrime (Third Committee)." At face value, the resolution is a gesture of goodwill, a written contract to pursue options to disrupt cybercrime that will benefit all states. However, Russia's press release takes these notions a step further, realigning its message to its traditional view of international politics. It notes, "the resolution proposed by Russia essentially enhances states' digital sovereignty over their information space and ushers in a new page in the history of global efforts to counter cybercrime (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2019)." Furthermore, the press release dictates that the "convention must be based on the principles of respecting state sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs (2019)." There are two Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 9 essential points within this statement that require further analysis. The first is the reassertion of the authoritarian construct with which Russia chooses to view cyberspace. In a press release initially dedicated to lauding the necessity of international cooperation, Russia simultaneously defaults to its traditional views of the international community and advocates for a "digital Westphalia (Nocetti, 2015, p. 117)." In recognizing sovereignty, Russia insinuates that the international community will successfully legislate mechanisms that will reduce cybercrime. A quick review of the supporting states in favor of the resolution upholds Russia's authoritarian views (United Nations, 2019, Countering the Use). In addition to China, Nicaragua, and Belarus, countries like Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are only some of the 88 Member States of the General Assembly who voted to adopt the resolution. Unsurprisingly, these states also abide by similar authoritarian perspectives on international law and sovereignty. China, for example, maintains a "comprehensive, multidimensional system that governs Internet infrastructure, commercial and social use as well as legal domains (Liang & Lu, 2010, p. 105)." This system supports "Internet censorship" and "China's single-party political system and its heavy intervention in Internet development (p. 105)." Given the nature and history of these states' political systems and methods of governance, the sudden focus on international cooperation generates questions of the underlying goals that may hide behind the official demands of the resolution. The second point requiring acknowledgment is the additional re-emphasis of sovereignty while also emphasizing non-interventionist beliefs in discussing non-interference in internal affairs. The resolution itself makes no mention of sovereignty or internal affairs beyond assisting countries with improving "national legislation and frameworks and build the capacity of national authorities" to deal with cybercrime (United Nations, 2019, Countering the Use). Despite the lack of language on this topic, the leading state on this initiative, Russia, felt the need Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 10 to emphasize its sovereignty in a press release about the resolution (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2019). Once again, Russia gives the impression that there may be a hidden desire layered within the words of the resolution. Additionally, the concept of non-interference within the international system is not without exceptions. The most critical exception being suspicion of human rights violations. As previously stated, humanitarian intervention and protecting citizens from their own government is a staple of international human rights law (Murphy, 2018, p. 389). Therefore, while non-interference in domestic matters is undoubtedly an essential tenet of international law, the resolution cannot call for international cooperation to combat cybercrime and simultaneously ignore the international cooperation required to maintain peace and security (United Nations, 1945, Charter of the United Nations). The next section of this paper will address these obligations to cooperation as it pertains to human rights while also highlighting the opposing arguments against Resolution A/74/401. Opposing Arguments for A/74/401 & Analysis of Human Rights Concerns The first perspective at the heart of the cyber domain debates, as described previously, is modeled after authoritarian beliefs and government control. The second perspective, modeled after a more Western approach to governance, is the belief of a free and open Internet that should remain decentralized and that "the best regulatory system is one that develops organically (Shackelford, 2013, p. 53)." A free Internet is more firmly the belief of the United States. This idea introduces the initial context necessary to understand the United States' opposition to the Russian-led cybercrime resolution. Even before the rapid development of the Internet, American foreign policy internalized the notion of "free flow of information internationally as an important element of national security (McCarthy, 2011, p. 92)." Former Secretary of State George Schultz argued that the free flow of information "undermined the Soviet Union and authoritarianism (p. 92, 93)." At its earliest beginnings, the Internet was a product of American ingenuity and, as a Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 11 result, built with a bias for "American libertarianism (p. 93)." In the present, the West has developed this concept in the "context of freedom expression, protection of intellectual property rights, and national security (Powers & Jablonski, 2015, p. 3)." As former Secretary of State Clinton asserted, the United States and other Western nations support the "freedom to connect" in opposition to efforts by states such as China, Iran, and Russia to create state-level information infrastructures designed for censorship (p. 3). The historical rivalry and disagreement between the two states on information, particularly as it pertains to cyberspace, only further roots the United States' opposition to the new United Nations cybercrime resolution. In its statement to the United Nations during the 49th & 50th meetings of the Third Committee, the United States expressed disappointment "with the decisions of the sponsors of this resolution to bring it to the Third Committee (United States Mission to the United Nations, 2019)." Contrary to the resolution's focus on cooperation, the United States' proclaimed the resolution would "drive a wedge between Member States and undermine international cooperation to combat cybercrime at a time when enhanced coordination is essential (United States Mission to the United Nations)." Furthermore, the United States asserted Russia's actions in introducing the resolution essentially bypass the "expert-driven, consensus-based process and therefore is not in line with their precedent (United States Mission to the United Nations)." Other Western states appear to agree with the United States assertions, as states such as the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Republic of Korea, and Germany composed part of the 58 Member States who opposed the adoption of the resolution (United Nations, 2019, Countering the Use). In a manner similar to the states in favor of the adoption, some opposed states made remarks in agreement with those of the United States during the Third Committee. Finland, on behalf of the European Union, remarked that "there is no consensus on the need for a new international instrument to fight cybercrime" and that the draft "represents a duplication of resources (Third Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 12 Committee, 2019, Meetings Coverage). Canada and Australia presented similar sentiments, remarking that "the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime is an important baseline for international cooperation" and that the new resolution "seeks to undercut consensus and will diminish existing global efforts that are already delivering results (Third Committee, 2019)." There is one remaining argument against the new cybercrime resolution: the potential that the document's vague language will create an environment where human rights will be more easily violated if left unchecked (Hakmeh & Peters, 2020). In a letter to the United Nations General Assembly, 37 organizations and six individuals expressed their concern for human rights protections as they pertain to the cybercrime resolution (Association for Progressive Communications (APC), 2019, Open Letter, p. 4). The first concern is a lack of clarity surrounding the scope of the "use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes (APC, p. 1)." If left undefined, the language in the resolution arguably "opens the door to criminalising ordinary online behaviour that is protected under international human rights law (APC, p. 1)." If steps to do so were taken as a result of the new resolution, they would be in direct violation of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights; who stated in 2011 that "human rights are equally valid online as offline (Shackelford, 2019, p. 168)." The second concern offered by non-government entities is the increasing trend in "criminalising ordinary online activities of individuals and organisations through the application of cybercrime laws (APC, 2019, Open Letter, p. 1, 2)." The letter even goes so far as to quote the UN Special Rapporteur over these concerns, that the "surge in legislation and policies aimed at combating cybercrime has also opened the door to punishing and surveilling activists and protestors in many countries around the world (APC, p. 2)." If used in such a manner, these initiatives, in addition to the UN cybercrime resolution, are in direct violation of the Charter of United Nations and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Within the Charter of the United Nations, efforts to Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 13 restrict or punish opposition elements such as activists or protestors violates Articles 55 and 56, which requires states to cooperate with the UN in achieving the organizations' purposes such as promoting human rights (United Nations, 1945, Article 55, 56). The Universal Declaration on Human Rights provides more specific language with which to attribute potential violations. The open letter notes that legislation of this kind is used to "criminalise legitimate forms of online expression, association and assembly through vague and ill-defined terms that allow for arbitrary or discretionary application (APC, 2019, Open Letter, p. 2)." Immediately, legislation that allows for criminalization of these elements is in direct violation of Articles 18, 19, and 20, which declare "all persons have a right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and assembly (Murphy, 2018, p. 402)." Furthermore, violations such as these also violate article two, which guarantees people "the right to life, liberty, and security" and dictates that "these rights are to be held without discrimination of any kind (Murphy, p. 402, 403)." Upholding these rights within cyberspace continues to fall in line with the Western perspective on the Internet. As McCarthy quotes, "the Internet is arguably the greatest facilitator for freedom of expression and innovation in the world today (McCarthy, 2011, p. 94)." The status of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights as "legitimate norms within the international system" permits this interpretation and application of international law to future resolutions (p. 94). If states are signatories to the declaration, any future adoption of any resolution must adhere to the principles and freedoms guaranteed by it. Resolution A/74/401 does refer to human rights protections, "reaffirming the importance of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in the use of information and communication technologies (United Nations, 2019, Countering the Use)." However, the resolution's open language is in direct contradiction to this promise, if not clarified. As the open letter indicates, "simply reaffirming the importance of respect for human rights" is "insufficient to safeguard human rights while Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 14 countering cybercrime (APC, 2019, Open Letter, p. 2)." The final section of this paper recommends additional actions that may further unify opposing entities on this resolution while simultaneously addressing all human rights concerns. Recommendations The Russian-led supporters of the resolution and the United States-led opposition are unified in one common element, at least in writing. The element is that consensus and international cooperation are vital in addressing cybercrime (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2019) (United States Mission to the United Nations, 2019). This notion is in concert with the Council of Europe, who remains the only entity to successfully orchestrate an international cybercrime treaty (Council of Europe, 2004, Convention on Cybercrime). In 2001, the Council of Europe postulated that "solutions to the problems posed must be addressed by international law, necessitating the adoption of adequate international legal instruments" that can "ensure the necessary efficiency" required to combat cybercrime (Pocar, 2004, p. 28). If the international community determines that another cybercrime treaty is required within the intergovernmental committee of experts authorized by Resolution A/74/401, then the new treaty should consider the aims of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (United Nations, 2019, Countering the Use). In doing so, the United Nations should strive to create a "basic framework for the establishment by contracting states of domestic substantive and procedural laws" in a manner that allows states to "cooperate expeditiously with one another (Pocar, 2004, p. 30)." If successful, the United Nations will be able to "establish procedures for relevant international relations" and provide "forms of cooperation between national judicial authorities as many interact with each other both swiftly and efficiently (p. 31)." Furthermore, the necessity of these requirements is supported by the very nature of the "the world-wide dimension of the Internet," Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 15 which "implies that its illegal use and related offenses must prompt responses and concerted efforts from all relevant domestic and international authorities (p. 34)." The non-governmental organizations' open letter to the United Nations supports the need for cooperation but takes it one step further than the states themselves. In its current structure, the Internet is a public-private endeavor, with private entities dominating cyberspace (Nocetti, 2015, p. 111). The present language of the United Nations cybercrime resolution allows for an intergovernmental committee of experts. However, it does not expand on the actual composition of the committee (United Nations, 2019, Countering the Use). Noting that Russia and other authoritarian regimes prefer non-government entities to use the government as a proxy for communication, it can be inferred that a Russia-led resolution intends the committee to be comprised of only government entities (p. 117). The open letter rightly points out that collaboration on cyber issues must expand beyond state cooperation. Addressing cybercrime is "necessarily a multi-stakeholder endeavour" that "requires government officials and experts, members of the technical community, civil society, the private sector, and scientific and research institutions (APC, 2019, Open Letter, p. 4)." An assessment of this viewpoint reveals that a committee dedicated to combatting cybercrime cannot rely on government expertise alone. In order to accurately reflect the composition and requirements of a private-public Internet, all discussions surrounding this resolution should involve both private and public entities. Therefore, the committee should be reformed to more accurately reflect the Internet's users. In doing so, the United Nations breaches the divide between authoritarian and more democratic governments, further increasing cooperation on this resolution. However, increased cooperation through a broader, inclusive committee and implementation of lessons learned from the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime will not ensure that the future convention successfully resolves the resolution's weaknesses. In Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 16 modern-day, the international system emphasizes international human rights more than ever before, as "this branch of international law has experienced phenomenal growth over the past one hundred years (Buergenthal, 2006, p. 807)." This growth has contributed to the "growing political impact of human rights on the conduct of international relations and the behavior of governments (p. 807)." If real success is desired within international governance, then the committee established under the "Countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes" resolution must account for human rights protections when determining the requirements of the "comprehensive international convention (United Nations, 2019, Countering the Use)." As the representative from Costa Rica during the 49th and 50th meetings of the Third Committee, "the international community must protect and observe fundamental freedoms, including the right to privacy (Third Committee, 2019, Meeting Coverage)." Until there is consensus on "sensitive topics such as…State responsibility to prioritize and protect human rights," the future proposed convention will fall short of its goal of achieving complete international ratification (Third Committee). Conclusion As cyberspace expands in conjunction with the rapid advancement of technology, the fear of the unknown drives further division between already opposing states in the international system. Resolution A/74/401 is the latest testament to the evolution of politicization within Internet governance. In addressing a topic that impacts every Internet-accessible region of the world, the resolution simultaneously magnifies the opposing perspectives of states as it pertains to sovereignty within the cyber domain. Furthermore, it reignites the protracted debate over whether or not human rights obligations addressed in such documents as the Charter of the United Nations or Universal Declaration on Human Rights are legally binding. Preventing further polarization requires both an acknowledgment of a fracturing international system of Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 17 governance and a proposed solution to address the issue. While state-centric governance provides legitimacy and the potential for a higher allocation of resources dedicated to protecting the Internet, increased sovereignty also "risks sacrificing innovation, complicates the regulatory environment of cyberspace, and may threaten a positive vision of cyber peace (Shackelford, 2013, p. 50)." These risks are why an alternative method to an intergovernmental committee must develop in response to the resolution. This method should integrate a multi-stakeholder construct to more fully recognize the competing impacts of cybercrime and fairly address the allegations of human rights infringement. One such method is polycentric governance, a system composed of "diverse organizations and governments working at multiple levels" in order to "increase levels of voluntary cooperation or increase compliance with rules established by governmental authorities (p. 330)." Individually, each organization or type of government faces its own unique hurdles. Together, they "contribute to a governance regime that is multi-level, multi-purpose, multi-type, and multi-sectoral in scope that could complement the top-down governance model increasingly favored" by states such as Russia or China (p. 331). Implementing polycentric governance to more equitably debate the appropriate response to international cybercrime will create an international community willing to consider the developing convention. In doing so, the environment will be better suited to determining whether or not the international system can leverage international law to investigate and prosecute cybercrime. Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 18 References Association for Progressive Communications (APC). (2019). Open Letter to UN General Assembly: Proposed international convention on cybercrime poses a threat to human rights online. Retrieved from https://www.apc.org/sites/default/files/Open_letter_re_UNGA_cybercrime_resolution_0.pdf Brenner, S. (2012). Cybercrime and the Law: Challenges, Issues, and Outcomes. Northeastern University Press. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/norwich/reader.action?docID=1085118&ppg=124 Buergenthal, T. (2006). The Evolving International Human Rights System. The American Journal of International Law, 100(4), 783-807. Retrieved from https://www-jstor-org.library.norwich.edu/stable/pdf/4126317.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Ae4ea9f31648cbd83f8f97bc7dae8e67a Cangemi, D. (2004). Procedural Law Provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime. International Review of Law Computers & Technology, 18(2), 165-171. Retrieved from https://norwich.on.worldcat.org/oclc/5272830680 Center for Strategic & International Studies & McAfee. (2018). Economic Impact of Cybercrime – No Slowing Down. Retrieved from https://www.csis.org/analysis/economic-impact-cybercrime Council of Europe. (2004). Convention on Cybercrime. Retrieved from https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/185 Hakmeh, J. & Peters, A. (2020). A New UN Cybercrime Treaty? The Way Forward for Supporters of an Open, Free, and Secure Internet. Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/blog/new-un-cybercrime-treaty-way-forward-supporters-open-free-and-secure-internet Kanuck, S. (2010). Sovereign Discourse on Cyber Conflict Under International Law. Texas Law Review, 88, 1571-1597. Retrieved from https://www.law.upenn.edu/institutes/cerl/conferences/cyberwar/papers/reading/Kanuck.pdf Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 19 Liang, B., & Lu, H. (2010). Internet Development, Censorship, and Cyber Crimes in China. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 26(1), 103–120. Retrieved from https://norwich.on.worldcat.org/oclc/5322181473 McCarthy, D. (2011). Open Networks and the Open Door: American Foreign Policy and the Narration of the Internet. Foreign Policy Analysis, 7(1), 89-111. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. (2019, December). Press Release on the UN General Assembly Vote on the Russian Draft Resolution on Countering Cybercrime. Retrieved from https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/3988579 Murphy, S. (2018). Principles of international law (3rd edition). West Academic Publishing. Nocetti, J. (2015). Contest and Conquest: Russia and Global Internet Governance. International Affairs, 91(1), 111-130. Retrieved from https://norwich.on.worldcat.org/oclc/5721220595 Pocar, F. (2004). New Challenges for International Rules Against Cyber-Crime. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 10(1), 27-37. Retrieved from https://norwich.on.worldcat.org/oclc/5649374698 Powers, S. & Jablonski, M. (2015). The Real Cyber War: The Political Economy of Internet Freedom. University of Illinois Press. Retrieved from https://norwich.on.worldcat.org/oclc/903245891 Shackelford, S. J. (2013). Managing Cyber Attacks in International Law, Business, and Relations: In Search of Cyber Peace: Vol. Revised Edition. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://norwich.on.worldcat.org/oclc/882104883 Shackelford, S. (2019). Should Cybersecurity Be a Human Right? Exploring the "Shared Responsibility" of Cyber Peace. Stanford Journal of International Law, 55(2), 155–184. Retrieved from https://norwich.on.worldcat.org/oclc/8185136062 United Nations General Assembly. (1945). Charter of the United Nations. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/charter-united-nations/index.html United Nations General Assembly. (2019). Countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes. Retrieved from https://www.undocs.org/A/74/401 United Nations Third Committee. (2019, November). Meetings Coverage Seventy-Fourth Session, 49th & 50th Meetings. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/gashc4284.doc.htm United States Mission to the United Nations. (2019, November). Statement on Agenda Item 107 'Countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes.' Retrieved from https://usun.usmission.gov/statement-on-agenda-item-107-countering-the-use-of-information-and-communications-technologies-for-criminal-purposes/ Running head: INTERNATIONAL LAW & THE CYBER DOMAIN 20 Zekos, G. (2008). Electronic State Sovereignty. The Icfai University Journal of Cyber Law, 7(4), 30-60.

Uanset om vi er klar over det eller ej, er nanoteknologi og nanomaterialer i det seneste årti blevet en integreret del af vores liv. Vi er gået ind i en fase, hvor den tidlige hype om fordelene ved denne – mildt sagt forbløffende – teknologi er forbi. Siden nanoteknologiens spæde begyndelse er der blevet rejst tvivl om de eventuelle negative miljø- og sundhedseffekter af nanomaterialer. Men som tiden er gået, er der blevet mere og mere stille omkring disse. Det er ikke, fordi vi har løst udfordringerne i forbindelse med risikovurdering og håndtering af nanomaterialer, men snarere fordi vi synes at være fanget af en følelse af "nanorisiko-immunitet", hvor vi efterhånden er blevet mere og mere immune overfor nyheder om de potentielle risici ved nanomaterialer. I stedet for at implementere et nyt regelsæt skræddersyet til nanomaterialer, synes Europa-Kommissionen at foretrække at igangsætte diverse udredninger af den videnskabelige litteratur med hensyn til miljø og sundhed samt at diskutere de samme risikovurderings- og lovgivningsmæssige udfordringer igen og igen. Hvis erfaringerne fra tidligere tiders håndtering af nye risici og teknologier kan benyttes som en rettesnor, kan vi nu forvente 15-20 års miljø- og sundhedsforskning, der ikke vil give endegyldige svar på, hvorvidt nanomaterialer er farlige, og som kun dråbevist vil vise glimt af den sande natur af risikoen ved anvendelsen af nanomaterialer. Denne afhandling sammenfatter vores nuværende viden indenfor risikovurdering og regulering af nanomaterialer. Konkret er fokus på de tre forskningsområder, som jeg har været involveret i siden 2009 med hensyn til: 1) at kortlægge af nuværende anvendelser af nanomaterialer i Europa, 2) at forstå begrænsningerne i den eksisterende lovgivning, og endelig 3) at adressere begrænsningerne som risikovurdering – og alternativer til risikovurdering – har, når det kommer til nanomaterialer. For at få et overblik over forbrugerprodukter i Europa som enten hævdes at indeholde nanomaterialer, eller som hævdes at være baseret på nanoteknologi, etablerede vi i 2012 en online database, Nanodatabasen (www.nanodb.dk) og begyndte systematisk at indsamle information om påståede nanoprodukters navn, producentens "nanopåstand", oprindelsesland, anvendt nanomateriale, lokalitet af det anvendte nanomateriale i produktet og mest sandsynlige eksponeringsrute blandt anden. Nanodatabasen indeholdt oprindeligt lidt mere end 1.200 produkter og indeholder nu information om mere end 3.000 forskellige produkter. Igennem vores forskning har vi fundet ud af, at de fleste produkter falder indenfor kategorierne "Health and Fitness" and "Home and Garden". De mest anvendte nanomaterialer er sølv og titaniumdioxid, men det er vigtigt at påpege, at det ikke er muligt at identificere identiteten af det anvendte nanomateriale i næsten 60% af produkterne i databasen. Evalueringsværktøjet, NanoRiskCat, blev udviklet og integreret i Nanodatabasen med det formål at kommunikere, hvad man ved om fare- og eksponeringspotentialet af produkter, som indeholder nanomaterialer. Det endelige resultat af NanoRiskCat evalueringen af et specifikt nanomateriale til en given anvendelse kan i sin simpleste form fremlægges i form af en kort titel, som beskriver anvendelse af nanomaterialet og en farvekode, hvor de første tre farvede bullets (•••׀••) refererer til den potentielle eksponering for henholdsvis professionelle slutbrugere, forbrugere og miljøet – i den rækkefølge – og de sidste to bullets refererer til farepotentialet for mennesker og miljøet. Farverne, som kan allokeres til eksponerings- og farepotentialet, er henholdsvis grøn (•), gul (•), rød (•) and grå (•), svarende til henholdsvis høj, medium, lav og ukendt. En dataanalyse af produkterne i Nanodatabasen viser, at dermal eksponering er den mest sandsynlige eksponeringsvej, og at NanoRiskCat eksponeringspotentialet såvel som menneske- og miljøfarepotentialet for de fleste produkter er enten "høj (•)" eller "ukendt (•)". En række EU forordninger og direktiver så som, bl.a. biocidforordningen, er blevet ændret i de seneste år for at tage højde for de potentielle risici forbundet med nanomaterialer og for at tage højde for nanomaterialers unikke egenskaber. Dog viser den forskning, der præsenteres i denne afhandling, at der er tre store svagheder forbundet med den nuværende regulering, såsom: 1) hvordan man definerer "nanomaterialer", 2) tærskelværdier og oplysningskrav, som ikke er skræddersyet til nanomaterialer og 3) de massive videnskabelige udfordringer, der er ved at anvende traditionel kemisk risikovurdering som metode på nanomaterialer i praksis. Resultatet af denne forskning har fået mig til at konkludere, at det, at nanomaterialer er omfattet af eksisterende lovgivning, rent juridisk ikke i sig selv er nok til at sikre beskyttelsen af miljøet og menneskers sundhed. Vi har derfor brug for en ny lovgivning, som er skræddersyet til nanomaterialer og deres anvendelser. I den sidste del af afhandlingen foreslås en sådan lovgivning kaldet Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, Categorisation and Tools to Evaluate Nanomaterials – Opportunities and Weaknesses (REACT NOW). Afhandlingen består af ni kapitler. En kort introduktion gives i kapitel 1. I kapitel 2 præsenteres vores viden om de nuværende anvendelser af nanomaterialer. Det fastslås, at der er en generel mangel på data og adgang til data om, blandt andet vedrørende produktionsmængder og anvendelser af nanomaterialer. Den manglende viden hæmmer enhver form for kvalitativ og kvantitativ eksponeringsvurdering af nanomaterialer, hvilket igen hindrer enhver form for kemisk risikovurdering. En række politikere, forskere, NGO'er og medlemmer af offentligheden har sat spørgsmålstegn ved, om den nuværende regulering er god nok. Blandt andet fordi mange af de mest relevante EU-forordninger og direktiver er stærkt afhængige af vores evne til at færdiggøre meningsfulde videnskabelige risikovurderinger. Kapitel 3 er helliget en analyse af de ændringer, der er foretaget i den eksisterende lovgivning inden for kemikalie-, biocidholdige produkt- og fødevarelovgivningen. I kapitel 4 præsenteres en analyse og vurdering af de yderligere juridiske og tekniske revisioner, som er blevet foreslået af en række EU-landes REACH-kompetente myndigheder som de tyske UBA, BfR og BAuA og den svenske KEMI, samt NGO'erne CIEL, ClientEarth og BUND. Det konkluderes, at de ændringer, der er blevet gennemført i den eksisterende EU-lovgivning og de foreslåede yderligere ændringer, kollektivt indeholder en masse muligheder. Dog blev der ligeledes identificeret en række svagheder, og disse bliver uddybet og diskuteret i kapitel 5, da de fortsat obstruerer en effektiv regulering af nanomaterialer. I erkendelse af de udfordringer, som anvendelsen af kemisk risikovurdering indebærer og de udestående videnskabelige usikkerheder, er mere end 50 alternative beslutningsmetoder eller supplement til kemisk risikovurdering blevet udarbejdet og foreslået i de senere år. Disse analyseres i kapitel 6 for at identificere metoder, der kan anvendes til at understøtte en lovgivning, som er skræddersyet specielt til nanomaterialer og deres anvendelser. Denne evaluering er baseret på en række af de seneste videnskabelige publikationer, som systematisk gennemgår, hvorledes disse alternative metoder kan anvendes i forbindelse med risikohåndtering, beskyttelse af arbejdstagerne, forbrugernes eksponering, miljøvurdering, affald, osv. Dette fører til den erkendelse, at vi har brug for en evalueringsmetode, der er både lovgivningsmæssig relevant, og som kan anvendes på trods af manglende data og manglende adgang til information. I kapitel 7 præsenteres evalueringsmetoden NanoRiskCat. En stor styrke i NanoRiskCat er, at metoden er blevet anvendt på mere end 2.000 produkter, som enten hævdes at indeholde nanomaterialer, eller som hævdes at være baseret på nanoteknologi. Endelig introduceres REACT NOW i kapitel 8. Centrale elementer i den foreslåede lovgivning skitseres. Som en del af REACT NOW anbefales det, at producenter og importører af nanomaterialer bliver forpligtiget til at registrere deres nanomaterialer forud for kommercialisering og uafhængig af mængden, der produceres og/eller importeres. For nanomaterialer, som allerede er på markedet, bør det kræves, at producenter og importører opfylder betingelserne i REACT NOW inden for en tidsperiode som for eksempel seks måneder. Nanomaterialer defineres i REACT NOW i henhold til Europa-Kommissionens videnskabelige komite, SCENIHR's forslag og ikke i henhold til den definition, som anbefales af Europa-Kommissionen. Primær partikelstørrelsesfordeling, form, specifikt overfladeareal og overfladebehandling betragtes som identifikatorer og ikke som karakteristika, som foreslået af UBA, BfR og BAuA (2013). I praksis betyder det, at enhver variation i primær partikelstørrelsesfordeling, form, specifikt overfladeareal og overfladebehandling skal identificeres, navngives, registreres og evalueres separat. Det Europæiske Kemikalieagentur identificeres som værende den Europæiske myndighed, som bør være ansvarlig for forvaltningen og gennemførelsen af de tekniske og administrative aspekter af REACT NOW, mens bevisbyrden for at vise, at nanomaterialer er sikre, pålægges producenterne og importørerne af disse for at sikre, at relevant information og data genereres i tide. For at sikre beskyttelsen af sundheden og miljøet anbefales det, at registranten er forpligtet til at forklare det pågældende produkts funktion, begrunde dets nødvendighed og gennemføre en effektivitetsevaluering forud for en kommercialisering. I forlængelse af disse krav skal alle nanomaterialer evalueres ved hjælp af NanoRiskCat. De oplysninger vedrørende nanomaterialers fare for sundhed og miljø, som der stilles krav om, at producenterne og/eller importørerne indleverer, er fokuseret på at gøre det muligt at anvende NanoRiskCat. Det vil sige, at fokus er på, om nanomaterialet er et såkaldt "High Aspect Ratio Nanoparticles" (HARN), den nuværende klassificering og mærkning af ikke-nanoformen af materialet, dets akutte toksicitet, genotoksicitet og mutagenicitet, carcinogenicitet samt dets respiratoriske toksicitet. Vedrørende miljøet drejer det sig hovedsaglig om den nuværende klassificering og mærkning af ikke-nanoformen af materialet, dets akvatiske toksicitet, ferskvands test for nedbrydning og bioakkumulering. Dertil kommer en videnskabelig gennemgang med hensyn til udbredelse og langtrækkende transport, økosystemets effekter og nyhedsværdi. Det er vigtigt at bemærke, at NanoRiskCat bruger en trinvis fremgangsmåde. Registranten behøver kun at indsende nok information til, at der kan foretages en kategorisering af farepotentialet for miljø- og sundhed af det specifikke nanomateriale i dets specifikke anvendelse. Der anvendes 4 farvekategorier, nemlig 1) rød for, at farepotentialet er højt; 2) gul for, at farepotentialet er medium; 3) grøn for, at farepotentialet er lavt og endelig 4) grå for, at farepotentialet er ukendt. Afhængigt af resultatet af NanoRiskCat evalueringen kan det være, at producenter og importører af nanomaterialer samt producenter af nanoprodukter skal søge om tilladelse til produktion og anvendelse. Generelt bør der – som hovedregel – kun gives tilladelse til specifikke anvendelser af nanomaterialer og nanoprodukter, når anvendelsen skønnes nødvendig, effektiv og funktionel. Som en konsekvens af NanoRiskCat evalueringen kan registranten efterfølgende blive forpligtiget til at gennemføre en vurdering af tilgængelige alternativer. Dette gør sig gældende for anvendelser af nanomaterialer, som resulterer i en NanoRiskCat evaluering med 1) et rødt eksponeringspotentiale for professionelle slutbrugere og/eller et rødt eksponeringspotentiale for forbrugere kombineret med et rødt potentiale for menneskers sundhed og/eller 2) en rød miljøeksponering kombineret med en rød miljøfare. I disse tilfælde skal der indhentes en udtalelse fra de relevante videnskabelige komiteer i Europa-Kommissionen om, hvorvidt nanomaterialet og dets anvendelse er sikker. Brug og tilladelse til produktion, import og anvendelse bør kun gives, hvis den specifikke anvendelse skønnes at være nødvendig og sikker. Anvendelse af nanomaterialer, som de videnskabelige komitéer ikke anser for at være sikre, bør der ikke gives tilladelse til at markedsføre i Europa. Dette gælder fx udbredt anvendelse af HARN og indendørs forbrugeranvendelse af sprayprodukter med nanomaterialer forbundet med respiratorisk toksicitet. For alle andre kombinationer af eksponerings- og fareprofiler, dvs. NanoRiskCat kategorierne 2-4, kan agenturet anmode om en udtalelse fra de relevante videnskabelige komiteer i Europa-Kommissionen fra sag til sag. Som en generel regel bør der kun gives tilladelse til specifikke anvendelser af nanomaterialer og nanoprodukter, hvis de har et grønt fare potentiale for menneskers sundhed kombineret med et grønt professionelt slutbruger- og forbrugereksponeringspotentiale. Det samme gælder for anvendelser, der forventes at føre til miljømæssig eksponering. Her bør der kun gives tilladelse, hvis det pågældende nanomateriale har et grønt miljøfare potentiale. Skulle de videnskabelige komitéer have spørgsmål til sikkerheden af et nanomateriale og dets specifikke anvendelse, kan agenturet anmode producenter/importøren om yderligere oplysninger. Disse skal genereres inden for 3 år, som er den periode, der kan udstedes en betinget godkendelse for. For kombinationer af gule eksponerings- og farepotentialer er betingede godkendelser mulige for en tidsbegrænset periode. I dette tidsrum skal agenturet anmode registranten om at generere yderligere specifikke oplysninger. For at hjælpe industrien og navnlig små og mellemstore virksomheder med at implementere REACT NOW er der behov for teknisk- og ikke-teknisk bistand. Den skal leveres af den Europæiske Kommissions Joint Research Centre og det Europæiske Kemikalie Agentur. REACT NOW er det første forsøg på at præsentere en omfattende lovgivning, der er skræddersyet til nanomaterialer og disses anvendelser. Al lovgivning har styrker og svagheder. Det gælder også REACT NOW. Disse handler blandt andet om, at NanoRiskCat kan bruges på trods af mangel på data og information; om, hvordan man definerer "nødvendighed" og "effektivitet"; og om, at vurderingen af eksponeringspotentialet i NanoRiskCat velsagtens er noget simpel. Denne afhandling er baseret på 28 peer review artikler, som er inkluderet i appendiks til afhandlingen. Det er værd at pege på, at de fleste af de emner, der kort bliver diskuteret og præsenteret i kapitel 2-8, er beskrevet i de 28 artikler. Denne afhandling er skrevet for at præsentere REACT NOW og for at give læseren et overblik over de videnskabelige resultater, som er opnået. ; Nanotechnology and nanomaterials (NMs) have become an integrated part of our lives in the past decade, whether we realise it or not, and we have entered a phase where the early hype about the benefits of this mind-blowing technology is over. Concerns have been raised throughout this period about the adverse impacts of NMs, and although these have previously been very loud, they are now slowly quieting down. This is not because we have resolved the challenges related to assessing and managing the risks of NMs but rather because we seem to have caught a sense of "nanorisk-immunity" where we gradually have become more and more indifferent to hearing about the potential risks of NMs. Instead of implementing a regulatory framework tailored to NMs, the European Commission has initiated multiple reviews of state-of-the-scientific literature in regard to environmental, health and safety, and seems to be discussing the same risk assessment and regulatory challenges over and over. If history in regard to emerging risks and hazards can be used as a guide, we can now expect 15-20 years of univocal environmental, health and safety research that will not provide definitive answers but only dropwise glimpse into the true nature of the risks of NMs. This thesis summarises the state of research and regulatory affairs within the field of nanomaterial regulation and risk assessment. Specifically, the focus is on areas of research with which I have been involved since 2009 in regard to: 1) mapping current uses of NMs in Europe, 2) understanding the limitations of existing legislation and, finally, 3) addressing the restraints of risk assessment and alternatives to risk assessment when it comes to NMs. In order to obtain an overview of consumer products in Europe that are claimed to contain NMs or are claimed to be based on nanotechnology, we established an online inventory, The Nanodatabase (www.nanodb.dk), back in 2012 and started systematically to collect information about the proclaimed nanoproducts name, producers "nanoclaim", country of origin, used NMs, location of the NM in the product, most likely exposure route among other. The Nanodatabase originally contained a little more than 1,200 products and now has information about more than 3,000 products. Through our research, we found that most of the products fall into the category of "Health and Fitness" and "Home and Garden". The most used NMs are silver and titanium dioxide, but it is not possible to identify the NMs used for almost 60% of the products in the database. The safety evaluation tool, NanoRiskCat, was developed and integrated into The Nanodatabase with the purpose of communicating what is known about the hazard and exposure potential of consumer products containing NMs. In its simplest form, the final NanoRiskCat evaluation of a specific nanomaterial in a given application can be communicated in the form of a short title describing the use of the NM and a colour code whereby the first three coloured bullets (•••׀••) refer to the potential exposure of professional end-users, consumers and the environment – in that sequence – and the last two coloured bullets refer to the hazard potential for humans and the environment. The colours assigned to the exposure and hazard potential are green (•), yellow (•), red (•) and grey (•), corresponding to high, medium, low and unknown, respectively. A data analysis of the products in The Nanodatabase shows that for most product categories, the dominant route of exposure is dermal, and that the NanoRiskCat exposure potential as well as human and environmental hazard potential of most products is either "high (•)" or "unknown (•)". In order to address the potential risks of NMs and take the unique properties of NMs into account, a number of EU regulations and directives have been amended in recent years such as, for instance, the biocidal product regulation. However, the research presented in this thesis identifies three major weaknesses to the current regulation, namely how to define "nanomaterials", threshold values and information requirements not tailored to the nanoscale and how to overcome the obstacles of chemical risk assessment applied to NMs. The outcome of this research has led me to conclude that the fact that NMs are covered by the scope of existing legislation is not enough to ensure the protection of human health and the environment. We therefore need a new regulatory framework tailored for NMs and their applications. A proposal of such a framework termed "Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, Categorisation and Tools to Evaluate Nanomaterials – Opportunities and Weaknesses (REACT NOW)" is proposed and presented herein. The thesis consists of nine chapters. An introduction is provided in chapter 1. In chapter 2, what is known about the current uses of NMs is presented in detail, and it is established that there is a general lack of data and access to data on, for example, production volumes and uses of NMs which hampers qualitative and quantitative occupational, consumer and environmental exposure assessment of NMs – and this in turn impedes the completion of any kind of risk assessment. The latter has repetitively led to questions being raised by politicians, NGOs, academics and members of the public about whether current regulatory frameworks are up to the job, as many of them rely heavily on, for instance, the completion of meaningful risk assessments. Chapter 3 is devoted to an analysis of the revisions that have been made to existing regulatory frameworks, such as REACH, BPR and food legislation, whereas Chapter 4 is allocated to an evaluation of proposed revisions made by a number of EU member states and REACH competent authorities such as German UBA, BfR and BAuA and the Swedish KEMI, as well as the NGOs CIEL, ClientEarth and BUND. It is concluded that the revisions that have been implemented for existing EU legislation and the proposed revisions by UBA, BfR and BAuA, KEMI and CIEL, ClientEarth and BUND collectively provide a lot of opportunities. However, a number of weaknesses have also been identified and these are elaborated on and discussed in Chapter 5, as they continue to dog the effective regulation of NMs and still need to be addressed. In recognition of the challenges that traditional chemical risk assessments entail, and outstanding scientific research questions that still need to be resolved, no less than 50 alternative decision-support tools, or supplements to traditional risk assessments, have been explored and proposed in recent years. These are analysed in Chapter 6, in order to identify tools that could potentially be used to support a new regulatory framework tailored specifically for NMs and their applications throughout the life cycle. This evaluation is based on a series of recent scientific publications which provide substantial reviews of these alternative tools applied in regard to risk governance, worker protection, consumer exposure, environmental assessment, waste, etc. This led to the realisation that we need a tool that is both regulatory-relevant and can be applied despite the lack of data and lack of access to information. Safety evaluation plays a key role in REACT NOW and the safety evaluation tool NanoRiskCat developed by Hansen et al. (2014, 2017c) is presented in detail in chapter 7. A strength of NanoRiskCat is that it has been applied to more than 2,000 products claimed to include NMs or to be based on nanotechnology. The outcome of this is presented in this thesis. Finally, in Chapter 8, REACT NOW is introduced and key components of the framework are outlined. As part of REACT NOW, I recommend that manufacturers and importers of NMs should be required to register their NM(s) prior to commercialisation and independent of production and import volumes. For NM(s) already being sold, manufacturers and importers should be required to register and fulfil the REACT NOW requirements within a certain time period e.g. six months of the adoption of the framework. NMs are defined according to SCENIHR's definition and not the one recommended by the EC. Primary particle size distribution, shape (including aspect ratio), specific surface area and surface treatment are considered "identifiers" and not the "characterisers" as suggested by UBA, BfR and BAuA (2013). In practice, this means that any variation in size, shape, surface area and surface-treated NM that is commercialised in the EU has to be identified, named, registered and safety-evaluated separately, before it is placed into a separate registration dossier. The European Chemicals Agency is identified as the European authority that should be responsible for the management and carrying out the technical and administrative aspects of REACT NOW, however the burden of proof of safety should be placed on industry to ensure that data are generated in good time. In order to ensure the protection of health and the environment, I recommend that the registrant should be required to explain a relevant product's functional use, provide justification for its use and carry out an effectiveness evaluation prior to the commercialisation of any nanomaterial. Following the requirements of REACT NOW, all uses of NMs have to be evaluated according to NanoRiskCat. The health and environmental hazard information required as part of the information requirements focuses on enabling the application of NanoRiskCat. In regard to human health it includes High Aspect Ratio Nanoparticles (HARN), bulk CLP classification, acutely toxicity, genotoxicity and mutagenicity, carcinogenicity and respiratory toxicity. For the environment, it includes bulk CLP classification, aquatic toxicity, freshwater tests for degradation, bioaccumulation and a scientific review in regard to dispersive or long-range transport, ecosystem effects and novelty. It is important to note that NanoRiskCat uses a tiered approach and that the registrant only has to submit enough information to enable the categorisation of the health and environmental hazard potential of the specific NM into high (•), medium (•), low (•) or unknown (•). Depending on the outcome of the NanoRiskCat evaluation, manufacturers and importers of NMs and producers of NM products might have to seek authorisation, which can only be given for specific uses of NMs and nanoproducts that are deemed necessary, efficient and have a functional use. For NMs that have undergone a NanoRiskCat evaluation and have 1) a red professional end-user and/or a consumer exposure profile combined with a red human health hazard profile and/or 2) a red environmental exposure profile combined with a red environmental hazard profile, the registrant is required to complete an "Alternatives Assessment" and the agency responsible for REACT NOW is required to seek opinion on safe use from the European scientific committee of relevance. In such cases, authorisation should be granted, but only if the specific use under consideration is deemed safe and necessary. Uses of NMs deemed not to be safe by the scientific committees e.g. dispersive uses of HARN, indoor consumer uses of spray products with NMs associated with respiratory toxicity, should not be granted authorisation and should not be given permission to be marketed in Europe. For all other combinations of exposure and hazard profiles, i.e. NanoRiskCat categories 2-4, the agency responsible for REACT NOW can ask for an opinion from the scientific committees of relevance on a case-by-case basis. As a general rule, authorisation should only be given for specific professional end-user and consumer applications of NMs and nanoproducts, if they have a green human health hazard profile combined with a green professional end-user exposure profile and a consumer exposure profile, respectively. The same goes for uses that are expected to lead to environmental exposure that should only be granted authorisation if the NM in question has a green environmental hazard profile. Should the agency or the scientific committees have questions about the safety of a given NM and its specific use, the agency can make a request for additional information, to be generated within 3 years, within which time conditional authorisation can be granted. For combinations of yellow exposure and hazard profiles, conditional authorisation is possible for a time-limited period during which time the agency should request the generation of additional information by the registrant. In order to assist industry and especially Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the process of implementing REACT NOW, technical and non-technical assistance is needed and should be provided by the European Commission Joint Research Centre and the European Chemicals Agency. REACT NOW is the first attempt to present a comprehensive and transparent decision-making framework tailored to regulate the use of NMs, but as no framework is without either potential or limitations, the opportunities and weaknesses related to the implementation of REACT NOW are pinpointed. Strengths include that NanoRiskCat can be used despite lack of data and information, whereas the lack of clear-cut definitions of "necessity" and "effectiveness" could be considered a weakness along with the arguably crude exposure assessment in NanoRiskCat. In the appendix, the 28 peer reviewed journal papers on which this thesis is based are included. It is worth pointing out that most of the topics briefly discussed and presented in Chapters 2-8 are detailed in the journal papers and that this thesis is written to present REACT NOW and to give the reader an overview of the original achievements of the work.

The Situation In The Middle East ; United Nations S/PV.8228 Security Council Seventy-third year 8228th meeting Tuesday, 10 April 2018, 3 p.m. New York Provisional President: Mr. Meza-Cuadra . (Peru) Members: Bolivia (Plurinational State of). . Mr. Llorentty Solíz China. . Mr. Wu Haitao Côte d'Ivoire. . Mr. Tanoh-Boutchoue Equatorial Guinea. . Mr. Ndong Mba Ethiopia. . Mr. Alemu France. . Mr. Delattre Kazakhstan. . Mr. Tumysh/Mr. Umarov Kuwait. . Mr. Alotaibi Netherlands. . Mr. Van Oosterom Poland. . Mr. Radomski Russian Federation. . Mr. Nebenzia Sweden . Mr. Skoog United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . Ms. Pierce United States of America. . Mrs. Haley Agenda The situation in the Middle East This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the translation of speeches delivered in other languages. The final text will be printed in the Official Records of the Security Council. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room U-0506 (verbatimrecords@un.org). Corrected records will be reissued electronically on the Official Document System of the United Nations (http://documents.un.org). 18-10187 (E) *1810187* S/PV.8228 The situation in the Middle East 10/04/2018 2/21 18-10187 The meeting was called to order at 3.20 p.m. Adoption of the agenda The agenda was adopted. The situation in the Middle East The President (spoke in Spanish): In accordance with rule 37 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of Canada, the Syrian Arab Republic and Turkey to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2018/175, S/2018/321 and S/2018/322, which contain the texts of three draft resolutions, respectively. The Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution contained in document S/2018/321, submitted by Canada, France, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America. I now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements before the voting. Mr. Delattre (France) (spoke in French): For years, as part of its responsibilities for maintaining international peace and security, the Security Council has been mobilized on the issue of chemical weapons. After the chemical attacks in Ghouta in 2013, the Security Council adopted resolution 2118 (2013), which provided for the complete dismantling of the chemical arsenal of the Syrian regime. Russia, as co-sponsor of that resolution, had guaranteed its implementation. Despite that guarantee, the Damascus regime has never complied with its obligations under resolution 2118 (2013) and has never renounced — as we saw again on 7 April — the use of chemical weapons against its civilian population. Five years after the Council's adoption of resolution 2118 (2013), we note that the general subject of chemical weapons remains tragically topical. The upcoming voting marks our fourth meeting in less than a week on this issue. Yesterday we met in an emergency meeting (see S/PV.8225) following a new chemical-weapons massacre in Douma, Syria, whose appalling images left us shocked. Last month we met to discuss the unacceptable attack in Salisbury (see S/PV.8203). Last year we met day after day after the terrible attack of Khan Shaykhun. That shows the deterioration of the situation and how serious the stakes are today for our security. The use of chemical weapons is so abominable that it has been banned for almost 100 years, and the international community began years ago to eliminate them. As such, the chemical non-proliferation regime, which we have patiently developed and strengthened, is one of the pillars of our collective security architecture, at the heart of our security system. Yet today it is under serious threat. We face the cynical, barbaric and all-out use of chemical weapons against civilian populations. The Douma attacks once again illustrated the abject brutality of the Syrian regime's resolute military strategy. Such acts constitute war crimes or even crimes against humanity. They increase the risk of dangerous normalization — tolerating the return of these agents of fear and death is nothing more than a blank cheque to all those who would like to use them. To allow the normalization of the use of chemical weapons without responding is to let the genie of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction — which pose an existential threat to us all — out of the bottle. It would mark a serious and reprehensible setback to the international order that we have all patiently helped to develop. The consequences would be terrible, and we would all pay the price. That is why we cannot accept it. France will do all it can to prevent impunity for the use of chemical weapons. It is in that spirit that we launched an international partnership last January. The demise of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism in November, due to the Russian veto to protect Al-Assad's regime, sent a dangerous signal of impunity. It deprived us of an essential deterrent tool. It left a vacuum that the Syrian regime has rushed to exploit, and which yesterday's atrocities have tragically reminded us of. The American initiative to re-establish an independent mechanism, based on a balanced approach and taking into account the concerns expressed by every member of the Council, enables us to fill that glaring void. Such a mechanism would support the inquiry that has already been launched by the OPCW. It would also respect the essential criteria of independence, 10/04/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8228 18-10187 3/21 without any interference, and impartiality to which each member of the Council has committed. Such a mechanism would have a mandate to attribute responsibility for the attacks. Only the combination of those two criteria — independence and a mandate to attribute responsibility — will make that mechanism effective, and therefore dissuasive. Let me be clear: in view of the gravity of the 7 April attack, France will not accept any third-rate or sham mechanism whose independence and impartiality would not be genuinely ensured. That is what the Security Council owes today to the Syrian victims of chemical attacks and to the entire international community, whose security is threatened by the chemicals in the hands of the regime of Bashar Al-Assad. Since the threat is of an existential nature for us all, combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction must, more than ever, be among the top priorities of the Security Council. If there is one area in which the Council has a moral and political responsibility to convene and act, it is this one. If there is one domain for which the credibility of the Council is at stake, where tactical games have no place, it is this one. This is one of those moments when we have no choice but to act because what is at stake is essential. We cannot allow the chemical non-proliferation regime, and with it our entire security architecture — along with the principles and values that underpin our action — to crack and disintegrate before our very eyes. Today's vote is one of those key moments, one of those moments of truth. On behalf of France, I therefore call on each member of the Council to properly gauge and assume its responsibilities now and to vote in favour of the American draft resolution (S/2018/321). Mrs. Haley (United States of America): We have reached a decisive moment as the Security Council. On Saturday the first haunting images appeared from Douma, in Syria. We gathered around this table yesterday (see S/PV.8225) to express our collective outrage. We then collectively agreed that the Council needed to take steps to determine exactly what happened in Douma and to put an end to these barbaric attacks. The United States has put forward a draft resolution (S/2018/321) that accomplishes those shared goals. For weeks we have been working with every single delegation on the Council to develop a new attribution mechanism for chemical-weapons attacks in Syria. We held open and transparent negotiations so that every delegation could provide its input. And we went the extra mile for one Council member. We adopted paragraph after paragraph of Russia's proposed draft resolution (S/2018/175). We tried to take every Russian proposal that did not compromise the impartiality, independence or professionalism of a new attribution mechanism. After the Douma attack, we updated our draft resolution with common sense changes. Our proposal condemns the attack. It demands unhindered humanitarian access for the people in Douma. It calls on the parties to give maximum cooperation to the investigation. And it creates the attribution mechanism that we worked so hard with each member to develop. The draft resolution is the bare minimum that the Council can do to respond to the attack. The United States did everything possible to work towards Council unity on this text. Again, we accepted every recommendation that did not compromise the impartiality and independence of the proposed attribution mechanism. I want to say a brief word about Russia's draft resolution, which is also before us for a vote. Our draft resolutions are similar, but there are important differences. The key point is that our draft resolution guarantees that any investigations will truly be independent. Russia's draft resolution gives Russia itself the chance to choose the investigators and then to assess the outcome. There is nothing independent about that. The United States is not asking to choose the investigators, and neither should Russia. The United States is not asking to review the findings of any investigation before they are final, and neither should Russia. All of us say that we want an independent investigation. Our draft resolution achieves that goal. Russia's does not. This is not an issue that more time or more consultations could have resolved. At a certain point, you are either for an independent and impartial investigation or you are not. And now that the Douma attack has happened, this is not a decision that we can delay any longer. The United States calls on all Security Council members to vote in favour of our draft resolution and to abstain or vote against the Russian draft resolution. The Syrian people are counting on us. Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): Today the delegation of the United States is once again trying to mislead the international S/PV.8228 The situation in the Middle East 10/04/2018 4/21 18-10187 community and is taking yet another step towards confrontation by putting to a vote a draft resolution (S/2018/321) that does not enjoy the unanimous support of the members of the Security Council. It is not true that it meets almost all our requirements. The text is nothing more than an attempt to resurrect, unchanged, the former Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), established to investigate cases of the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Russia has always emphasized that it will not support that approach. The JIM became a puppet in the hands of anti-Damascus forces, and it covered itself with shame when it issued a guilty verdict for a sovereign State without credible evidence. The American draft resolution represents an identical reproduction of all of the former Mechanism's flawed working methods. The new mechanism would conduct investigations as it sees fit, with no reference to the standards of the Chemical Weapons Convention. That has nothing to do with independence, which the draft resolution's sponsors and its closest allies only pretend to care about. We know the worth of such independence. It is true anarchy and manipulation. At every stage of our work on the American initiative we have insisted that the Secretary-General should select the staff for the investigative mechanism on the basis of the broadest possible geographic representation, with subsequent approval by the Security Council. Visits to the sites of the incidents and strict adherence to the principle of sequential actions while ensuring the preservation of the material evidence should be not optional but mandatory working principles. In a collective decision, the Security Council would determine who was responsible in any given case of the use of chemical weapons, based on reliable evidence that would leave no room for doubt about the correctness of the conclusions. There is nothing about this in the American draft resolution. The authors know that it goes against the Russian position and will not be adopted. But they are obstinately sticking to their line. It is clear that today's provocative step has nothing to do with a desire to investigate what happened in Douma, Syria, on 7 April. An attributive mechanism is not necessary in order to initially establish the facts. Even if we could conceive of the improbable scenario in which the draft resolution creating the mechanism was adopted today, it would take several months to put the mechanism together and fine-tune its operations. Establishing who is to blame is the final link in a very long chain of actions. Here, in front of everyone, I would once again like to ask the sponsors why they need the mechanism when they have already identified the guilty parties before the investigation. They do not need it. They do not want to hear anything. They do not want to hear that no traces of a chemical attack were found in Douma. They have simply been looking for an excuse the whole time, and the provocateurs among the White Helmets have very kindly provided it. This is all reminiscent of a kind of spring fever. Exactly a year ago, in April 2017, a similar scenario unrolled with the chemical provocation in Khan Shaykhun, followed by a missile strike. The fact is that the authors of the draft resolution are motivated by completely different priorities. They have pinned their hopes on the assumption that the draft resolution will not be adopted. That is what they want, and it is something that they can bank along with the rest of their reasons justifying the use of force against Syria. For several days now, the Administration in Washington, D.C., has been keeping the international community in suspense while discussing the so-called important decisions being prepared. Only yesterday we heard how anxiously Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura spoke about the current escalation extending beyond Syria's borders (see S/PV.8225), and we know that the Secretary-General is also very concerned about that. It is clear that Russia will once again be the target of the propaganda cannons. My American colleague will painstakingly enumerate the Russian vetoes on Syria. It is not impossible that she has taken upon herself a capitalist commitment to using the reckless policies of the United States to achieve some sort of personal record in that regard. We are using the veto to protect international law, peace and security and to ensure that the United States does not to drag the Security Council into its misadventures. The United States representative says that we are covering up for someone. Russia is in Syria at the invitation of its lawful Government in order to combat international terrorism, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, while the United States is covering up for militias and terrorists. If the United States has decided to carry out an illegal military venture — and we still hope that it will think better of it — it must answer for that itself. It wants to dump this draft resolution, which has been sitting on the shelf for a long time, onto the Security Council in order to find a pretext. The United States representative 10/04/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8228 18-10187 5/21 herself has said repeatedly that if the Council does not make a decision, the United States will make a decision on its own. Why is the suta purposely undermining the Council's authority by promoting a draft resolution that we know will not go through? And a lot of people said that yesterday during consultations. We urge the Americans to give sober consideration to the potential this presents for confrontation, to think better of it and to withdraw its draft resolution from a vote. Russia cannot support it. The President (spoke in Spanish): I shall first put to the vote the draft resolution contained in document S/2018/321, submitted by Canada, France, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. A vote was taken by show of hands. In favour: Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, France, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and United States of America Against: Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Russian Federation Abstaining: China The President (spoke in Spanish): The draft resolution received 12 votes in favour, 2 against and 1 abstention. The draft resolution has not been adopted, owing to the negative vote of a permanent member of the Council. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements following the voting. Ms. Pierce (United Kingdom): This is a sad day for the Security Council; it is a sad day for the cause of universal norms and standards; and it is a sad day for the non-proliferation regime. But, above all, it is a very sad day for the people of Douma, who now are without the protection that the international system was set up to provide for them. This is the fourth time in six days that the Council has discussed chemical weapons. Yesterday 14 members of the Security Council called for an investigation. Several members called on the permanent five (P-5) to assume their responsibilities to uphold the universal prohibition on weapons of mass destruction (WMD). As a P-5 member, the United Kingdom was ready to do that and was joined by France and the United States. Conversely, by vetoing, Russia has crossed a line in the international order, and worse, if possible, history is repeating itself one year on from Khan Shaykun. Russia helped to create the original independent investigation that attributed Khan Shaykun to the Syrian regime and concluded that sarin, which can be developed only by a State actor, had been used. But last autumn, Russia vetoed renewal of that mechanism on not one but three occasions. The reason is clear: it is because Russia would rather cross the WMD line than risk sanction of its ally Syria. Instead, we are asked to believe that the Russian version of this latest attack should be the one that the Security Council believes. Russia is not authorized by the Security Council to carry out an investigation in Syria. Russia says that there were no traces of a chemical attack. No traces were found by whom? I repeat: Russia is not authorized to carry out an investigation on behalf of the Security Council. We need an independent investigative mechanism for that purpose, and only that sort of mechanism can have the confidence of the Security Council, the confidence of the membership of the United Nations and the confidence of the people of Syria. Sadly, reports of chemical-weapon attacks in Syria have continued since the original Russian veto, in November. It has become very clear that Russia will do what it takes to protect Syria, whatever the compelling evidence of the crimes committed, and to shut down further investigation and discussion of those crimes. This has come at the cost of Russia's own obligations and credibility as a permanent member of the Council, as a State party to the Chemical Weapons Convention and as a declared and supposed supporter of peace in Syria. The Security Council has been unable to act solely because Russia has abused the power of veto to protect Syria from international scrutiny for the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people. Even today open-source investigations have located a chlorine cylinder, the same kind that the Joint Investigative Mechanism has found that the Syrian regime used, atop a house in Douma full of people who had clearly died from respiratory problems. S/PV.8228 The situation in the Middle East 10/04/2018 6/21 18-10187 I frankly doubt that in 48 hours Russia has verified all similar reports and can conclude that they are all fake. They are not fake; they need to be looked at and investigated by a proper independent mechanism such as the Council was prepared today to pass. Russia's credibility as a member of the Council is now in question. We will not stand idly by and watch Russia continue to undermine the global norms that have ensured the security of all of us, including Russia, for decades. As a P-5 member, the United Kingdom will stand up for international peace and security; it is our moral duty. It is a matter of shame that Russia has once again blocked a draft resolution. The Russian Ambassador mentioned that it was not a question of counting the number of Russian vetoes. I beg to differ. To quote Lenin, quantity has a quality all of its own. Russia's actions today are a step against the rules and authority of the Security Council and the wider United Nations. They are a step against international peace and security and non-proliferation, and they are a step against humanity. Mr. Wu Haitao (China) (spoke in Chinese): China is deeply concerned at reports that the use of chemical weapons has caused civilian deaths and casualties in Syria. We are firmly opposed to the use of chemical weapons by any country, organization or individual, under any circumstances. This has been China's clear and consistent position. China supports the carrying out of a comprehensive, objective and impartial investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria so as to achieve results that are based on substantial evidence and can pass the litmus test of history and truth, bringing the perpetrators and the parties responsible for the use of chemical weapons to justice. There should be no prejudgment of the outcome or arbitrary conclusions. The Security Council has a consensus on condemning the chemical-weapons attacks in Syria, establishing a new investigative mechanism and identifying the perpetrators of the chemical-weapon attack in Syria. All members of the Security Council should remain united and insist that the Council and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons be the main channel for dealing with the Syrian chemical-weapon issue, in an effort to seek an appropriate solution through consultations. The draft resolution that was just put to the vote in the Security Council (S/2018/321) had elements of consensus, including condemning the chemical-weapons attacks in Syria, establishing a new investigative mechanism and urging all parties to cooperate with the investigation. However, on some specific measures, it does not take full consideration of some of the major concerns of certain Security Council members on improving the mechanism's working methods and ensuring an objective and impartial investigation. Against that backdrop and in the light of our long-standing position on the question of chemical weapons in Syria, China abstained in the voting on the draft resolution. The issue of Syria is currently at a critical juncture. China remains firmly seized of the situation and is deeply concerned at the developments on the ground. China has always called for respecting the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria and insists on seeking a peaceful solution to the dispute. We oppose the use or threat of force in international relations and believe that any action taken should be in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. The international community and all parties concerned should stand firm on the imperative need to seek a political solution to the question of Syria, step up their support for the United Nations main channel of mediation, and push for all Syrian parties to seek a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political solution to the question of Syria, in accordance with resolution 2254 (2015). China is ready to work with all parties in an effort to push for a political solution to the issue of Syria. Mr. Tanoh-Boutchoue (Côte d'Ivoire) (spoke in French): My delegation voted in favour of the draft resolution initiated by the United States (S/2018/321) for two main reasons. With regard to the first reason, Côte d'Ivoire believes that the draft resolution conforms to our firm belief that any and all use of chemical weapons in wartime as in peacetime must be condemned and requires investigation to determine those responsible for such acts to hold them accountable. In that regard, the draft resolution submitted by the United States clearly conveys the resolve of the international community to see perpetrators of chemical attacks identified and prosecuted so that they are accountable for their acts. Concerning the second reason, Côte d'Ivoire believes that the text of the draft resolution provides 10/04/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8228 18-10187 7/21 guarantees with regard to the credibility of the outcome of investigations. The text insulates such investigations from any political influence and clears a path for the experts' professionalism and independence and the impartiality of the mechanism itself. By voting in favour of the draft resolution, the Ivorian delegation wanted to show its solidarity with Syrian victims who are suffering from the consequences of an endless war and to help meaningfully safeguard international peace and security. Sadly, my delegation notes that divisiveness within the Security Council prevented the adoption of the American draft resolution, which Côte d'Ivoire painfully regrets. It is time that efforts be made to unify the Council if we want truly to work to achieve international peace and security. Mr. Radomski (Poland): The use of chemical weapons is a serious atrocity, which may amount to a crime against humanity and a war crime. Accountability for such acts is a requirement under international law — and central to achieving sustainable peace in Syria. Draft resolution S/2018/321, presented by the United States, addressed the most pressing needs related to the use of chemical weapons in Syria, including the role of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and its Fact-finding Mission, securing humanitarian access and, last but not least, creating a new, truly independent and impartial accountability mechanism. We thank the American delegation for its ongoing leadership in the negotiations. We appreciate its flexibility and fully understand and share the rationale behind putting this text to the vote today. Because of the use of the veto by the Russian Federation, the Security Council failed once again today to establish an accountability mechanism. By that act, Russia undermined the ability of the Council to fulfil its primary responsibility under the Charter of the United Nations: to maintain international peace and security. We are disappointed that, for some States, political alliances and calculations proved to be more important than the need to end the horrors confronting the civilian population and the unacceptable loss of human life in Syria. Poland supports the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, the Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011, the International Partnership against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons, and other instruments that might facilitate bringing the perpetrators of chemical attacks to justice. We will join all genuine efforts to achieve that goal. Mr. Llorentty Solíz (Plurinational State of Bolivia) (spoke in Spanish): Bolivia reiterates in the strongest terms its categorical condemnation of the use of chemical weapons and the weaponization of chemical agents as an unjustifiable and criminal act, wherever, whenever and by whomever they are committed, as such use constitutes a serious crime under international law and a threat to international peace and security. There is no justification for their use regardless of the circumstances and of who uses them. We therefore reaffirm the need to maintain the unity of the Security Council so as to ensure that those who have used chemical weapons are held accountable and brought to justice so that their actions do not go unpunished. In that regard, we reiterate our support for the work being carried out by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and its Fact-finding Mission so that, in line with their mandates, they can carry out the work entrusted to them in the most methodical, technical and trustworthy manner possible with the support of an independent, impartial, complete and conclusive investigation. We firmly reiterate that the work of an investigative mechanism is essential to ensuring accountability for such terrible acts. To that end, it must be independent, impartial and representative so that a transparent, impartial, complete, reliable and conclusive investigation can be carried out, and, for that to happen, we face the great challenge and the responsibility of not politicizing or instrumentalizing the Security Council. My delegation voted against the draft resolution (S/2018/321) presented by the United States of America, first of all, because we regret that once again a draft resolution was put to the vote with the knowledge that it would not be adopted by the Security Council, and, moreover, because there has already been a series of threats of the use of force accompanied by threats of unilateral action, which, of course, runs directly counter to the Charter of the United Nations. Bolivia once again makes clear its firm rejection of taking unilateral actions, because any unilateral military action that does not enjoy the approval of the Security Council is entirely illegal and contravenes the principles explicitly set forth in the Charter. In addition, any unilateral S/PV.8228 The situation in the Middle East 10/04/2018 8/21 18-10187 military action would violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Arab Republic of Syria, and would affect the stability of the political process and the agreements on which progress has been made under the auspices of the United Nations. Mr. Van Oosterom (Netherlands): In my statement yesterday (see S/PV.8225) I urged the Security Council not to stand idly by and watch as a spectator while chemical weapons were being used in Syria. In our opinion, the Council should act, condemn, protect, and hold to account those responsible. Those elements are all reflected in draft resolution (S/2018/321) put forward by the United States, and that is why the Kingdom of the Netherlands voted in favour of that draft resolution. We thank the United States delegation for drafting the text. We appreciate the earlier rounds of negotiations and the flexibility displayed at yesterday's late-night round. Together with others, we are extremely disappointed that an attempt to set up an effective mechanism of attribution on the use of chemical weapons has failed once again. Today we witnessed the twelfth overall Russian use of the veto concerning Syria, including six pertaining to chemical weapons. As I said yesterday, if the Russian representative claims that the chemical-weapons attack in Syria is a fabrication, he should not veto the draft resolution. By vetoing this draft resolution, the Russian Federation assumes a heavy responsibility for continued impunity and the horrible use of chemical weapons in Syria. Because of this permanent member, the Council is not even able to condemn the use of chemical-weapons attacks this past weekend in Douma, during which the White Helmets once again demonstrated their unwavering commitment to their life-saving work in the most difficult circumstances. With regard to the draft resolution proposed by the Russian Federation (S/2018/175), the Netherlands will vote against it. That draft resolution falls short in every possible way. It seems that the Russian Federation is unable to support an independent and impartial investigative mechanism. It seems that it can accept a mechanism only in which itself can decide when, where, how and by whom the investigation would be conducted, while leaving the mandate attributed to the Council subject to its veto. This cannot be the end of the issue. The Security Council cannot remain passive in the face of the atrocities being committed in Syria. We must continue to work for an effective attribution mechanism, inside and outside the Security Council. Impunity must not prevail. The President (spoke in Spanish): The Security Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution contained in document S/2018/175, submitted by the Russian Federation. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements before the voting. Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): Before I speak about the draft resolution before us (S/2018/175), I would like to say that I am very happy that my British colleague is familiar with the classic works of Marxism-Leninism, although that is hardly surprising, because Marx, Engels and Lenin were frequent visitors to London — indeed, Marx is buried there. But I would like to cite another quotation from Lenin, who wrote an article entitled "Better Fewer, but Better". After the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) on the use of chemical weapons in Syria ended, in November of last year, it was Russia that found itself in the forefront of the efforts to fill the resulting gap. We drafted a resolution on the issue that we submitted to our colleagues for their consideration on 23 January. The Western camp immediately gave the draft text a hostile reception, since it eliminated the loopholes that enabled investigations to be manipulated and handed over to the control of the opponents of Damascus, as occurred with the JIM and which was the reason for its premature demise. I want to emphasize that we have not invented anything new in our text, but have merely brought the principles for the work of the new mechanism in line with the standards of the Chemical Weapons Convention. We now have a real opportunity to create a genuinely independent and impartial working mechanism that would help the Security Council to identify those responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the context of the conflict in Syria. All that it needs is for Council members to vote in favour of our draft resolution, and we call on them to do that. The President (spoke in Spanish): I shall now put to the vote the draft resolution contained in document S/2018/175, submitted by the Russian Federation. A vote was taken by show of hands. 10/04/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8228 18-10187 9/21 In favour: Bolivia (Plurinational State of), China, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation Against: France, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America Abstaining: Côte d'Ivoire, Kuwait The President (spoke in Spanish): The draft resolution received 6 votes in favour, 7 votes against and 2 abstentions. The draft resolution was not adopted, having failed to obtain the required number of votes. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements following the voting. Ms. Pierce (United Kingdom): As I have taken the floor once today already, I will be brief. With regard to Karl Marx, I think he must be turning in his grave to see what the country that was founded on many of his precepts is doing in the name of supporting Syria by condoning the use of chemical weapons on Syrian territory. We voted against the Russian draft resolution (S/2018/175) for a number of reasons. The Russian text is a distraction. It has lain dormant around the Security Council for weeks. There was no attempt to meet other Council members' concerns in its drafting, unlike the United States text (S/2018/321), which had adapted its original preferences precisely to try to meet those of the Russian Federation and others. The Russian text does nothing to bring a political process any closer. Specifically, it moves the parameters on access and imparts a quasi-judicial standard — "beyond a reasonable doubt" — that is inappropriate for the type of investigation that the Council wishes to establish. If the Russians want a criminal investigation, they could always suggest that we refer the matter to the International Criminal Court. Furthermore, there is selective quoting of the Chemical Weapons Convention to undermine the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism, and it takes a selective approach to the parameters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. But, above all, the text is unacceptable because it seeks to assert that sovereign States are above international law and international norms. That is breathtaking both in its arrogance and its ignorance, and for that reason alone, if not the others, we could not support it. Mrs. Haley (United States of America): Yesterday I said that history will record this moment (see S/PV.8225) as one when we as the Security Council either lived up to our responsibilities or showed our complete failure to protect the Syrian people. Today we have our answer. The votes have been cast. The record will show that today some countries decided to stand up for truth, accountability and justice for the Syrian people. Most countries saw the horror that took place in Douma last weekend at the hands of the Al-Assad regime and realize that today was a time for action. Month after month, the Al-Assad regime, with the full support of Russia and Iran, has strung the Security Council along. They ignored our calls for a ceasefire, for political dialogue and for deliveries of humanitarian aid. They ignored our calls to stop using chemical weapons — weapons that are universally banned from war. And then, last weekend, the Al-Assad regime forced a moment of reckoning on all of us by gassing people in Douma. The United States and the countries that joined us today could not allow that attack to go unanswered. The record will not be kind to one permanent member of the Council. Unfortunately, Russia has again chosen the Al-Assad regime over the unity of the Security Council. We have said before that Russia will stop at nothing to shield the Al-Assad regime, and now we have our answer. Russia has trashed the credibility of the Council. It is not interested in unity or compromise. Whenever we propose anything meaningful to Russia, Russia vetoes it. It is a travesty. It has now officially vetoed draft resolutions that would hold Al-Assad accountable for these barbaric chemical attacks six times. Things did not have to turn out this way. For weeks, the United States has led transparent, good-faith negotiations with all Security Council members to establish an attribution mechanism for chemical weapons in Syria. We started from the simple premise that every Council member would want to know who was responsible for using those barbaric and illegal weapons. We did everything to accommodate Russia's views. Russia surprised us with a proposed draft resolution (S/2018/175), calling all of us into the S/PV.8228 The situation in the Middle East 10/04/2018 10/21 18-10187 Security Council Chamber and handing out the draft text on the spot. After hearing widespread concerns about its draft resolution, Russia moved ahead anyway, accommodating no one's views. We could have done the same, but instead we tried to take as much as we could from Russia's draft text, while maintaining an impartial and independent process. We negotiated in good faith. Many aspects of our draft resolutions were similar. Russia said that the investigators should have safe access to the places where chemical weapons were used. We agreed. Russia said that it wanted an impartial, independent and professional investigation. We agreed. Russia said that the investigators should be recruited on as wide a geographical basis as possible. We agreed. Russia said that it wanted reports on the activities of non-State actors involving chemical weapons. Although that sounded to us like an attempt to distract from the Al-Assad regime, we included Russia's request. We even gave our mechanism the name that Russia wanted — the United Nations independent mechanism of investigation. There were really only two key differences between our draft resolution and that of Russia, but those differences speak volumes. First, Russia wanted to give itself the opportunity to approve the investigators who were chosen for the task. Secondly, Russia wanted the Security Council to assess the findings of any investigation before any report was released. Does any of that sound independent or impartial? Russia's proposal was not about an independent and impartial investigation at all. It was all about protecting the Al-Assad regime. This is a sad day. The United States takes no pleasure in seeing Russia exercise its sixth veto on the issue of chemical weapons in Syria. Only last week, we had hoped that the one-year anniversary of the Khan Shaykun attack might be the start of a renewed partnership to combat chemical weapons. However, those deadly weapons have been used on Syrian families again. When the people of Douma, along with the rest of the international community, looked to the Council to act, one country stood in the way. History will record that. History will record that, on this day, Russia chose to protect a monster over the lives of the Syrian people. Mr. Wu Haitao (China) (spoke in Chinese): China has stated its principled position on the chemical weapons attack in Syria. The draft resolution on the establishment of a new investigative mechanism submitted by the Russian Federation (S/2018/175) condemns the chemicals weapons attack in Syria and calls for the creation of a new investigative mechanism to establish the facts and the truth. We can all agree on those positive elements. In addition, it proposes improved working methods compared to previous investigative mechanism and set out concrete steps to carry out a robust on-site investigation on the ground and to ensure impartiality in the process of collecting evidence. As a result, the new investigative mechanism would be able to function with greater professionalism and to reach a truly credible conclusion. Those elements are in line with China's principled position. We support Russia's draft resolution. China regrets that the draft resolution was not adopted. Mr. Ndong Mba (Equatorial Guinea) (spoke in Spanish): I am taking the floor following the voting on the two draft resolutions (S/2018/175 and S/2018/321) above all to express our frustration over the fact that the Security Council was not able to adopt either the first or the second draft, which sought to give the Council an independent and professional mechanism with a mandate to attribute responsibility for the use of chemical weapons, despite the fact that all Security Council members expressed their desire in that regard. That is precisely why we voted in favour of both draft resolutions in the hope of having a new monitoring mechanism to attribute responsibility so as to protect people from the terrible and harmful effects of such chemical weapons. Despite the negative outcome of the voting on both draft resolutions, the Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, whose position on the use of chemical weapons we have clearly set out during the debates on the issue, wants the members of the Security Council to seek and to explore other alternative draft texts that could merit the joint agreement or the consensus of the Security Council so that we can establish that new mechanism as soon as possible. That is what the people who are suffering, or in the future may suffer, the terrible effects of chemical weapons hope and expect of the Security Council. Mr. Alemu (Ethiopia): It is indeed regrettable that the Council could not adopt a resolution to establish a new mechanism that would identify those responsible 10/04/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8228 18-10187 11/21 for the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Establishing such a tool would have sent a quick and unified message regarding the resolve of the Council not to tolerate impunity. That is how we view the defeat of both draft resolutions (S/2018/175 and S/2018/321). However, we were not at all surprised. We voted in favour of both draft resolutions, consistent with our position in reaffirming the importance of setting up an independent, impartial and professional investigative mechanism with a view to ensuring accountability. No doubt, such a mechanism would clearly have addressed the existing institutional gap in that regard, which continues to be a source of major weakness in the fight against impunity. Both draft resolutions sought the establishment of such a mechanism. Clearly, there are differences, among others, concerning some aspects of the accountability mechanism. We believe that we have come some distance in bridging those differences. It would have been a major achievement, both functionally and from the point of view of enhancing trust, which is so greatly needed in order to address the challenge not only of ensuring non-proliferation but also of advancing the cause of international peace and security. That was why we were hoping that we could achieve consensus on the matter and unity within the Council. Frankly speaking, we do not like what we see. At the risk of sounding self-righteous — and the challenge that we face makes taking the risk appropriate — we must say that we are deeply disappointed about the situation that we are in. Since we have no alternative, it remains important that we all persevere in continuing our dialogue and supporting the efforts to ensure unity, without which the Council will not be in a position to discharge its principal responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, in particular repairing the damage to the chemical weapons disarmament and non-proliferation regime. Yesterday, we expressed our concern about the difficult situation we are currently facing (see S/PV.8225). We do not wish to repeat what we said, but allow me to state in closing that we look forward to handling the issue of the alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma, eastern Damascus, with a greater sense of responsibility. That is how we intend to look at the draft resolution from Russia before us, a draft which, in our view, is relatively similar to the draft resolution informally made available by Sweden yesterday, whenever the Council is ready to handle it. Mr. Alotaibi (Kuwait) (spoke in Arabic): I support the statement in explanation of vote on the American draft resolution (S/2018/321) made earlier in the meeting by the representative of the United Kingdom, who said that today is actually a sad day. It is a sad day for the non-proliferation regime, and a sad day for civilians — particularly women, children and the elderly — throughout Syria, and specifically Douma in eastern Ghouta. We ask their forgiveness because we have disappointed them once again. The Council has been unable to establish a mechanism that would hold accountable those who commit crimes by using chemical weapons in Syria. We ask their forgiveness because the Council has been unable to put an end to the serious and gross violations of international humanitarian law, human rights law and many Security Council resolutions condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria. We ask their forgiveness because the Council has been unable to hold to account the perpetrators of crimes related to the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Our position has always been clear. We have called for consensus in the Council on this sensitive issue, which touches on accountability and impunity. We voted in favour of the United States draft resolution because it contains the basic elements that we think are necessary to establish any new accountability mechanism in Syria in order to guarantee its independence, neutrality and professionalism. The mechanism would identify the perpetrators responsible for any chemical attack, and then the Security Council would shoulder its responsibility in terms of sanctions. We abstained in the voting on the draft resolution presented by the Russian Federation (S/2016/175) because it did not include the elements to which I have referred. It would undermine the credibility of the new mechanism by depriving it of its fundamental terms of reference, namely, to determine whoever is responsible in the event of attacks using chemical weapons. We are very concerned about the result of voting today because it will encourage parties to the conflict to continue using chemical weapons in the absence of accountability. Kuwait supported the code of conduct whereby the States members of the Security Council would commit to not opposing draft resolutions dealing with crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes. We also S/PV.8228 The situation in the Middle East 10/04/2018 12/21 18-10187 supported the French-Mexican initiative on abstention in the use of the veto in cases of human rights violations. As a result of the voting today, and based on our commitment to abiding by the four Geneva Conventions and their two Additional Protocols, international humanitarian law and the final outcome of 2016 World Humanitarian Summit, we call again for crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as humanitarian issues, to receive due attention. That would include allowing the safe and sustainable delivery of humanitarian assistance and medical evacuations, and preventing the siege of residential areas. These should be treated as procedural issues; they should not be subject to a veto so that such human tragedies and sufferings are never repeated. Mr. Skoog (Sweden): Like everyone else, we deeply regret that today the Council was prevented once again from establishing a responsibility-attribution mechanism for the purpose of impartially identifying the perpetrators and organizers of the use of chemical weapons in Syria. I am sure we all share a sense of very tragic déjà vu as we repeat the scenario the Council faced in November when the renewal of the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism was blocked. However — and I apologize to all of those who are tired of hearing me say this — we will not give up. Efforts to reach an agreement on a responsibility-attribution mechanism must continue, and we support all serious and genuine initiatives that aim to achieve this objective. We stand ready to help facilitatory efforts to find a way forward. Accountability for the use of chemical weapons is crucial. As we have stated before, the Syrian people suffering from more than seven years of conflict deserve no less from us. They want peace and justice, not further military escalation or impunity. A collective response to the most recent alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma therefore remains urgent and critical. The credibility of the Council is at stake. We must now come together to swiftly condemn the use of chemical weapons in Syria and express alarm at the alleged attack in Douma. We must support an immediate and further investigation through the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and we must demand full, free and safe access without any restrictions or impediments to the fact-finding mission in its immediate deployment to Syria. Establishing the facts of what has taken place in Douma remains an essential first step towards confirming the alleged use of chemical weapons and finding the truth, and we need independent, impartial attribution of guilt followed by full accountability. The Council must remain seized and live up to its responsibility. That is why we circulated yesterday a draft text aimed at finding common ground. We stand ready to work tirelessly to find agreement on a robust, swift and immediate response. We need to come back together again after the failure that we have just witnessed. Mr. Tumysh (Kazakhstan): Our position remains unchanged and consistent. Due to well-known historical reasons, Kazakhstan has always taken a firm and resolute stance of uncompromising condemnation of any use of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons. We do so as that is an extremely heinous action and an unacceptable war crime. We have also been in support of attaching paramount importance to the creation of a new investigative mechanism. That has been strongly reiterated, and we have pressed for its urgency. Impunity for chemical crimes is not acceptable. It sends the wrong signal to those who continue to use or intend to use such an extremely heinous weapon. However, in order to punish anyone, we must be able to prove guilt completely and irrefutably. In that regard, the creation of a full-fledged, impartial and independent investigative tool is of the utmost necessity for all. We have worked in earnest with the delegations of the United States and the Russian Federation. We must recognize that the use of chemical weapons in Syria continues, along with the persistent threat of chemical terrorism, to present a grave reality. In addition, many allegations of the use of chemical agents in Syria are still undisclosed. Based on the aforementioned circumstances and understanding the need to preserve this mechanism, we supported both draft resolutions intended to create new investigative mechanisms. We urge that we all work together for the maintenance and strengthening of international peace and security. Mr. Llorentty Solíz (Plurinational State of Bolivia) (spoke in Spanish): This meeting is an interesting one from a variety of perspectives. One is that Lenin and Marx, two anti-imperialists, have been invoked more than once. What we have seen today is related to that topic. It is a fact that all empires are under the illusion that they are morally superior to the rest of us, that they believe themselves to be exceptional and indispensable and that they are above the law. In this, as in other cases, they do not seek to advance democracy or 10/04/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8228 18-10187 13/21 freedom, but rather ultimately to expand their power and domination worldwide. What we have seen today is a sad reflection of what is happening on the battlefield in Syria and of those interests. I would like to echo the words of the Swedish Ambassador in urging the Security Council not to rest until we are united and can reach consensus, if indeed we believe in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. It is the Charter, and whether the members of the Council can fulfil it, that is ultimately at stake. One of our responsibilities under it is to refrain from taking unilateral action. We hope that principle will be honoured. The President (spoke in Spanish): The Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution contained in document S/2018/322, submitted by the Russian Federation. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements before the voting. Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): We too are sorry that our draft resolution (S/2018/175) was not adopted today, but at the moment neither it nor the United States draft resolution (S/2018/321) would have had any influence on the investigation of the alleged incident in Douma. Right now, that is not what they are about. There is no need to mislead anybody by saying that, or that there were intensive consultations on the American draft resolution but not on ours, or that most of our amendments were supposedly taken into account. Our colleagues will now tell the press that we vetoed their resolution, while modestly remaining silent about the fact that just as with the draft resolutions on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism, they also vetoed ours. Yesterday, during the meeting on threats to international peace and security (see S/PV.8225), there was an emotional discussion of the event, or the alleged event, in Douma on 7 April. Based on the results of the inspection conducted by our specialists, we said that a chemical attack could not be confirmed. Nonetheless, we advocated for the speediest possible investigation of all of the circumstances by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and affirmed our willingness to facilitate its work on the ground. The Government of Syria has sent the OPCW an official request that such a mission be dispatched to Douma as soon as possible. Yesterday, the Swedish delegation put forward a fairly constructive text for a corresponding draft resolution. Unfortunately, their initiative was undeveloped and was trampled down thanks to the confrontational efforts of the United States and its closest allies, which had decided to shift the focus away from the issue of an investigation of what happened on 7 April. That is understandable, because they have already identified the guilty parties. As far as they are concerned, the so-called regime, along with Russia and Iran, is always to blame for everything. The investigation does not interest them. Well, sometimes it does, but only if it is based on so-called exclusive data from the opposition's social networks. For the hundredth time, I would like to ask the same question yet again. Can someone here explain clearly and plainly why Damascus needed this alleged chemical attack in Douma in principle, especially since practically all of the militias had evacuated Douma by then? And the militias who were still being evacuated on 8 April knew nothing about the alleged occurrence of this chemical attack. I will answer my own question. The provocation was desperately needed by the militias who received that very timely support from the United States and other Western countries. We decided to develop the Swedish initiative, and our draft resolution notes the Syrian Government's invitation to the OPCW Fact-finding Mission to visit the site of the alleged event without delay. It welcomes the decision of the Director-General of the OPCW Technical Secretariat to send the Mission to Syria in order to conduct investigative work in line with Chemical Weapons Convention standards. It takes into account the guarantees of safe access provided by the Syrian authorities and Russian military forces. Fifteen days later, the Secretary-General would submit the first report to the Security Council. This is a strictly practical, non-confrontational and depoliticized initiative in support of the OPCW, which would help the specialists in this area determine what did, or rather did not, take place in Douma. And that is the priority now, not the draft resolution on a United Nations independent investigative mechanism, which was hastily submitted for a vote with the obvious aim of seeing both draft resolutions vetoed. We hope that Council members will give this initiative their unanimous support so that the process can begin as soon as possible. According to our information, two S/PV.8228 The situation in the Middle East 10/04/2018 14/21 18-10187 expert groups from the OPCW Fact-finding Mission should leave for Syria by the end of this week. Whatever the excuse that may be given, if the experts do not reach Douma because they have been prevented by those who continue to speculate about the chemical issue in order to smear Syria and Russia, that will be yet another piece of evidence showing that behind this thoroughly false story are dirty geopolitical games and, what is worse, aggressive military plans capable of reversing the positive trend in the resolution of Syria's conflict and inflicting a painful blow on a region already tormented by adventurist assaults. We are witnessing all of that literally in real time. We request that you put this draft resolution to a vote, Mr. President. Mr. Skoog (Sweden): We want swift and resolute action today, and we want the Security Council to shoulder its collective responsibility. But I am not sure that we have exhausted all the avenues that could get us there, nor am I sure that voting on this new Russian draft resolution (S/2018/322) will get us there either. We feel that we are at a very fragile stage of Council deliberations right now, and we need to reflect carefully on the way forward to ensure that we do not jump into further paralysis, with consequences that will be difficult to defend or repair. That is why I would like to ask you, Mr. President, to suspend the meeting right here and now so that we can all move into consultations and carefully and collectively reflect on the next step. The President (spoke in Spanish): The representative of the Russian Federation has asked to make a further statement. Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): We listened carefully to what the Permanent Representative of Sweden has just said. To be candid, we are somewhat puzzled by his statement, because the draft resolution that we submitted (S/2018/322) is, in essence, based on the same idea as the draft submitted yesterday by the Swedish delegation. I do not know what we are going to consult on in consultations. I believe we already consulted on this subject yesterday. However, out of respect for the Swedish delegation and those delegations who would like to hold consultations, we are not against that. But let me say right away that we intend to put this draft resolution to a vote today, after our consultations. We hope that the consultations will be constructive and will not drag on for long, because that is certainly not necessary at this point. We need to adopt this draft resolution in support of the mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in order to establish the facts on the ground as quickly as possible. The President (spoke in Spanish): If there is no objection, I will suspend the meeting. We will continue after our consultations. The meeting was suspended at 4.40 p.m. and resumed at 5.45 p.m. The President (spoke in Spanish): I shall now put to the vote the draft resolution contained in document S/2018/322, submitted by the Russian Federation. A vote was taken by show of hands. In favour: Bolivia (Plurinational State of), China, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation Against: France, Poland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America Abstaining: Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, Netherlands, Peru, Sweden The President (spoke in Spanish): The result of the voting is as follows: 5 votes in favour, 4 against and 6 abstentions. The draft resolution was not adopted, having failed to obtain the required number of votes. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements following the voting. Ms. Pierce (United Kingdom): I will be brief. In the Consultations Room just now, Mr. President, you and the representative of Sweden made valiant attempts at a compromise. We all appreciate what is at stake and thank you for your and Sweden's efforts. But, fundamentally, the United Kingdom could not vote for the Russian text (S/2018/322) because it does not establish an investigation into who was responsible for the attack. It only welcomes the Fact-finding Mission, which is already on its way. I repeat what I said in consultations: the Fact-finding Mission determines whether chemical weapons were used and, if they were, which chemical weapons were used. It does not, and cannot, establish who was responsible for 10/04/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8228 18-10187 15/21 their use — and thus start on the first step on the path to attribution and accountability. For that reason, we are not able to support the text. It would be like watching a fire, identifying that there was a fire, and doing nothing to put it out. The Russians invited us to return to the issue of an investigative mechanism on a separate occasion. I am afraid that the answer to that is 17 November 2017, when Russia vetoed a joint investigative mechanism that it had itself decided to set up. For all those reasons, all it would have taken is a written decision for an investigation set up by the Security Council. Russia could not take that small step, and therefore we were not able to support the draft resolution. I very much regret that, but the answer was in Russia's hands. Mr. Wu Haitao (China) (spoke in Chinese): Recent reports concerning the use of chemical weapons in Douma and the consequent civilian casualties have given rise to serious concern on the part of the international community. China has noted that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has already asked its Fact-finding Mission in the Syrian Arab Republic to investigate the relevant reports. We support the OPCW in sending investigators to Syria so as to establish the truth. We call on all parties concerned to cooperate with the investigation. The draft resolution submitted by the Russian Federation (S/2018/322) expresses deep concern about the alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma on 7 April, strongly condemns the chemical-weapons attacks that took place in Syria and elsewhere, urges the OPCW Fact-finding Mission to carry out an on-site investigation, and provides that the Syrian Government and other parties will ensure the security of and safe access to investigators. The draft resolution is in keeping with China's principled position. China supports and voted in favour of the Russian draft resolution. Mr. Skoog (Sweden): We deeply regret that we have ended up here following a long day of serious efforts to move forward by some of us — I believe. We abstained in the voting on the Russian draft resolution (S/2018/322) a few moments ago because the attribution and accountability track, which we believe is important, lacked clarity. We called for consultations earlier because we felt that, provided there was political will, an opportunity remained for us to come together and shoulder our responsibility today. We put forward a draft resolution (S/2018/321) to all members that we felt was credible and assertive, and was intended to support the Fact-finding Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. It was also very clear in its determination to establish an impartial, independent and professional investigative mechanism, and we had suggested that the Secretary-General help us recommend the best way forward in that area and give him 10 days to come back to the Council. I believe that would have been a much better way forward than where we are right now. I am therefore very disappointed that we have not been able to move forward on this. I thank all those members of the Security Council that were ready to engage, and I just hope that we do not consider this the end with regard to ensuring that the facts will be established and that there will be true accountability and no more impunity for the horrendous use of chemical weapons in Syria and elsewhere. Mr. Ndong Mba (Equatorial Guinea) (spoke in Spanish): I once again express the frustration of our delegation over this afternoon's negative outcome. We abstained in the voting on the third draft resolution (S/2018/322), first of all because it was submitted only very late today and, secondly, because it is lacking compared to the two previous draft resolutions on which we voted in favour (S/2018/175 and S/2018/321). We believe that we should ask the representative of Sweden, Mr. Olof Skoog, not to withdraw his proposal so that following this meeting — perhaps tomorrow afternoon — as was suggested during consultations, we can continue considering and analysing it to see whether we can agree to vote on the draft resolution once we have introduced amendments and reached a consensus on the text that he has presented. Mr. Radomski (Poland): Poland voted against the draft resolution (S/2018/322) presented by Russia. We believe that the draft resolution submitted originally by Sweden was an honest attempt to enable the Security Council to respond promptly to the horrific act of violence that occurred in eastern Ghouta on Saturday. To that end, the Security Council needs to re-establish a professional, truly independent and impartial accountability mechanism. The draft resolution proposed by the Russian Federation is missing that important provision. That is why we had to vote against it. S/PV.8228 The situation in the Middle East 10/04/2018 16/21 18-10187 Mrs. Haley (United States): I thank you, Sir, and members of the Security Council for what has been another frustrating day. My parents always said that you should always see the good in everyone and in everything. I have therefore been trying to figure out what the good is in Russia. I believe that it is very good at being consistent, and I believe that it is very good at playing games. We saw that when we took up the issue of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism. Russia loved the Joint Investigative Mechanism until we found one side guilty, and then it decided that it did not want it. We then adopted the ceasefire, and Russia loved the idea of the ceasefire until Al-Assad had a problem with it and subsequently violated it. Today Russia vetoed for the sixth time a draft resolution (S/2018/321) condemning Al-Assad for chemical-weapons attacks on his own people. No matter what we do, Russia will be consistent. Russia will continue to play games, and once again it is putting forward yet another surprise draft resolution (S/2018/322). The first time that any of us saw it was today at 11 a.m. The Russians held no negotiations. It took no input, and, when Sweden asked that the Council be allowed to discuss the draft resolution, Russia allowed that but did not want any changes to it. There is a reason for which Russia did not want to discuss its resolution, and that is because it does not accomplish anything. The draft resolution mainly asks for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to send its Fact-finding Mission to Douma, but the Fact-finding Mission is already travelling to Douma. It already has a mandate to investigate and collect samples. What makes it worse is that Russia includes several provisions in its draft resolution that are deeply problematic and once again seeks to compromise the credibility of the international investigation. The draft resolution puts Russia and the Al-Assad regime itself in the driver seat for making arrangements for the Fact-finding Mission investigators. We are just supposed to trust that the same Government that says that everything concerning the Douma attack was fake will work in good faith with the OPCW. This draft resolution also tries to micromanage how the Fact-finding Mission should carry out its investigation, while dictating where the investigators should go. As we have always said, for an investigation to be credible and independent, the investigators must choose where they believe they should go. Members of the Council — least of all Russia — should not be calling the shots. For those reasons, the United States voted against the draft resolution. Mr. Alemu (Ethiopia): We voted in favour of the draft resolution (S/2018/322) because we saw value in its adoption as it offered, we thought, the possibility for the protection of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Fact-finding Mission in the Syrian Arab Republic. Frankly, we tried to find weaknesses in the text. We could not. It is a matter-of-fact and uncomplicated draft resolution. We could not find any reason not to support it. Undoubtedly, it would not have made achieving attribution possible, but finding out whether chemical weapon were in fact used would have been a great achievement. Of course, so far the Russian position has been that there was no use of chemical weapons in Douma. Establishing the facts surrounding that assertion or position would have been a great achievement. We are not in a position to take advantage of the guarantee offered or the Council's strong support in that regard. We felt that the Fact-finding Mission needed the support. Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): Frankly speaking, I think all of us have seen everything for ourselves. Unfortunately, the failure to adopt draft resolution S/2018/322 really is a litmus test says a great deal and leaves us extremely apprehensive. We proposed a very innocuous draft resolution, which is moreover virtually a complete repeat of Sweden's draft text from yesterday. I find it difficult to understand which might be the parts where Mrs. Haley read between the lines to discover our scheming and our trickery. Perhaps the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom answered that when she said that they could not adopt the Russian draft resolution — let us say it out loud — because it was a Russian draft resolution. Then everything was clear. The United States representative said that we are very good at playing games. I am not sure about that. What I am sure of is that she is very good at making threats, and the threats that the United States is making with regard to Syria should make us all extremely alarmed, because we may be standing on the threshold of some very sad and terrible events. I would once again like to ask the United States to refrain from executing the plans that it may be incubating for Syria. Unfortunately, the refusal of the United States to adopt the draft resolution speaks to the fact that our 10/04/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8228 18-10187 17/21 American partners and colleagues do not need any real investigation, which is something that we discussed earlier. We regret the fact that the draft resolution was not adopted, although it is true that the Fact-finding Mission will, I hope, reach Syria soon and be able to get to work on its principal mandate, which is establishing the facts about what really happened in Douma. To repeat what I have said once again, in all innocence, the Russian military and the Syrian Government will provide support to the mission in terms of ensuring its security. I hope that does not raise questions for anyone, because it is simply what must be done. We hope that the Mission will be able to make the trip effectively and without delay. Mr. Alotaibi (Kuwait) (spoke in Arabic): I would like to start by thanking Sweden for its efforts and attempts to achieve rapprochement and to smooth over the differences among the members of the Security Council. We are disappointed by the Council's inability to reach consensus on this important matter and by the fact that the divisions among Council members unfortunately continue. We abstained in the voting, despite the fact that the gist of draft resolution S/2018/322 calls for an investigation into what took place in Douma, which is what we called for. The investigation should be undertaken by an international, independent and impartial body, which in this case is the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). However, the OPCW Fact-finding Mission will go to Syria anyway, and the Council welcomed that fact yesterday. There is therefore no need for a draft resolution. What we are looking for is an international, independent, neutral and professional body or mechanism that would investigate the incident and identify the party that has used chemical weapons, if it indeed determines that chemical weapons have been used. That approach will enable the Council to hold the perpetrators accountable, in accordance with resolution 2118 (2013). Mr. Umarov (Kazakhstan): I thank everybody for today's very difficult and unfortunately unproductive day. We voted for the Russian Federation's draft resolution (S/2018/322) on sending a fact-finding mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) as soon as possible because, as we said yesterday in raising this very simple question, we need to know what happened on the ground. Yesterday we were also very clear when we said that there were different and conflicting reports about the number of casualties and even about the very fact that the chemical attack had taken place. We requested and supported the important proposal that a fact-finding mission should go to Douma to establish the facts on the ground. We are not talking right now about who did it, but we are talking about the fact of the event itself. We needed to understand what was there and what had happened there. Sending a fact-finding mission was very important to us and to all the delegations that do not have a presence there to understand the objective reality of the place. Even if the only information obtained is about the kind of substance that was used, that would be very useful for us to understand who the perpetrators might be and at the very least establish the fact that a chemical attack took place. In this kind of understanding, we very much support sending OPCW experts to investigate on the ground in order to give us information on which we can base an objective opinion about the situation. We are not taking sides here, and we were very clear about that yesterday. We would like to receive full, objective, transparent and unbiased information about the facts that we are addressing here. We are therefore glad that the OPCW is sending a group to Douma, regardless of the results of today's voting on draft resolutions. We are hopeful that we can at least get this preliminary information about the situation in Douma. I would like to say once again that we in the Security Council should be objective and base our decisions on the simple facts that may be presented to us by the independent organizations that will determine whether there was a chemical attack or not. Mr. Delattre (France) (spoke in French): After having vetoed a draft resolution that sought to shed full light on acts of violence involving chemical weapons (S/2018/175), including those that took place last weekend, Russia persists in a dual strategy of obstruction and diversion on the matter. The only aim of the draft text on which we have just voted (S/2018/322) was clearly to confuse the issue. It is not a question of disputing the importance of an independent investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) into what happened in Douma on 7 April. That is essential, and the investigation has already been launched. However, the Russian draft resolution, which we had to vote against, did not meet the challenges. S/PV.8228 The situation in the Middle East 10/04/2018 18/21 18-10187 Let us be clear: what we lack today, and what Russia continues to reject, is a truly independent and impartial mechanism that can attribute responsibility in order to prevent impunity. That was the raison d'être for the OPCW-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism. With the establishment of the Joint Investigative Mechanism, set up with the involvement of Russia, we put in place a tool for the essential deterrence of perpetrators of chemical attacks. That is clearly what we lack today. Let us be clear in saying that statements are not enough and that the Russian draft resolution is only a smokescreen that falls well short of the urgent response that the Council should provide. That is why France voted against the draft resolution and why the draft resolution was not adopted. Today I reiterate that France will spare no effort to ensure that the perpetrators of those chemical horrors are identified and held to account in an independent and impartial way. The stakes are extremely high, and we will not give up. Mr. Van Oosterom (Netherlands): We abstained in the voting on the draft resolution (S/2018/322) because we had serious hesitations about the text, as it differed in some crucial aspects from the Swedish text put forward yesterday. First of all, the text makes it insufficiently clear that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Fact-finding Mission in the Syrian Arab Republic already has the mandate for on-site visits, as States have to comply with it. They do not need the Council's authorization. Secondly, the text is unduly restrictive. Paragraph 3 is not a correct reflection of the decision of the Director-General or of his existing mandate. The necessity of on-site investigations is up to the team to decide. My third point is that the fact-finding mission should be able to perform its mandate in complete independence. Fourthly, we do not want the precedent that Security Council authorization is needed for a fact-finding mission to do its work. We are convinced that those were issues that we could have solved if the draft resolution had been put forward for proper consultations. We received it this morning. We regret that those concerns could not be taken into account. My last point is that one colleague said that the litmus test of this evening, and of today, was the voting on this draft resolution. I disagree. The litmus test of today's meeting was the veto by one permanent member on the establishment of an effective attribution mechanism. Mr. Llorentty Solíz (Plurinational State of Bolivia) (spoke in Spanish): I shall be very brief. Bolivia voted in favour of the draft resolution (S/2018/322) for several reasons. One of those is that, although the nature of the events that have been condemned is unknown, the highest authorities of the Organization have pointed out that the United Nations is not is a position to verify the reports of such events. It is therefore essential to establish the truth by means of an independent and impartial investigation. Many of those reports come from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and we know who finances those NGOs. Therefore, we must allow doubts with regard to such sources. Analysing the draft resolution submitted by the Russian Federation word by word, from the point of view of intellectual integrity, commitment to the Syrian people or international law, we found no reason to vote against the draft resolution. Nevertheless, what concerns us is what is being planned outside the structure of this edifice. While it was said today that Lenin and Marx would probably be turning in their graves, I do not know about that. But what is certain is that Churchill and Roosevelt, for example, are turning in their graves because, as founding fathers of the structure of this world order, they endowed the Security Council with the authority to use force to deal with threats to international peace and security. I am not sure that they would be very happy that the outcome of such events, without a full and conclusive investigation, is that some of its members undertake the unilateral use of force. In any case, we remain hopeful that the Security Council will shoulder its responsibility and that, through unity, it can help to identify the perpetrators of any attack against international peace and security, if that is the case. The President (spoke in Spanish): I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of Peru. We regret that we were not able to achieve consensus this afternoon on a draft resolution with regard to the delicate situation in Syria. We underscore that the investigation being carried out on the use of chemical weapons must be complemented by an independent, impartial and professional mechanism that attributes 10/04/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8228 18-10187 19/21 responsibility. That is why we abstained in the voting on this occasion. We reiterate the need for the Security Council to regain its sense of unity on this very delicate subject so that it can fulfil its high responsibilities and thereby alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people. That is why we will continue to explore options on this important matter. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. I remind speakers of the content of presidential note S/2017/507 with regard to the length of statements. I now give the floor to the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic. Mr. Ja'afari (Syrian Arab Republic) (spoke in Arabic): I will give colleagues who are about to leave the Chamber some of my valuable time. They are afraid that I will beat them in the battle of arguments. They become terrified when they hear any opposing views. Those who just left the Chamber said in their statements that today was a sad day for the non-proliferation regime. I would like to refresh their memories and say that violation of the non-proliferation regime is the speciality of the following Western States. The United States of America used nuclear weapons in Japan. It used chemical and biological weapons in Viet Nam and enriched uranium in Iraq. France used Algerian human beings when it tested its first atomic bomb in the Algerian desert in 1960. In fact, it placed living Algerians in the desert tied to poles, and dropped on them the first French atomic bomb. Britain, of course, conducted all its nuclear tests in its colonies on islands in the oceans. The British Ambassador then says that day was a sad day for the people of Douma. English is not my mother tongue, but I know that there are no people of Douma. There are inhabitants in Douma. There are Syrian people. There are no people of Douma. However, beyond Marx, Engels and Lenin, I would like to quote from Shakespeare as saying: "Lies shame you. Speak the truth or remain silent". My British colleague said that Russia does not have the authority to go to Douma and establish whether or not chemicals were used there, stating that it is not within the jurisdiction of our Russian friends, who are on the ground, to go to Douma and investigate the scene. That is quite strange. Britain should have advised itself in the same manner when it sent intelligence officers to Khan Shaykhoun and conferred upon itself the authority to collect samples with the French. They took the samples to British and French laboratories, as they claimed, without coordinating with the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) or the Fact-finding Mission. That is quite the paradox: giving themselves the very right that they deprive others. Approximately two weeks ago, Britain signed an agreement with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia for an arms deal worth $100 billion — much bigger than the Al-Yamamah deal — to continue killing people in Yemen, start new wars in the region with Iran and Syria and entrench never-ending wars throughout the entire region. That is what Britain is capable of doing. Mahatma Gandhi knew the British well, and he was right when he said, "If two fish broke out into a fight in the sea, everyone knows it was Britain that started it". The American colleague said that there is only one monster facing the entire world in defiance today. That monster has financed terrorists in Syria for seven years and provided them with arms. I would say that the monster is the United States, Britain and France. They sponsored terrorism in my country for seven years, and before that they did the same in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. They sponsored terrorist organizations starting with Taliban and Da'esh, down to the Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaida, Jaysh Al-Islam, Faylaq Al-Rahman and the White Helmets, which British intelligence newly invented. The monster she spoke of unleashed lies in order to destroy, occupy and send troops thousands of miles throughout the world to destabilize international peace and security. The monster is the American who, thus far, refuses to destroy his chemical arsenal, as we know, yet lectures others on destroying chemical weapons. My French colleague said that he was horrified by the pictures he saw. But he was not horrified by the pictures of the hundreds of civilians who were killed in the 2016 French air strikes in Toukhar village in the rural area of Manbij. Two hundred civilians were killed, including entire families, by France's war planes. The French Ambassador must not have seen those pictures, and consequently they were not a source of horror for him. The concept of double standards is an understatement for those people. In response to the web of lies spread by some Western States against my country regarding the S/PV.8228 The situation in the Middle East 10/04/2018 20/21 18-10187 alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma on 7 April, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Syrian Arab Republic sent today, 10 April, an official invitation to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to dispatch a fact-finding mission to Douma in order to investigate the allegations of the use of chemical weapons there and to determine the facts about those allegations. I informed members of the Council of that invitation yesterday in this very Chamber (see S/PV.8225). The Syrian Arab Republic welcomes the visit of the fact-finding mission and stands ready to fully cooperate, provide all forms of assistance to the mission in the discharge of its duties and guarantee the safety of its personnel. It will also facilitate interviewing and sampling in accordance with the terms of reference. Syria looks forward to the fact-finding mission carrying out its work in a full, transparent and professional manner and while relying on credible and tangible evidence. If it does deploy, it will find Douma liberated and it will be granted full access to any location it wishes to visit. The situation is quite clear. The co-sponsors of the American draft resolution (S/2018/321) do not seek the truth, because it will simply expose them and their terrorist proxies on the ground. Instead of waiting for the OPCW fact-finding mission to determine whether or not toxic chemicals were used in Douma, they present draft resolutions that do not enjoy consensus, nor do they seek truth, but rather establish non-objective mechanisms that pre-empt results in support of their political accusations and agendas. They are aware that a clone of the JIM would not be accepted by the States in the Council that are dedicated to the quest for truth regarding who is using toxic chemicals against Syrian civilians. In that regard, I underscore that the United States, Britain and France made the JIM fail by thwarting it through politicizing its work, putting pressure on members of its leadership and blackmailing them. Consequently, the JIM lacked credibility and professionalism, as it fabricated reports that accused the Syrian Government based on the so-called open sources, of course including the White Helmets, and false testimonies and fabricated evidence emanating mostly from terrorist groups, most important of which is the terrorist Al-Nusra Front and the White Helmets, which is the British misleading media arm of the Al-Nusra Front. The scenario that we witness today is exactly similar to what we witnessed a year ago when the United States of America launched a wanton aggression on the Al-Shayrat air base, which was founded on flimsy arguments and fabricated pretexts stating that the Syrian Arab Army used chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhoun. Those allegations were proven false when the United States and its allies prevented the experts of the JIM from visiting Khan Shaykhoun and collecting samples from the Al-Shayrat air base. Things are crystal clear. The aggression of the United States and its accomplices, throughout history, thrives on lies, deceit and hegemony, as well as on the rule of the powerful. It is a brutal approach that will never respect the rule of law and international legitimacy. For seven years, my country, Syria, has been a stark example of what the United States and Britain did when they unleashed lies, misleading information and fabricated stories in this very Chamber in order to destroy and occupy Iraq. Their actions were grounded on the pretext of a significant lie, that is, the existence of the so-called weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I am compelled each and every time to remind the Council of the position of former Secretary of State Colin Powell when, in this very Chamber (see S/PV.4701) — and I was sitting where the Deputy Permanent Representative of China is seated today — he presented tapes, documents, maps and pictures that were later discovered to have been produced, faked and fabricated by the American intelligence services for the purpose of invading Iraq. The operation was prepared in advance. The same scenario occurred with Libya. The truth must be revealed. For centuries the world has witnessed various instances of occupation and hegemony, whose sole purpose was to loot the wealth of nations, occupy land or impose a geopolitical agenda. However, political immorality has reached a depth today to the extent that Libya has been destroyed and many of its people killed to cover up cases of bribery and financial corruption involving the President of a permanent member of the Council that talks about democracy and freedom. It is so low today to the extent that a permanent State regrettably forces Arab oil-exporting countries to foot the bill for its ongoing aggression and military intervention in my country, Syria. It is a business deal forged between the corrupt with the financial means and a mercenary who has weapons and power. Some permanent members of the Council commit acts of aggression against sovereign 10/04/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8228 18-10187 21/21 countries simply to detract attention from domestic crises and ongoing controversy surrounding their political elite. Following seven years of a dirty terrorist war that was imposed upon us, we in Syria believe that clear options exist — but they pose a major challenge to the majority of Council members. The Council must refute the lies and reverse the political deterioration that the United States, Britain and France are trying to push the Council towards engaging in. It is up to the Council today, and in the future, to make its decision. World public opinion and the people of the free world will judge whether or not the Council has assumed its responsibility to uphold international legitimacy, maintain international peace and security and protect the world against the horrible terrorism that is used and exploited by those three permanent member countries to undermine the stability and self-determination of States. I call upon the members of the Council to uphold a global, ethical and multilateral political system that believes in international law and in the right of peoples to self-determination, and rejects military, political and economic hegemony. In conclusion, my country reiterates its condemnation in the strongest terms of any use of chemical weapons by any party, anywhere and under any circumstances. My country stands ready to cooperate with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to reveal the allegations and lies being promoted by some Western parties so as to justify their aggression and serve their own political agenda. Their fleets are now in the eastern Mediterranean, waiting for the veto in order to start their aggression. I would like to inform those Western parties — and they must pay close attention to what I say — that their threats of aggression, manoeuvres, lies and terrorism will never prevent us — as one of the founding States of the Organization — from exercising our duties and rights under the Charter of the United Nations and our national Constitution to protect our sovereignty and territorial integrity and to fend off aggression from any source. We will not allow anyone — big or small, permanent member or non-permanent member — to treat us the way Iraq and Libya were treated. The meeting rose at 6.35 p.m.

2009/2010 ; Lo scopo di questa ricerca di dottorato è l'analisi geopolitica di una regione transfrontaliera dell'Asia centrale: la valle del Fergana. Tre anni di ricerca sul campo: l'analisi delle frontiere di questa regione attualmente divisa politicamente tra Uzbekistan, Tagikistan e Kirghizistan, la cartografia analitica, le osservazioni, le interviste alla popolazione e agli esperti, la ricerca nelle biblioteche della regione, nella capitale dell'Uzbekistan, Tashkent (presso l'Istituto Francese di Studi sull'Asia centrale – IFEAC) e la ricerca svolta in Francia principalmente presso l'Istituto Francese di Geopolitica (IFG) e la Biblioteca Nazionale di Francia (BNF), sono gli strumenti che hanno permesso lo studio di questo territorio. Il principale obiettivo del lavoro è l'analisi delle rivalità di potere della valle del Fergana. Grazie alla sua fertilità e alla sua importante posizione strategica all'interno del contesto geopolitico centrasiatico, il bacino del Fergana è stato e continua tuttora ad essere una posta in gioco ambita da differenti attori territoriali. La rivalità di potere tra i diversi attori si gioca soprattutto sullo scenario transfrontaliero della regione. Il secondo scopo di questa ricerca è la presentazione e la valutazione di un particolare attore territoriale della valle, il Regionalismo culturale. La parte introduttiva della ricerca si concentrerà su una presentazione del contesto centrasiatico e sulle peculiarità derivanti dalle sue frontiere. In seguito verrà introdotta la "posta in gioco" Fergana con le sue risorse fisiche ed economiche al fine di legittimare l'importanza del territorio. Infine l'introduzione si concluderà con la teoria geopolitica: il perché della scelta della scuola di geopolitica del geografo francese Yves Lacoste per questa ricerca e una prima analisi dello spazio Fergana come regione divisa tra confine e frontiera. Il lavoro è strutturato in due grandi parti. La prima, più teorica, è relativa all'analisi dei tre attori territoriali. Le rappresentazioni dei differenti attori che verranno presentate, non seguiranno un ordine cronologico, ma un ordine concettuale: eventi simultanei verranno dunque analizzati non nello stesso momento, perché relativi a rappresentazioni differenti del territorio Fergana. Il primo capitolo è consacrato all'attore Nazione. Con questa espressione si intende non solo l'attore Stato-Nazione in sé, o meglio gli Stati-Nazione (Uzbekistan, Tagikistan e Kirghizistan), ma anche la Nazione come idea, come politica nazionalistica applicata ad un territorio. La valle del Fergana è diventata una regione transfrontaliera da quando, negli anni '20, fu divisa tra i tre Stati, allora all'interno della Unione delle Repubbliche Socialiste Sovietiche (URSS). Negli anni '90, in seguito alla caduta dell'URSS, il Fergana divenne una regione divisa da frontiere non più interne ma internazionali. Questo capitolo ha come scopo l'analisi di tutte le rappresentazioni dell'attore Nazione per quanto riguarda il contesto Fergana, dalla sua nascita (anni '20) fino all'indipendenza delle Repubbliche (anni '90). Sicuramente la rappresentazione più importante da analizzare è quella della creazione delle sue frontiere. L'attore Nazione è senza dubbio l'attore geopolitico più importante anche perché quello più legittimato in questo contesto territoriale. Il capitolo approfondirà anche le relazioni tra i differenti Stati-Nazione che rappresentano allo stesso tempo: un unico attore (contro la Religione e il Regionalismo culturale) e tre attori differenti quando competono tra loro per il territorio Fergana. Il secondo attore è la Religione. La valle del Fergana è una delle aree centrasiatiche più credenti e praticanti e la religione islamica ha sempre avuto un ruolo importante nella gestione della società ferganiana. Verrà proposta un'analisi di tutte le rappresentazioni della religione nel Fergana: il sufismo autoctono con un'analisi sulla geografia sacra dei luoghi ferganiani importanti per questa corrente dell'Islam; l'Islam tradizionale del periodo sovietico, divenuto un'arma legale utilizzata da Mosca per combattere l'ortodossia religiosa sufi del Fergana; il fondamentalismo wahabbita degli ultimi anni importato dall'Afghanistan, dal Pakistan, dall'Arabia Saudita, come conseguenza dell'invasione sovietica dell'Afghanistan del 1979 e dunque in seguito all'incontro tra i musulmani sovietici e i mujaheddin afgani. In seguito verrà analizzato come le differenti varianti dell'attore Religione si sono opposte, negli anni, all'attore Nazione per il controllo del potere e delle risorse del territorio Fergana. Un fenomeno particolarmente analizzato sarà la politicizzazione dell'attore Religione e come questa politicizzazione ha portato l'attore in questione ad essere l'elemento protagonista di numerosi eventi nel Fergana. Il terzo attore è il Regionalismo culturale. Con questa espressione si fa riferimento all'identità geo-culturale di questo insieme regionale che persiste nonostante le pressioni nazionalistiche e religiose. La valle del Fergana è sempre stata un insieme geografico, politico, sociale, malgrado negli ultimi secoli la sua popolazione si è sempre distinta per il suo alto livello di multietnicità e di disomogeneità linguistica. Questo però, non ha impedito un'amalgamazione sociale di tale popolazione che ha sempre considerato la multietnicità come la normalità e ha sempre attribuito ad ogni "etnia" un ruolo sociale integrato all'interno del sistema Fergana. Popolazioni di lingua e cultura persiana e sedentaria e popolazioni di lingua e cultura turca, sedentaria o nomade hanno sempre condiviso, ognuna con il proprio ruolo sociale, una vita comunitaria all'interno della regione e questa è sicuramente la caratteristica principale del Regionalismo culturale del Fergana. Questo equilibrio cambiò con la perdita di sovranità politica della regione, con l'istituzione dei nazionalismi e la conseguente spartizione della regione tra tre dei cinque nuovi Stati nazionali dell'Asia centrale sovietica. In questo capitolo verranno analizzate le principali rappresentazioni nel tempo dell'attore Regionalismo culturale e come esso si sia opposto agli altri attori territoriali, soprattutto all'attore Nazione. La seconda parte di questo lavoro è stata dedicata all'impatto che gli attori territoriali hanno oggi nella valle del Fergana, soprattutto nelle sue aree di frontiera. Questa parte è il risultato delle interviste e delle osservazioni sul campo effettuate in Asia centrale e in particolare nel Fergana nelle spedizioni del 2007, 2009 e del 2010. Nel primo capitolo verrà analizzata la frontiera di questa regione dal punto di vista teorico, in particolar modo con l'analisi del Fergana come" prima o ultima linea di difesa". Nel secondo capitolo, all'interno di un contesto di base: la differenza tra la frontiera all'epoca sovietica e all'epoca dell'indipendenza, ci sarà un approfondimento della definizione di frontiera centrasiatica, l'esame della burocrazia di frontiera, del posto di blocco e dei documenti del soggetto transfrontaliero. Saranno trattate, inoltre, le tematiche relative alle relazioni commerciali transfrontaliere, come i "tre" Fergana riescono ancora ad interagire malgrado la crescente rigidità delle frontiere e verranno studiate le relazioni sociali transfrontaliere sempre all'interno del panorama ferganiano di oggi. In questo contesto, verranno considerate le interviste svolte nel Fergana, le opinioni riguardo le difficoltà di passaggio e di comunicazione nella valle ed analizzeremo la presenza dei tre attori geopolitici che tuttora giocano un ruolo fondamentale nelle relazioni e nei conflitti di frontiera. Il terzo capitolo sarà dedicato ai centri urbani del Fergana; la loro storia, il rapporto dei ferganiani con le città e soprattutto le rappresentazioni interne ed esterne che i centri urbani hanno assunto all'interno di una regione oggi del tutto transfrontaliera. Il quarto capitolo si concentrerà sulle evoluzioni demografiche della popolazione: il Fergana, che durante gli anni zaristi e sovietici era terra di immigrazione, con l'indipendenza e dunque con la concretizzazione delle frontiere, si ritrova terra di emigrazione. Il quinto capitolo sarà dedicato al Fergana delle infrastrutture: come la strada ferrata e la rete stradale influiscono e sono influenzate dalle mutazioni frontaliere di questa regione. Il sesto capitolo riprenderà degli interrogativi teorici posti all'inizio del lavoro, con un analisi conclusiva sull'odierno "Fergana delle frontiere". La conclusione di questa ricerca, in realtà, è una vero e proprio capitolo di analisi, dove si farà il punto della situazione e si constaterà la persistenza dell'attore Regionalismo culturale, la sua evoluzione e il suo rapporto attuale con gli altri attori geopolitici. Un punto di arrivo fondamentale della ricerca è il fatto che la regione Fergana è cambiata, sotto differenti punti di vista e la popolazione ferganiana ha nuovi punti di riferimento culturali, politici e sociali. Differenti forme politiche e nuove strutture culturali hanno portato la popolazione del Fergana, nel tempo, a mutare la propria immagine e la propria identità: "russa, musulmana, ferganiana", in seguito "sovietica, uzbeca (o tagica o kirghiza), atea, ferganiana" e infine "uzbeca (o tagica o kirghiza), laica, ferganiana". Il territorio, le sue frontiere e la società che lo abita sono cambiati, ma vedremo che, nonostante i forti ostacoli posti dall'attore Nazione, il Regionalismo culturale riuscirà a sopravvivere, adattandosi alle nuove tendenze e ai nuovi modi di interpretare il Fergana. Come ultimo studio sul territorio, faremo degli esempi riguardanti gli eventi più recenti concernenti il Fergana (massacro di Andijan nel 2005, scontri ad Osh nel giugno 2010) ed analizzeremo questi fenomeni alla luce delle rivalità di potere geopolitiche che ancora persistono nella regione. ; Cette thèse de Doctorat propose une analyse géopolitique d'une région transfrontalière de l'Asie centrale, la vallée du Ferghana, aujourd'hui divisée entre les Républiques d'Ouzbékistan, du Tadjikistan et du Kirghizistan. Des séjours sur le terrain répartis sur trois ans ont constitué la base de la recherche, au travers de l'analyse des frontières, de la cartographie analytique, d'entretiens qualitatifs avec experts et habitants, et de recherches bibliographiques dans le Ferghana ainsi que dans la capitale ouzbèke Tachkent – notamment près l'Institut Français d'Etudes sur l'Asie Centrale (IFEAC). Ces périodes de terrain ont été complétées par un séjour de recherche en France, articulé principalement autour d'un approfondissement théorique à l'Institut Français de Géopolitique (IFG) de l'Université Paris VIII-Vincennes et de recherches bibliographiques à la Bibliothèque Nationale de France. L'objet de ce travail est donc l'analyse des rivalités de pouvoir entre les acteurs territoriaux sur l'enjeu territorial de la vallée du Ferghana, bassin fertile à la position stratégique dans le contexte géopolitique centrasiatique élargi. Si le Ferghana a toujours constitué un enjeu disputé par différents acteurs territoriaux, les rivalités des acteurs actuels jouent aujourd'hui surtout au niveau frontalier et transfrontalier. Ce faisant, cette thèse introduit un nouvel acteur dans le schéma d'analyse géopolitique classique: le Régionalisme culturel. Le Régionalisme culturel en tant qu'acteur territorial y fait donc l'objet d'une présentation approfondie ainsi que d'une évaluation de son importance passée et actuelle. Concentrée d'abord sur le contexte centrasiatique et les particularités qui découlent de ses frontières, l'introduction présente ensuite « l'enjeu » Ferghana et ses ressources physiques et économiques, qui expliquent l'importance de ce territoire. Elle se poursuit sur un rapide point théorique sur la géopolitique et la justification du choix de l'école de pensée géopolitique de Yves Lacoste comme cadre théorique de cette recherche, avant de s'achever sur une première analyse de l'espace Ferghana à l'aune des catégories de frontières et de confins. La thèse est structurée en deux grandes parties. La première, à dominante théorique, analyse à tour de rôle les trois acteurs territoriaux qui rivalisent pour le pouvoir sur le Ferghana: il s'agit de la Nation, de la Religion, et du Régionalisme culturel. La présentation des acteurs, de leurs différentes incarnations et de leurs représentations respectives du territoire ferghanien sont ainsi abordés selon un ordre conceptuel ; des évènements s'étant produits simultanément ne sont ainsi pas analysés chronologiquement mais séparément, en tant qu'ils se rapportent aux acteurs évoqués. Le premier chapitre est consacré à l'acteur Nation. Par cette expression nous entendons non seulement l'entité effective Etat-Nation et ses trois incarnations (Ouzbékistan, Tadjikistan, Kirghizistan), mais aussi la Nation comme idéologie qui agit sur le territoire au travers de politiques nationalistes. La force de légitimation de l'acteur Nation n'est pas étrangère à l'accroissement de son importance sur ce territoire, qui l'a sans aucun doute mené au sommet de la hiérarchie des acteurs géopolitiques dans cette région. Ce chapitre analyse les représentations du Ferghana définies et mises en oeuvres par l'acteur Nation depuis son apparition dans les années 1920. La vallée du Ferghana est en effet devenue une région transfrontalière à cette époque, avec son intégration à l'Union des Républiques Socialistes Soviétiques (URSS) et sa partition entre trois des cinq Républiques Socialistes Soviétiques nouvellement créées en Asie Centrale. Dans les années 1990, avec la chute de l'URSS et l'indépendance des trois Républiques, les frontières qui divisaient le Ferghana ne sont plus simplement internes, mais deviennent bel et bien internationales. Parmi les représentations majeures qui font l'objet d'une étude dans ce chapitre, une attention particulière est portée aux frontières nationales, leur création et leur évolution. Le chapitre s'intéresse également aux relations entre les différents Etats-Nations, qui constituent un acteur unique lorsqu'ils rivalisent contre les autres acteurs territoriaux – la Religion et le Régionalisme culturel – mais aussi trois acteurs différenciés lorsqu'ils se disputent le territoire Ferghana entre eux. Le deuxième chapitre est consacré au deuxième acteur territorial, la Religion. La vallée du Ferghana est l'une des régions d'Asie centrale les plus croyantes et pratiquantes, et la religion islamique y a toujours eu un rôle important dans la gestion de la société. Ce chapitre propose d'abord une analyse des représentations de la religion dans le Ferghana : le soufisme autochtone et la "géographie sacrée" des hauts lieux de ce courant de l'Islam dans le Ferghana ; l'Islam traditionnel de la période soviétique, devenu une arme légale utilisée par Moscou pour combattre l'orthodoxie soufie du Ferghana ; le fondamentalisme wahabbite récemment apparu, importé d'Afghanistan, du Pakistan et d'Arabie Saoudite à la suite de l'invasion de l'Afghanistan par les Soviétiques en 1979 et de la rencontre qui s'en est ensuivie entre les musulmans soviétiques et les moudjahiddines afghans. Ensuite est examinée la manière dont les différentes variantes de l'acteur Religion se sont opposées, au cours des années, à l'acteur Nation pour le contrôle du pouvoir et des ressources du territoire Ferghana. Nous y voyons comment la rivalité géopolitique entre deux acteurs varie du tout au tout selon que l'on parle de l'acteur Nation au cours de la période Soviétique ou bien au cours de l'ère ayant succédé à l'indépendance. Une attention particulière est portée au phénomène de politisation de l'acteur Religion et à la manière dont cette politisation a amené la Religion à assumer un rôle de protagoniste dans de nombreux évènements du Ferghana. Le troisième acteur est le Régionalisme culturel. Avec cette expression nous faisons référence à l'identité géo-culturelle de cet ensemble régional, qui persiste malgré les pressions nationalistes et religieuses. Car aussi loin que remonte son existence en tant que lieu, la vallée du Ferghana a toujours constitué un ensemble géographique, politique et social à part entière. Bien que sa population se soit distinguée au cours des derniers siècles par une grande multiethnicité et hétérogénéité linguistique, cela n'a pas empêché un amalgame sociétal de cette population qui a toujours considéré la multiethnicité comme normale, et toujours a attribué à chaque « ethnie » un rôle social déterminé au sein du système Ferghana. Qu'elles soient de langue et de culture persane et sédentaire, de langue et de culture turque et sédentaire, ou bien de langue et de culture turque et nomade, ces populations ont toujours partagé, chacune dans son propre rôle social, une vie communautaire au sein de la région, et ce phénomène est la caractéristique principale de ce que nous appelons le Régionalisme culturel du Ferghana. Cependant, cet équilibre change avec la perte de souveraineté politique de la région, l'avènement du nationalisme sous l'action de l'URSS, et la partition de l'espace entre trois Etats nations de l'Asie centrale soviétique. Ce chapitre analyse ainsi les principales représentations de l'acteur Régionalisme culturel au cours du temps, et comment il s'est opposé aux autres acteurs territoriaux, en particulier à l'acteur Nation. La seconde partie de ce travail est dédiée aux manifestations actuelles des acteurs territoriaux dans la vallée du Ferghana, plus spécialement dans ses zones de frontière. Cette partie est le résultat des entretiens et des observations de terrain réalisés en Asie centrale et dans le Ferghana au cours de séjours en 2007, 2009 et 2010. Le premier chapitre analyse la frontière de cette région du point de vue théorique, à la lumière notamment des catégories géostratégiques de "première ligne de défense" ou "dernière ligne de défense". Dans le contexte d'une modification de la frontière entre l'époque soviétique et celle de l'indépendance, le deuxième chapitre approfondit la définition de frontière centrasiatique, au travers principalement de l'analyse de la bureaucratie de frontière, des postes de contrôle et des documents requis pour le passage de la frontière. Les thématiques liées aux relations commerciales transfrontalières y sont examinées : comment les "trois" Ferghana parviennent encore à interagir malgré la rigidité croissante des frontières, quelles relations sociales transfrontalières subsistent au sein du Ferghana d'aujourd'hui. Les entretiens qualitatifs réalisés dans le Ferghana jouent un rôle majeur pour recenser les difficultés de passage et de communication dans la vallée et déceler, dans les descriptions et jugements recueillis, la présence des trois acteurs géopolitiques qui toujours jouent un rôle fondamental dans les relations et conflits de frontière. Le troisième chapitre est dédié aux centres urbains du Ferghana : leur histoire, le rapport que les Ferghaniens entretiennent avec eux, et surtout les représentations internes et externes que les centres urbains assument au sein d'une région désormais tout à fait transfrontalière. Le quatrième chapitre se concentre sur les évolutions démographiques de la population. Jusque là terre d'immigration tout au long des années tsaristes et soviétiques, le Ferghana est devenu une terre d'émigration avec l'indépendance et la concrétisation des frontières. Le cinquième chapitre s'intéresse au Ferghana des infrastructures, notamment les réseaux ferré et routier, et leur rapport d'influence réciproque mutations frontalières de cette région. Le sixième chapitre reprend les interrogations théoriques posées dans l'introduction et développe une analyse conclusive sur le Ferghana des frontières aujourd'hui. La conclusion de cette recherche dresse le bilan actuel du Ferghana et des rapports entre les différents acteurs géopolitiques, et observe la persistance de l'acteur Régionalisme culturel. Force est de constater l'existence de changements dans la région Ferghana à différents points de vue. La population ferghanienne dispose de nouveaux cadres de référence culturels, politiques et sociaux qui ont pris une importance majeure. Des nouvelles formes politiques et de structures culturelles ont eu un impact sur son image d'elle-même, sur son identité: "russe, musulmane,ferghanienne", puis "soviétique, ouzbèke (ou tadjike ou kirghiz), athée, ferghanienne", et enfin "ouzbèke (ou tadjike ou kirghiz), laïque, ferghanienne". Cependant, bien que le territoire, ses frontières et la société qui l'habite aient changé, et malgré les obstacles forts posés par l'acteur Nation, que Régionalisme culturel a réussi à survivre, en s'adaptant aux nouvelles tendances et aux nouveaux modes d'interprétation du Ferghana. La conclusion s'achève sur les évènements les plus récents du Ferghana; massacre d'Andijan en 2005 et affrontements à Osh en juin 2010, qui sont analysés à la lumière des rivalités de pouvoir géopolitique qui persistent encore dans la région. ; This PhD dissertation proposes a geopolitical analysis of a centrasiatic transborder region, the Ferghana Valley, which is today divided between the Republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. A basis of the research, field trips spread over the past three years enabled the development of instruments such as border analysis, analytical cartography, qualitative interviews with experts and inhabitants, and bibliographical research in the Ferghana as well as the Uzbek capital city Tashkent – noticeably at the French Institute for Central Asian Studies (IFEAC). As a complement to the field trips in Central Asia, a research period in France permitted both a consolidation in geopolitical theory at the French Institute of Geopolitics (IFG) of the University of Paris 8-Vincennes, and additional bibliographical research at the French National Library (BNF). The topic of the research is hence the analysis of power rivalries between "territorial actors" over the "territorial stake" of the Fergana Valley, a fertile basin of strategical location within the larger geopolitical context of Central Asia. Always a stake disputed by various territorial actors over time, the Fergana Valley now experiences power rivalries from contemporaneous territorial actors first and foremost on the border and transborder levels. By doing so, the dissertation introduces a new actor in the classical geopolitical pattern of analysis: the cultural regionalism. The dissertation hence offers a detailed presentation of the cultural regionalism as well as an evaluation of its past and current importance. First focusing on the centrasiatic context and the peculiarities which stem from its borders, the introduction presents the "stake" Fergana and its economic and physical resources which explain its importance as a territory. A rapid summary of the theory of geopolitics follows, with the justification of the choice of the French Lacostian school as the theoretical frame of this work. The introduction closes on a first analysis of the Fergana as a space of border or frontier. The thesis is structured in two main parts. The first, more theoretical, analyses each of the three territorial actors which aim for power over the Fergana: the Nation, the Religion, and the Cultural Regionalism. The presentation of the actors, of their respective embodiments and of their manifestations within the ferganian territory is organised according to a conceptual rationale; events that occurred simultaneously are thus not considered following a chronological order, but separately, according to their respective relations with the actors evoked. The first chapter focuses on the actor Nation. By this word we understand not only the effective entity of the Nation-State, and its three embodiments (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan), but also the Nation as an ideology which acts upon the territory through nationalistic policies. The force of legitimation of the actor Nation did certainly not have a neutral role in the rise of this actor in the Ferganian landscape, a process which led the Nation to the top of the geopolitical actors' hierarchy in the region. This chapter also analyses the representations of the Fergana which are defined and implemented by the actor Nation since its birth in the 1920s. In fact, the Fergana valley first became a transborder region only in these years, through its integration to the Union of the Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR) and its partition between three of the five newly created Socialist Soviet Republics in Central Asia. In the 1990s, following the fall of the USSR and the independence of the three Republics, the borders which divided the Ferghana stopped being only internal, but became real and proper international borders. Among the main representations that this study looks at, a particular attention is devoted to the study of the national borders , their creation and their evolution. The chapter also looks at the relations between the different Nation-States, which form a unique actor when they rival against the other territorial actors – the Religion and the Cultural Regionalism –, but three well different ones when they rival among themselves. The second chapter concentrates upon the second territorial actor, the Religion. The Fergana valley is one of the most pious and practicing region of Central Asia, and the Islamic religion always played a major role in the society's administration and organization. The chapter proposes first an analysis of the religion's representations in the Fergana: the autochthonous sufism and its sacred geography within the Fergana valley ; the traditional Islam of the soviet times, which became a legal weapon used by Moscow to fight the sufi orthodoxy in the Fergana ; the recently appeared wahabbite fundamentalism, imported from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the encounter it induced between the soviet muslims and the afghan mujaheddins. It is then examined how the different variations of the actor opposed themselves to the actor Nation, over the years, for the control over the power and the resources of the Fergana. We look at how the geopolitical rivalries vary dramatically from the soviet era to that of the independence. A special attention is devoted to the phenomenon of politization of the actor Religion and the way this led the Religion to endorse a role of protagonist in many of the Fergana's events. The third actor is the Cultural Regionalism. It is hereby referred to the geo-cultural identity of this regional entity, which persists in spite of nationalistic and religious pressures. In fact, as long as the Fergana has existed as a place, it has always constituted a geographical, political and social whole. Although its population has been characterized during the past centuries by high levels of multiethnicity and linguistic heterogeneity, this did not prevent the societal amalgamation of populations which always held multiethnicity as normality, and always attributed to each "group" a specific social role within the system Fergana. Be they of language and culture persian and sedentary, turk and sedentary or turk and nomadic, these populations always shared, each in its own social role, a common life within the region. This very phenomenon is the main characteristic of what we call the Cultural Regionalism of the Fergana. However, this equilibrium changes with the loss of political sovereignty of the region and the rise of nationalism under the soviet sovereignty. This chapter analyzes the main representation of the actor Cultural Regionalism over time, and how it took stand against the other territorial actors, especially the Nation. The second part of the dissertation as dedicated to the current manifestations of the territorial actors in the Fergana valley, particularly in its border zones. This part results from the interviews and field observation undertaken in Central Asia and the Fergana in 2007, 2009 and 2010. The first chapter analyzes the border of this region from a theoretical point of view, especially in the light of the geostrategical categories of "first line of defence" or "last line of defence". In the context of a transformation of the border from the soviet era to that of the independence, the second chapter explores the definition of the centrasiatic border, mainly through the analysis of border bureaucracy, control posts and documents required to cross the border. The chapter looks at themes connected to the commercial transborder relations : how the "three" Fergana still manage to interact despite growing border rigidity, which social relationships subsist today. The qualitative interviews led in the Fergana are a major source in this process of reviewing the difficulties of passage and communication within the valley, and of tracking the actual presence of the three geopolitical actors which play a major role in the border relations and conflicts. The third chapter focuses on the Ferganian urban centres: their history, the relations that the Ferganians have with them, et above all the internal and external representations of these centres in a now fully transborder region. The fourth chapter concentrates on the demographical evolutions of the Ferganian population. Up until then a land of immigration, the Fergana became a land of emigration following the independence and the materialization of the borders. The fifth chapter deals with the Ferganian infrastructures, especially the rail and road networks, and their relationship of reciprocal influence with the mutation of the borders in the region. The sixth chapter builds on the theoretical interrogations evoked in the introduction of the dissertation and develops a conclusive analysis of the Fergana of the borders nowadays. The conclusion of this research depicts the current Fergana, the relations between the different geopolitical actors and underscores the persistence of the actor Cultural Regionalism. It establishes the existence of tremendous changes in the region Fergana from various viewpoints: the Ferganian population has new frames of cultural, political and social reference whose importance increased dramatically ; new political forms and cultural structures influenced its self-image, its very identity: "russian, muslim, ferganian", then "soviet, uzbek (or tajik or kyrgyz), atheist, ferganian", finally "uzbek (or tajik or kyrgyz), secular, ferganian". However, although the territory, its borders and inhabitants changed, and despite the strong obstacles set by the actor Nation, the cultural regionalism succeeded in maintaining itself, by adapting to the new tendencies and ways of interpretation of the Fergana. The conclusion ends with the most recent events of the Fergana, the Andjian massacre in 2005 and the Osh clash in 2010, which are both analysed in the light of the geopolitical power rivalries which persist in the region. ; XXIII Ciclo

This project is focused on increasing productivity of cultivated trees in Haiti in response to the over-exploitation of native forests and conversion of forested lands to agriculture demands. ; This document summarizes the 5-year results of mahogany (Swietenia) trials in Haiti. These trials are part of a larger tree improvement program that was implemented under the USAID-funded Agroforestry II (1988-1991) project and continued during the PLUS (1992-present) project. The progeny of S. mahagoni and S. macrophylla, selected for their excellent tree form, were established in 2 orchards and 4 arboreta in 1990-1991. Three seed lots of the S. macrophylla x S. mahagoni hybrid were imported from Puerto Rico and St. Croix to compare their survival and growth with selected progeny of the parent species. S. macrophylla and S. humilis provenances were imported from Costa Rica and compared for survival and growth at 2 sites in the southwestern part of the country. Survival: Site survival after 5 years, including both S. macrophylla and S. humilis, was higher at Bérault (59%) than at Labordette (38%). Statistical differences were detected between species at the 1- and 3-year stage at Labordette and at the 1-year stage at Bérault. At both sites, S. humilis showed a higher survival rate than S. macrophylla. This superiority was still evident after 5 years, though not statistically significant at the 0.05 probability level. The S. macrophylla x S. mahagoni hybrid exhibited higher survival than either parent species at the Roche Blanche and Marmont seed orchards, but ranked the lowest of the 3 at the Marmont arboretum. Comparing the two parent species, S. mahagoni survived better than S. macrophylla at four of five trials (Fauché, Marmont arboretum, Paillant, and Roche Blanche). At the 3-year stage, survival of the hybrid averaged 57%, ranging from 51%-67%. Corresponding means for S. mahagoni was 62%, ranging from 38%-82%. S. macrophylla averaged 42%, ranging from 24%-58%. The sites tested were located within the natural range of S. mahagoni in Haiti. Differences in survival among families or seed lot varied greatly depending on site. Survival of the S. mahagoni families ranged from 0%-91% after 3 years; survival of the S. macrophylla families ranged from 0%-100%; survival of the hybrid sed lots ranged from 27%-100%. Differences in survival could not be analyzed at the family or seed lot level because the orchards and arboreta were not designed to test such differences. Height Growth: No differences were shown in height growth between S. humilis and S. macrophylla after 5 years at Bérault and Labordette. The only difference occurred at Labordette after the first year of growth with S. macrophylla 2469 showing a slight superiority over S. humilis 2470. The lowland moist site (Bérault) exhibited a mean height growth of 7.1 m after 5 years compared to 4.4 m at the mountainous site (Labordette). Differences in soil depth and moisture balances largely account for the faster growth rates observed at Bérault. The hybrid achieved mean annual growth rates of 1.0 m/yr and 1.2 m/yr at Roche Blanche and Marmont, respectively, during the first 3 years. The hybrid showed no statistical difference from the families of either parent species at the Roche Blanche orchard. The hybrid was inferior in height growth to selected families of both S. macrophylla (486) and S. mahagoni (465) at the Marmont arboretum after 1 year, but not at 3 and 5 years. At the Marmont seed orchard, the only family that showed superior height growth to the hybrid was S. macrophylla 487 at 1 year. Subsequent years showed no statistical differences among the families of the parent species and the hybrid. Significant differences in height growth between S. macrophylla and S. mahagoni was exhibited at Fauché, the wettest site, throughout the trial period of 5 years. S. macrophylla averaged 10.6 m compared to a mean height of 5.7 m of S. mahagoni. No difference in mean height growth between the two S. mahagoni families was detected. The other trials, established on much drier sites, showed no difference between the 2 species. However, differences were detected between certain families of each species at Marmont and Paillant. S. macrophylla 486 exhibited the best height growth of any single-tree family at Marmont, significantly better than 5 other S. macrophylla families (482, 483, 487, 489, and 497) and one S. mahagoni family (466) after 3 years of growth. Mean height growth of the S. macrophylla progeny ranged between 2.1 m and 6.0 m - a difference of 186% - compared to a smaller range of 3.7 m to 4.2 m - a difference of 14% - for S. mahagoni at the Marmont arboretum after 5 years. S. macrophylla 497 showed better growth than S. macrophylla 494 at Paillant after 3 years - significant at the 0.05 probability level. Diameter Growth: Differences were shown among S. humilis and S. macrophylla provenances at Bérault, but not between the 2 species. S. humilis 2470 exhibited the highest mean dbh (11.6 cm) after 5 years, which was statistically different from S. macrophylla 2469 (9.0 cm), but not the other 2 provenances. This difference was also shown for basal diameter (15.5 cm versus 13.0 cm). The exact opposite trend occurred at Labordette. S. macrophylla 2469 exhibited significantly greater stem growth than S. humilis 2470 after 5 years for both dbh and basal diameter. After 5 years, the Bérault trial averaged nearly twice the dbh growth as the trees at Labordette (10.5 cm versus 5.6 cm). The mean annual dbh rate of the hybrid after 3 years was 1.0 cm, 1.1 cm and 1.3 cm at Roche Blanche, Marmont orchard and Marmont arburetum, respectively. Stem diameter growth was stagnant during the 4th and 5th years because of severe droughts and grass competition of the trial that occurred during 1994-95. Differences in dbh and basal diamter were not shown to be significant among the hybrid, S. mahagoni and S. macrophylla species. The trials that exhibited the best growth (Fauché and the Marmont arboretum) were also the only trials that showed statistical differences among the S. mahagoni and S. macrophylla families. The mean dbh of S. macrophylla at Fauché was 11.4 cm after 5 years, equivalent to a mean annual growth rate of 2.3 cm. This was significantly better than the mean dbh of S. mahagoni (7.0 cm). At the Marmont arboretum, S. macrophylla 486 was the top-ranked mahogany family after 5 years with a mean dbh of 7.1 cm. Significant differences were exhibited between this family and the rest of the Swietenia genotypes at the 0.05 probability level. S. macrophylla 489 was the top-ranked mahogany family in the orchard during the same time period with a mean dbh of 6.8 cm. No differences were shown among the families in the orchard after 5 years at the 0.05 probability level. Merchantable Volume: The Bérault site produced 3 times the volume of lumber quality wood as Labordette. The site average per tree, including both S. humilis and S. macrophylla species, was approximately 5.77 x 10[superscript]-2 m[superscript]3 at Bérault and 1.73 x 10[superscript]-2 m[superscript]3 at Labordette. At Bérault, there was an insignificant difference between S. humilis (5.7 x 10[superscript]-2 m[superscript]3 per tree) and S. macrophylla (5.6 x 10[superscript]-2 m[superscript]3 per tree). The highest yielding provenance was S. macrophylla 1982 (6.8 x 10[superscript]-2 m[superscript]3 per tree) and the poorest production was exhibited by S. macrophylla 2469 (4.3 x 10[superscript]-2 m[superscript]3 per tree). Differences among provenances were not shown to be significant at either site. The provenances that achieved the best height and diameter growth were also the ones that exhibited the highest merchantable volume. S. macrophylla produced 3 times the volume of lumber quality wood as S. mahagoni at Fauché, on a per tree basis. However this difference decreased to double the volume, on a per hectare basis, because of the lower survival of S. macrophylla. Differences in volume yield between the 2 families of S. mahagoni were not significant at the 0.05 probability level. Recommendations: Although USAID support for this tree improvement phase of the PLUS project has ended, much needs to be done to protect Haiti's rich heritage of mahogany, and to restore the population of this valuable lumber source by making seed of selected genotypes available to farmers and land owners. The following activities are recommended to avoid jeopardizing the progress that has been accomplished to date. (1) Selectively thin the two seed orchards at Roche Blanche and Marmont by eliminating the inferior individuals and maintaining a balanced number of well-formed individuals of each genotype. The outcrossing of progeny from plus trees and the production of vigorous offspring is the first step in the production of improved seed. Seed production is not forecasted until 12-13 years of age (Lamb, 1966) or 2002. (2) Distribute seed lots from the orchards according to life zone considerations and through centralized nurseries that can track source-identified germplasm. Seed should be collected from the S. mahagoni and S. macrophylla x S. mahagoni hybrids for dry and moist forest regions of Haiti; that of S. macrophylla and the hybrids for moist to wet forest zones. Efforts should be made to study the flowering patterns of the orchard trees and observe the variability of their progeny in the nursery. Mahagony is largely pollinated by insects and normally outbreeds, but can set a high quantities of seed by self-pollination (Yang, 1965, Styles and Khosla, 1976). The orchards should be rogued based on the field performance of their progeny. (3) Selectively thin the arboreta and the S. humilis/S. macrophylla provenance trials to encourage development of the best-formed individuals. These trees should be selected based on desirable characteristics such as (1) stem form and volume, (2) pest and disease resistance, (3) symmetrical crowns and ideal crown:dbh ratio, and (4) overall survival and vigor. The S. humilis provenances are the only representatives of the species in Haiti and should be observed carefully vis-à-vis the S. macrophylla. The S. macrophylla provenances may be an important addition to the genetic diversity of the species in Haiti since most of what has spread in Haiti originates from the narrow genetic base of the stands at Franklin and Bayeux. (4) If additional orchards are established, select a wide base of plus trees, including second generation individuals located in the arboreta and orchards, and vegetatively propogate them via procedures outlined in Howard et al. (1988) and Leakey et al. (1990). Vegetative propagation of a selected genotype reduces the risk of introducing less desirable gene complexes that result from outbreeding of the mother trees. (5) Progeny trials, designed to optimally test for genetic differences among families, should be installed and monitored for a rotation age (at least 20 years) with a wide selection of genotypes from the orchards to prove their superiority over unselected genotypes. This step is critical to fulfill the requirements of certified seed. Characteristics qualifying genetic stock for the level certified must be carefully spelled out, as are the environmental conditions under which a particular genotype is expected to give above-average performance. These trials can later be rogued and converted to seed orchards for improved lines of mahogany in Haiti. They should be established with the support of the Service des Ressources Forestières, satisfying long term security and supervision requirements. (6) Monitor any natural regeneration or seedlings originating from the orchards to confirm the pattern and degree of heterosis (i.e., hybridization) and its effects on survival, growth rates and form. Most mahogany currently cultivated by Haitian farmers are pure S. mahagoni. However, demand for the hybrid may increase because of its superior form and faster growth rates on selected sites. Gene banks of pure S. mahagoni, selected throughout Haiti and the island of Hispaniola, should be established to continue efforts to conserve the remaining gene pool of a species that has economic importance, but that has been seriously high-graded throughout the history of Haiti. (7) Inform the Service des Ressources Forestière (MARNDR) of the importance and urgency to develop a long-term strategy, integrating genetic conservation and improvement of S. mahagoni as a native species of economic value. Coordinate the transfer of information from the wide range of international organizations involved with genetic conservation and improvement of mahagony in Central America and the Caribbean, particularly efforts undertaken by CATIE and IITF in collaboration with universities and international organizations (Glogiewicz, 1986; Newton et al., 1993). The government should encourage private sector investment in the certified production of mahogany wood products and seed with a view of developing management guidelines that combine conservation with production. ; Ce document résume les résultats de 5 ans de recherches sur l'acajou (Swietenia) en Haiti. Ces essais font partie d'un programme plus large d'amélioration génétique forestière qui a été implanté sous l'égide du Projet d'Agroforesterie II (1988-1991) financé par l'USAID et qui s'est poursuivi sous le Projet PLUS (de 1992 à nos jours). Les progénitures de S. mahogani et S. macrophylla, sélectionnées pour l'excellente forme de l'arbre, ont été établies dans 2 vergers et 4 arboreta en 1990-1991. Trois lots de semence de l'hybride S. macrophylla x S. mahogani ont été importés de Porto-Rico et de Ste Crois pour comparer leur survie et leur croissance à celles des progénitures sélectionnées des espèces parentales. Les provenances de S. macrophylla et S. humilis ont été importées de Costa Rica et comparées pour la survie et la croissance sur 2 sites dans le sud-ouest du pays. Survie: Après 5 ans d'établissement des essais, le taux de survie pour le site, tant pour le S. macrophylla que pour le S. humilis, a été plus élevé à Bérault (59%) qu'à Labordette (38%). Des différences statistiques ont été détectées entre les espèces à 1 et 3 ans à Labordette et à 1 an à Bérault. Aux deux sites, le S. humilis a montré un taux de survie plus élevé que le S. macrophylla. Cette supériorité a toujours persisté après 5 ans, bien qu'aucune différence statistique à 0,05 de probabilité n'ait été observée. L'hybride du S. macrophylla x S. mahogani a accusé un taux de survie plus élevé, comparé aux espèces parentales tant à Roche Blanche que dans les vergers producteur de graines de Marmont, mais s'est classé le dernier des 3 à l'arboretum de Marmont. En comparant les deux espèces parentales, le S. mahogani a mieux survécu que le S. macrophylla dans quatre des cinq essais (Fauché, arboretum de Marmont, Paillant et Roche Blanche). Au stade de 3 ans, l'hybride a accusé une survie moyenne de 57%, variant de 51% à 67%. La moyenne correspondante pour S. mahogani a été de 62%, passant de 38% à 82%. S. macrophylla a donné une moyenne de 42%, allant de 24% à 58%. Les site testés sont situés dans l'aire de distribution naturelle de S. mahogani en Haiti. Les différences de survie entre les familles ou lots de semences ont beaucoup varié dépendant du site. La survie des familles de S. mahogani a varié de 0% à 91% pendant 3 ans; celle de S. macrophylla de 0% à 100%; celle de l'hybride de 27% à 100%. Des différences de survie n'ont pas pu être analysées au niveau de la famille ou de lot de semences parce que les vergers et arboreta n'ont pas été conçus pour tester de telles différences. Croissance en Hauteur: Il n'y a eu aucune différence significative dans la croissance en hauteur entre le S. humilis et le S. macrophylla après 5 ans à Bérault et à Labordette. La seule différence s'est manifestée à Labordette après la première année de croissance avec le S. macrophylla 2469 qui a montré une légère supériorité sur le S. humilis 2470. Le site humide de basse altitude (Bérault) a accusé une croissance moyenne en hauteur de 7,1 m après 5 ans, comparé à 4,4 m au site montagneux (Labordette). Les différences de profondeur de sol et d'humidité expliquent largement les taux de croissance plus rapides observés à Bérault. L'hybride a accusé des taux de croissance annuelle de 1,0 m/an et 1,2 m/an à Roche Blanche et Marmont, respectivement, pendant les trois premières années. Il n'a pas montré de différence statistique avec les familles des espèce parentales au verger de Roche Blanche. Il s'est montré inférieur pour la croissance en hauteur comparé aux familles tant du S. macrophylla (486) que du S. mahogani (465) à l'arboretum de Marmont après 1 an, mais pas à 3 et 5 ans. Au verger à graines de Marmont, la seule famille qui ait montré une croissance en hauteur supérieure à celle de l'hybride, a été le S. macrophylla (487) à 1 an. Pour les années suivantes, il n'y a pas eu de différence significative entre les familles des espèces parentales et l'hybride. Des différences significatives de croissance en hauteur entre le S. macrophylla et le S. mahogani, ont été observées à Fauché, le site le plus humide, pour toute la période de 5 ans des essais. S. macrophylla a accusé une hauteur moyenne de 10,6 m, contre 5,7 m du S. mahogani. Aucune différence dans la croissance en hauteur entre les deux familles de S. mahogani n'a été détectée. Les autres essais, établis sur les sites plus secs, n'ont révélé aucune différence entre les 2 espèces. Cependant, des différences ont été détectées entre certaines familles de chaque espèce à Marmont et à Paillant. S. macrophylla 486 a manifesté la meilleure croissance en hauteur de famille issue d'un seul arbre à Marmont, significativement meilleure que 5 autres familles de S. macrophylla (482, 483, 487, 489, et 497) et une famille de S. mahogani (466) après 3 ans de croissance. La croissance moyenne en hauteur de la progéniture de S. macrophylla a varié entre 2,1 m et 6,0 m - une différence de 186% - comparée à une variation moins grande de 3,7 m à 4,2 m - une différence de 14% - pour le S. mahogani à l'arboretum de Marmont après 5 ans. Le S. macrophylla 497 a montré une meilleure croissance que le S. macrophylla 494 à Paillant après 3 ans - difference significative à 0,05 de probabilité. Croissance en Diamètre: Des différences ont été décelées entre les provenances de S. hummilis et de S. macrophylla à Bérault, mais pas entre les 2 espèces. S. humilis 2470 a accusé le dhp moyen le plus élevé (11,6 cm) après 5 ans, ce qui est statistiquement différent du S. macrophylla 2469 (9,0 cm), mais pas des 2 autres provenances. Cette différence à été aussi observée pour le diamètre basal (15,5 cm versus 13,0 cm). Exactement la tendance contraire a été observée à Labordette. S. macrophylla 2469 a accusé une croissance de tige significativement supérieure à celle de S. humilis 2470 après 5 ans, tant pour le dhp que pour le diamètre basal. Après 5 ans, l'essai de Bérault a donné une moyenne de croissance en dhp environ deux fois supérieure à celle des arbres à Labordette (10,5 cm versus 5,6 cm). Le taux de croissance moyenne en dhp de l'hybride après 3 ans a été de 1,0 cm, 1,1 cm et 1,3 cm au verger de Roche Blanche, à celui de Marmont et à l'arboretum de Marmont, respectivement. La croissance en diamètre de tige a été stagnante pendant les 4ème et 5ème années à cause de sécheresses sévères et de la compétition des mauvaises herbes dans l'essai pendant la période 1994-95. Les différences en dhp et diamètre basal n'ont pas été significatives entre l'hybride et les espèces de S. mahogani et S. macrophylla. Les essais qui ont montré la meilleure croissance (à Fauché et à l'arboretum de Marmont) ont été les seuls essais qui ont accusé des différences statistiques entre les familles de S. mahogani et de S. macrophylla. Le dhp moyen de S. macrophylla à Fauché a été de 11,4 cm après 5 ans, équivalent à un taux de croissance moyenne annuelle de 2,3 cm. Ce résultat a été significativement meilleur que le dhp moyen de S. mahogani (7,0 cm). A l'arboretum de Marmont, le S. macrophylla 486 a été classé le premier parmi les familles d'acajou après 5 ans, avec un dhp moyen de 7,1 cm. Des différences significatives ont été décelées entre cette famille et le reste des génotypes de Swietenia à 0,05 de probabilité. Le S. macrophylla 489 a été classé comme la meilleure famille d'acajou du verger pendant la même période avec un dhp moyen de 6,8 cm. Il n'y a pas eu de différences significatives entre les familles du verger après 5 ans à 0,05 de probabilité. Volume marchand: Le site de Bérault produisit 3 fois plus de volume de bois scié de qualité que celui de Labordette. La moyenne du site par arbre, y compris les deux espèces S. humilis et S. macrophylla, a été approximativement de 5,77 x 10[superscript]-2 m[superscript]3 à Labordette. A Bérault, il n'y a pas eu de différence significative entre le S. humilis (5,7 x 10[superscript]-2 m[superscript]3 par arbre) et le S. macrophylla (5,6 x 10[superscript]-2 m[superscript]3 par arbre). La provenance la plus productive a été le S. macrophylla 1982 (6,8 x 10[superscript]-2 m[superscript]3 par arbre) et la moins performante a été le S. macrophylla 2469 (4,3 x 10[superscript]-2 m[superscript]3 par arbre). Il n'y a pas eu de différences significatives entre les provenances à aucun des sites. Les provenances qui ont atteint la meilleure croissance en hauteur et en diamètre ont été aussi celles qui ont donné le volume de bois marchand le plus élevé. S. macrophylla produisit 3 fois plus de volume de bois scié de qualité que le S. mahogani à Fauché, sur une base par arbre. Cependant, cette différence diminua au double du volume, sur une base par hectare, à cause du plus bas taux de survie du S. macrophylla. Les différences de rendements en volume entre les 2 familles du S. mahogani n'ont pas été significatives à 0,05 de probabilité. Recommandations: Bien que le financement par l'USAID de la section d'amélioration génétique forestière ait pris fin, il reste encore beaucoup à faire pour protéger le riche héritage de l'acajou, et pour restaurer la population de cette source de bois précieux en mettant à la disposition des fermiers et des propriétaires terriens, des semences de génotypes sélectionnés. Les activités suivantes sont recommandées pour éviter de perdre les bénéfices de ce qui a été accompli jusqu'ici: (1) Procéder à l'éclairie sélective des deux vergers à Roche Blanche et Marmont, en éliminant les individus inférieurs et en maintenant une quantité équilibrée d'individus bien formés de chaque génotype. Le croisement entre progénitures des arbres sélectionnés et la production de descendants vigoureux est la première étape dans la production de semences améliorées. La production de semences n'est pas prévue avant l'âge de 12-13 ans (Lamb, 1996) ou avant 2002. (2) Distribuer des lots de semences provenant des vergers en tenant compte des zones écologiques et à travers des pépinières centralisées qui permettent de suivre la trace du germoplasme de sources identifiées. Des semences de S. mahogani et des hybrides de S. macrophylla x S. mahogani devraient être collectées pour les régions forestières humides d'Haiti; celles du S. macrophylla et des hybrides pour les zones forestières humides et pluvieuses. Des efforts devraient être faits pour étudier les époques de floraison des arbres des vergers et observer la variabilité de leurs progénitures en pépinière. L'acajou est largement pollinisé par les insectes et par la pollinisation croisée naturelle, mais peut donner une grande quantité de semences par auto-pollinisation (Yang, 1965; Styles et Khosla, 1976). Les vergers devraient être sélectionnés sur la base de la performance des progénitures sur le terrain. (3) Procéder à des éclaircies sélectives des arboreta et des essais de provenances de S. humilis et de S. macrophylla pour encourager le développement des individus les mieux formés. Ces arbres devraient être sélectionnés sur las base de caractéristiques désirables telles que: (1) forme de tige et volume, (2) résistance aux pestes et aux maladies, (3) couronnes symétriques et rapport couronne idéale:dhp, et (4) survie générale et vigeur. Les provenances de S. humilis sont les seuls représentants de l'espèce en Haiti et devraient être observées soigneusement par rapport au S. macrophylla. Les provenances de S. macrophylla peuvent constituer un important apport à la diversité génétique de l'espèce en Haiti, étant donné que ce qui a été promu en Haiti vient de la base génétique étroite des peuplements établis à Franklin et Bayeux. (4) Si de nouveaux vergers sont établis, sélectionner une large base d'arbres phénotypiquement supérieurs, y compris la seconde génération d'individus dans les arboreta et les vergers, et les propager végétativement via des procédures esquissées dans Howard et al. (1988) et Leakey et al. (1990). La propagation végétative de génotypes sélectionnés réduit les risques d'introduire des complexes de gènes moins désirables résultant du croisement des arbres-mères. (5) Des essais de progénitures, planifiés pour tester de façon optimum les différences génétiques entre les familles, devraient être installés et suivis pour une période de rotation (au moins 20 ans) avec une sélection large de génotypes venant des vergers pour prouver leur supériorité sur les génotypes non sélectionnés. Cette étape est critique pour satisfaire les exigences de semences certifiées. Les critères de qualification du stock génétique pour las certification devraient être clairement définis, aussi bien que les conditions environnementales sous lesquelles un génotype particulier est supposé donner une performance au-dessus de la moyenne. Ces essais peuvent être éliminés plus tard et convertis en vergers producteurs de graines pour des lignées améliorées d'acajou en Haiti. Ils devraient être établis avec le support du Service des Ressources Forestières, pour répondre aux exigences de sécurité à long terme et de supervision. (6) Contrôler toute régénération naturelle ou plantules venant des vergers pour confirmer le modèle et le degré d'hétérosis (i.e. hybridation) et ses effets sur la survie, les taux de croissance et la forme. La plupart des acajous plantés en Haiti sont des lignées pures de S. mahagoni. Cependant, la demande pour l'hybride peut augmenter à cause de la supériorité de sa forme et les taux de croissance plus rapides sur les sites testés. Les banques de gènes de lignées pures de S. mahogani, sélectionnées à travers Haiti et l'île d'Hispaniola, devraient être établies pour continuer les efforts de conserver le mélange génétique restant d'une espèce économiquement importante, qui a toujours été considérée comme une espèce de bois précieux en Haiti. (7) Informe le Service des Ressources Forestières du MARNDR de l'importance et de l'urgence de développer une stratégie à long terme, intégrant la conservation génétique et l'amélioration du S. mahogani comme une espèce indigène de valeur économique. Coordonner le transfert des informations venant d'une série d'organisations internationales impliquées dans la conservation génétique et l'amélioration de l'acajou en Amérique Centrale et dans les Caraibes. Citons particulièrement les efforts entrepris par CATIE et IITF dans la collaboration avec des universités et des organisations internationales (Glogiewicz, 1986, Newton et al., 1993). Le gouvernement devrait encourager le secteur privé à investir dans la production de produit fabriqués avec du bois d'acajou certifé et de semences avec pour objectif de développer des grandes lignes de gestion qui combinent la conservation et la production.

Threats To International Peace And Security. The Situation In The Middle East ; United Nations S/PV.8225 Security Council Seventy-third year 8225th meeting Monday, 9 April 2018, 3 p.m. New York Provisional President: Mr. Meza-Cuadra . (Peru) Members: Bolivia (Plurinational State of). . Mr. Inchauste Jordán China. . Mr. Wu Haitao Côte d'Ivoire. . Mr. Tanoh-Boutchoue Equatorial Guinea. . Mr. Ndong Mba Ethiopia. . Mr. Alemu France. . Mr. Delattre Kazakhstan. . Mr. Umarov Kuwait. . Mr. Alotaibi Netherlands. . Mr. Van Oosterom Poland. . Mr. Radomski Russian Federation. . Mr. Nebenzia Sweden . Mr. Skoog United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . Ms. Pierce United States of America. . Mrs. Haley Agenda Threats to international peace and security The situation in the Middle East This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the translation of speeches delivered in other languages. The final text will be printed in the Official Records of the Security Council. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room U-0506 (verbatimrecords@un.org). Corrected records will be reissued electronically on the Official Document System of the United Nations (http://documents.un.org). 18-09955 (E) *1809955* S/PV.8225 Threats to international peace and security 09/04/2018 2/26 18-09955 The meeting was called to order at 3.05 p.m. Adoption of the agenda The agenda was adopted. Threats to international peace and security The situation in the Middle East The President (spoke in Spanish): In accordance with rule 37 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to participate in this meeting. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure, I invite the following briefers to participate in this meeting: Mr. Staffan de Mistura, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, and Mr. Thomas Markram, Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. Mr. De Mistura is joining today's meeting via video-teleconference from Geneva. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I now give the floor to Mr. De Mistura. Mr. De Mistura: This emergency meeting of the Security Council underscores the gravity of the events in recent days in Syria, of which there are severe consequences for civilians. It takes place at a time of increased international tensions, drawing national, regional and international actors into dangerous situations of potential or actual confrontation. It is an important meeting. There is an urgent need for the Council to address the situation with unity and purpose. How did we reach this point? The month of March saw devastating violence in part of eastern Ghouta, which resulted in at least 1,700 people killed or injured in opposition-controlled areas, dozens and dozens of people killed or injured in Government-controlled areas and, ultimately, the evacuation of 130,000 people, including fighters, family members and other civilians. However, in Douma there was a fragile ceasefire, which continued for most of March. The United Nations good offices played an important role in that regard. Since 31 March, the United Nations has no longer been able to be involved in talks, since, at that time, the Syrian Government did not agree to our presence, although we made efforts to propose concrete ways to address the issues that we understood were arising in the continuing contacts, including the proposal to activate the detainee working group agreed in Astana. However, that proposal was not taken up at the time. From 2 April, the evacuation of some 4,000 fighters, family members and other civilians from Douma to northern Syria took place. However, on 6 April there was a major escalation in violence. There were reports of sustained air strikes and shelling against Douma, the killing of civilians, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and attacks damaging health facilities. There were also reports of shelling on Damascus city, which reportedly again killed or injured civilians. Jaysh Al-Islam requested our involvement in emergency talks in extremis, but there was no positive response to that request when it conveyed the same message to the other side. At approximately 8 p.m. local time on 7 April, reports of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma started to emerge. Pictures immediately circulated on social media showing what appeared to be lifeless men, women and children. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the ground claimed to have received hundreds of cases of civilians with symptoms consistent with exposure to chemical agents. The same NGOs claimed that at least 49 people had been killed and hundreds injured. I wish to recall what the Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, noted, namely, that the United Nations "is not in a position to verify these reports". However, he also made it very clear that he cannot ignore them and that he "is particularly alarmed by allegations that chemical weapons have been used against civilian populations in Douma" once again. He further emphasized "that any use of chemical weapons, if confirmed, is abhorrent and requires a thorough investigation". I note that a number of States have strongly alluded to or expressed the suspicion that the Syrian Government was responsible for the alleged chemical attack. I also note that other States, as well as the Government of Syria itself, have strongly questioned the credibility of those allegations, depicting the attacks as a fabrication or/and a provocation. My comment is that this is one more reason for there to be a thorough independent investigation. 09/04/2018 Threats to international peace and security S/PV.8225 18-09955 3/26 The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has said that it has made the preliminary analysis of the reports of the alleged use of chemical weapons and is in the process of gathering further information from all available sources. My colleague Mr. Thomas Markram, Deputy of the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, who is with us in the Chamber today, will further address this matter. But I urge the Security Council, in accordance with its own mandate to maintain international peace and security and uphold international law, to, for God's sake, ensure that a mechanism is found to investigate these allegations and assign responsibility.Returning to the narrative of the events, at around midnight on 7 April, hours after the alleged chemical-weapons attack, Jaysh Al-Islam informed the United Nations that it had reached an agreement with the Russian Federation and the Syrian Government. The Russian Federation Ministry for Defence stated that the agreement encompasses a ceasefire and Jaysh Al-Islam fighters laying down their arms or evacuating Douma. The Russian Federation also reported that up to 8,000 Jaysh Al-Islam fighters and 40,000 of their family members were to evacuate.As I brief the Security Council now, we understand that additional evacuations from Douma are already under way. We have also received reports that some detainees — the ones we had heard about before — had begun to be released from Douma today. We note reports that the agreement provides for civilians who decide to stay to remain under Russian Federation guarantees, with the resumption of services in coordination with a local committee of civilians.I urge the Syrian Government and the Russian Federation to ensure the protection of those civilians so that as many civilians as possible can stay in their homes if they choose to, or leave to a place of their own choosing or return as per international law. I urge that there be, for there should be, an immediate refocusing for the implementation of resolution 2401 (2018). What we have see is basically an escalation before a de-escalation.Clearly, the dangers of further escalation arise from situations beyond Ghouta as well. We have received reports of missiles targeting the Syrian Government's Tiyas, or T-4, airbase early this morning. No State has claimed responsibility for that reported strike. The United States and France have explicitly denied any involvement. The Syrian Government, the Russian Federation and Iran have suggested that Israel could have carried out the attack, with Iranian State media reporting that over a dozen military personnel were killed or injured, including four Iranian military advisers. The Government of Israel has not commented. The United Nations is unable to independently verify or attribute responsibility for that attack, but we urge all parties to show their utmost restraint and avoid any further escalation or confrontation.We are also concerned about the dynamics in other areas of Syria. Syrians in Dar'a, northern rural Homs, eastern Qalamoun, Hamah and Idlib have all expressed to us their own fears that they may soon face escalations similar to what we have seen in eastern Ghouta. We therefore urge the Security Council and the Astana guarantors and those States involved in the Amman efforts to work towards reinstating de-escalation in those areas and elsewhere in Syria. The indications are the opposite at the moment.Meanwhile, following its operations in Afrin, the Turkish Government has indicated the potential for further operations in other areas of northern Syria if Partiya Yekitiya Demokrat and Kurdish People's Protection Units forces are not removed from those areas. Military operations in such areas have the potential of raising international tensions. We therefore urge all parties concerned to de-escalate, show restraint and find means to implement resolution 2401 (2018) through dialogue and fully respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. Let me also highlight the fact that we have recently seen — and this is particularly tragic when we consider the efforts all of us, including all members of the Security Council, have made in the last year — the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant launch new operations within Syria, south of Damascus, in rural Damascus, in remote areas near the Iraqi border.I would like to conclude with some bottom lines, if I may.First, civilians are paying a very heavy price for the military escalation. We are not seeing de-escalation; we are seeing the contrary. Today our first priority must be to protect civilians from the war, from the conflict, from chemical weapons, from hunger. We call on all sides to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and human rights law, including humanitarian access across Syria to all people in need. We urge once S/PV.8225 Threats to international peace and security 09/04/2018 4/26 18-09955 more for concrete respect for resolution 2401 (2018) throughout Syria, which is, after all, a resolution of the Security Council.Secondly, continued allegations of the use of chemical agents are of extremely grave concern. Those allegations must be independently and urgently investigated. Any use of chemical weapons is absolutely prohibited and constitutes a very serious violation of international law, the Chemical Weapons Convention and resolution 2118 (2013). Preventing impunity and any further use of chemical weapons and upholding international law must be an utmost priority for all members of the Security Council.Thirdly, I have to say this very slowly because today is the first time, in over four years of briefing the Security Council in person, that I have reached a point in which I have to express a concern about international security, not just regional or national or Syrian security, but international security. Recent developments have more than ever before brought to the surface the dangers that the Secretary-General warned about recently at the Munich Security Conference, when he spoke of "different faultlines" in the Middle East that are interconnected and crossing each other, of conflicting interests of both global and regional Powers, and forms of escalation that can have absolutely devastating consequences that are difficult for us to even imagine. The Council cannot allow a situation of uncontrollable escalation to develop in Syria on any front. Instead, it must find unity and address the concrete threats to international peace and security in Syria today.I am sorry to have been this brief, but I wanted to focus on one specific concern, namely, the threat to international security related to what we are seeing now in Syria and the danger of the alleged chemical-weapons attacks being repeated. Next time I will brief the Council on humanitarian and other issues and on the political process, which I know we are all interested in focusing upon, but today is the day for talking about security — international security — and peace.The President (spoke in Spanish): I thank Mr. De Mistura for his very informative briefing.I now give the floor to Mr. Markram.Mr. Markram: I thank you for the opportunity to address the Council again today, Mr. President. The High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Mrs. Izumi Nakamitsu, is away on official travel.It has been less than a week since I last briefed the Council (see S/PV.8221) on the issue of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic. In the intervening period, new and deeply disturbing allegations of the use of chemical weapons have come to light. Over the past weekend, there have been reports on the alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma, in the Syrian Arab Republic. According to reports that came in yesterday, it is alleged that at least 49 people were killed and hundreds more injured in a chemical-weapon attack. More than 500 other individual cases reportedly presented with symptoms consistent with such an attack. The Office for Disarmament Affairs has been in touch with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on the matter. The OPCW, which implements the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which Syria is a State party, is gathering information about the incident from all available sources, through its Fact-finding Mission in Syria. After completing its investigation, the Fact-finding Mission will report its findings on the alleged attack to the States parties to the Convention.Sadly, there is little to say today that has not already been said. The use of chemical weapons is unjustifiable. Those responsible must be held to account. That those views have been stated on many previous occasions does not lessen the seriousness with which the Secretary-General regards such allegations. Nor does it lessen the truth behind them, which is that what we are seeing in Syria cannot go unchallenged by anyone who values the decades of effort that have been put in to bring about the disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. As the body charged with the maintenance of international peace and security, the Council must unite in the face of this continuing threat and fulfil its responsibilities. To do otherwise, or simply to do nothing, is to accept, tacitly or otherwise, that such a challenge is insurmountable. The use of chemical weapons cannot become the status quo, nor can we continue to fail the victims of such weapons.Just over one year ago, in responding to the attack on Khan Shaykhun, the Secretary-General called for those responsible to be held accountable, stating that there can be no impunity for such horrific acts. Just over one week ago, speaking on behalf of the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, I noted that unity in the Security Council on a dedicated mechanism for accountability would provide the best foundation for success in that regard. I reiterate that belief here, as 09/04/2018 Threats to international peace and security S/PV.8225 18-09955 5/26 well as the readiness of the Secretary-General and the Office for Disarmament Affairs to assist.The President (spoke in Spanish): I thank Mr. Markram for his informative briefing.I now give the floor to members of the Security Council who wish to make statements.Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): If you imagine, Mr. President, that I derive pleasure from the subject of my statement today, or from speaking at great length, you are wrong. Unfortunately, however, the situation is such that I have a lot to say today. And you will have to listen to me.We thank Mr. De Mistura and Mr. Markram for their briefings.The Russian Federation asked that this meeting be convened under the agenda item "Threats to international peace and security" because we are deeply alarmed about the fact that a number of capitals — Washington first and foremost, with London and Paris blindly following its lead — are purposely steering a course designed to supercharge international tensions. The leadership of the United States, Britain and France, with no grounds and no thought for the consequences, are taking a confrontational line on Russia and Syria and pushing others towards it too. They have a broad range of weapons in their arsenal — slander, insults, bellicose rhetoric, blackmail, sanctions and threats of the use of force against a sovereign State. Their threats against Russia are brazen, and the tone they take has gone beyond the limits of the permissible. Even during the Cold War their predecessors did not express themselves so crudely about my country. What next?I remember the rhetorical question that President Putin of Russia put to our Western partners, and especially the United States, from the rostrum of the General Assembly in 2015 (see A/70/PV.13), about their careless geopolitical experiments in the Middle East, when he asked them if they at least realized what they had done. At the time, the question went unanswered. But there is an answer, and it is that no, they do not realize what they have done. As they do not realize what they are doing now. It is not only we who are perplexed at their lack of any coherent strategy on any issue. It perplexes most of the people in this Chamber. They just do not want to ask them about it openly. Wherever they go, whatever they touch, they leave behind chaos in their wake in the murky water where they have gone fishing for some kind of fish. But the only fish they catch are mutants. I will ask them another rhetorical question. Do they understand the dangerous place they are dragging the world to?One of the areas where the hostility manifests itself most strongly is Syria. The terrorists and extremists supported by external sponsors are being defeated. Let me remind those responsible that these are the terrorists and extremists whom they equipped, financed and dumped into the country in order to overthrow the lawful Government. Now we can see why this is causing hysteria among those who have invested their political and material capital in such dark forces.In the past few weeks, thanks to Russia's efforts to implement the Security Council's resolutions, a massive operation has been carried out to unblock eastern Ghouta, whose residents have been forced to endure the humiliation of the rebel militias for several years. More than 150 thousand civilians were evacuated from this suburb of Damascus, completely voluntarily and under the necessary security conditions. Tens of thousands of them have already been able to return to liberated areas and many have been taken in by relatives. The changes in their demographic composition that the defenders of the Syrian opposition have been screaming about have not happened. That is a lie. Some extremely complex negotiations were conducted with the leaders of the armed groups, as a result of which many left the neighbourhoods they were occupying, with full guarantees for their security. Incidentally, there were several attempted acts of terrorism during these transport operations when militias tried to bring suicide belts onto the buses and were prevented. Others preferred to regulate their status with the Syrian authorities. Thanks to the presidential amnesty, they will now be able to return to civilian life, and may even eventually be able to join Syria's security forces. That represents the implementation of the United Nations principle of demobilization, disarmament and reintegration.However, not everyone is so keen on such positive dynamics. The outside sponsors — that is, the leading Western countries — were ready to grasp at any straw in order to hang on to any centre of terrorist resistance, however tiny, within striking distance of the Syrian capital, so that the militias could continue to terrorize ordinary residents, taking their food and begging humanitarian aid from the international community. Incidentally, they were not about to S/PV.8225 Threats to international peace and security 09/04/2018 6/26 18-09955 share medicines with those ordinary civilians, as an inspection of the strongholds left behind by the fighters revealed. As happened previously in eastern Aleppo, the improvised hospital facilities in basements were full of medicines that thanks to Western sanctions were not to be had for love or money in Damascus and other Government-controlled areas. Mass graves and bodies that showed evidence of torture were also discovered. The dimensions of the tunnels that the jihadists used were astonishing. Some of them could easily accommodate small trucks travelling in both directions. Those impressive underground facilities connected the positions of groups that some view as moderate to the strongholds of Jabhat Al-Nusra.On 6 April, at their sponsors' instructions, Jaysh Al-Islam's new ringleaders prevented the fourth group of militia fighters from evacuating Douma and resumed rocket and mortar fire on residential areas of Damascus, targeting Mezzeh, Mezzeh 86, Ish Al-Warwar, Abu Rummaneh and Umayyad Square. According to official data, eight civilians were killed and 37 were wounded. It is regrettable that we seen no statements from Western capitals condemning the shelling of a historic part of Damascus.The next day, 7 April, militias accused the Syrian authorities of dropping barrel bombs containing a toxic substance. However, they got their versions mixed up, referring to it sometimes as chlorine and sometimes as sarin or a mixture of poison gases. In a familiar pattern, the rumours were immediately seized on by non-governmental organizations financed by Western capitals and White Helmets operating in the guise of rescue workers. These so-called reports were also just as quickly disseminated through media outlets. I should once again point out that many of these dubious opposition entities have an accurate list of the email addresses of the representatives of Security Council members, which leads us to conclude that some of our colleagues, with a reckless attitude to their position, have been leaking sensitive information to those they sponsor. Incidentally, we all should remember the incident in which the White Helmets accidentally posted on the Internet a video showing the preparation stages for filming the next so-called victim of an attack allegedly perpetrated by the Syrian army. The chemical "series" that began in 2013 has continued to run, with each subsequent episode designed to top the impact of the previous one.In Washington, London and Paris, conclusions have immediately been reached as to the guilt of the Syrian authorities, or regime, as they call it. Has no one wondered why Damascus needs this? While the Syrian leadership has received its share of insults, the main burden of responsibility has been laid at the door of Russia and Iran, to no one's surprise, I believe. As is now customary, it has occurred at lightning speed and without any kind of investigation. On 8 April, Syrian troops searching the village of Al-Shifuniya, near Douma, discovered a small, makeshift Jaysh Al-Islam chemical-munitions factory, along with German-produced chlorine reagents and specialized equipment.The Istanbul-based opposition journalist Asaad Hanna posted a video on his Twitter feed that was allegedly from the area of the incident. In it, an unidentified individual in a gas mask, presumably from the White Helmets, is posing against a backdrop of a homemade chemical bomb that allegedly landed in a bedroom in a building in Douma. It is accompanied by commentary about what it calls another of the regime's attacks on civilians. There can be no doubt that this production was staged. The trajectory of the alleged bomb is entirely unnatural. It fell through the roof and landed gently on a wooden bed without damaging it in any way and was clearly placed there before the scene was shot.In an interesting coincidence, the chemical act of provocation in Douma on Saturday, 7 April, occurred immediately after the United States delegation in the Security Council was instructed to call for expert consultations for today, Monday, 9 April, on its draft resolution on a mechanism for investigating incidents involving chemical weapons. Today far-reaching changes were made to the initial text. In such murky circumstances, of course, we have to determine what happened. But we have to do it honestly, objectively and impartially, without sacrificing the principle of the presumption of innocence and certainly not by prejudging the process of an investigation.Despite this provocation, the Russian specialists have continued their efforts to resolve the situation in eastern Ghouta. On Sunday afternoon, 8 April, according to new agreements, the evacuation of Jaysh Al-Islam combatants was resumed. Following Douma's liberation from militants, Russian radiological, chemical and biological protection specialists were sent there to collect evidence. They took soil samples that showed no presence of nerve agents or substances 09/04/2018 Threats to international peace and security S/PV.8225 18-09955 7/26 containing chlorine. Local residents and combatants who were no longer fighting were interviewed. Not one local confirmed the chemical attack. At the local hospital, no one with symptoms of sarin or chlorine poisoning had been admitted. There are no other active medical facilities in Douma. No bodies of people who had died from being poisoned were found, and the medical staff and residents had no information about where they might have been buried. Any use of sarin or chlorine in Douma is therefore unconfirmed. By the way, representatives of the Syrian Red Crescent refuted statements allegedly made on their behalf about providing assistance to victims of toxic gases. I call on those who plan to denounce the regime when they speak after me to assume that there was no chemical-weapon attack.Sweden has drafted a resolution calling for the incident to be investigated. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) does not need a resolution to investigate it, but we are willing to consider it. Today we propose to do what is envisaged in the draft resolution, which is to let the OPCW, which Mr. Üzümcü, Director-General of its Technical Secretariat, has announced is ready to deal with the situation, fly to Damascus immediately, if possible tomorrow. There the Syrian authorities and the Russian military will ensure the necessary conditions so that the OPCW experts can travel to the site of the alleged incident and familiarize themselves with the situation. That, by the way, is what President Trump and other Western leaders have been urging us to do.The Syrians have repeatedly warned that there might be chemical provocations. At the Russian Centre for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in the Syrian Arab Republic they are saying that the equipment needed to film the next purported chemical attack has already been brought in. We have also made statements to that effect in the Security Council. Everyone has heard those warnings, but has deliberately ignored them because they do not correspond to the doctrinal positions espoused by those who dream of seeing the legitimate Government of yet another Arab country destroyed.There has still been no attention given to the discovery in November and December 2017 of a significant quantity of chemical munitions on Syrian territory that had been liberated from militias. In terrorist warehouses in Az-Zahiriya and Al-Hafiya in Hama governorate, 20 one-ton containers and more than 50 pieces of ordnance containing toxic chemicals were discovered. In Tel Adel in Idlib governorate, 24 tons of toxic chemical, presumed to be chlorine, were discovered. At a storage site in Moadamiya, 30 kilometres to the north-east of Damascus, 240- and 160-millimetre-calibre munitions and plastic canisters of organo-phosphorous compounds were found. In the area around As-Suwayda in Idlib governorate, an manufacturing facility for synthesizing various toxic substances was found, along with 54 pieces of chemical ordnance and 44 containers of chemicals that could be used to manufacture toxic substances.Since the beginning of this year alone, four instances of militias using toxic chemicals against Government troop positions have been established in Suruj and Al-Mushairfeh districts, and more than 100 Syrian troops have been hospitalized. On 3 March, during the liberation of Khazram and Aftris in eastern Ghouta, soldiers from a sub-unit of Government troops discovered an auxiliary workshop for homemade chemical munitions. This far from exhaustive list is an indication of the misdeeds of the still unreconciled opposition. And yet we have seen no eagerness to send OPCW expert groups there to collect evidence of these events. We demand that the OPCW verify all of these areas. They are accessible. We are also seeing information that American instructors in the Al-Tanf camp have trained a number of groups of fighters to carry out provocations using chemical weapons in order to create a pretext for a rocket strikes and bombings.It has been clear to us that sooner or later there would be an attempt to bring the jihadists out of harm's way and at the same time to punish the regime that some Western capitals hate. The talking heads on television have thrown themselves into urging a repeat of last year's effort at a military attack on Syria. This morning there were missile strikes on the T-4 airfield in Homs governorate. We are deeply troubled by such actions.The provocations in Douma are reminiscent of last year's incident in Khan Shaykhun, with their shared element being the planned nature of the attacks. Analysis of the operations conducted by the United States in April 2017, on the eve of the incident in Khan Shaykhun and after it, shows that Washington prepared its operation in advance. From 4 to 7 April of last year — in other words, from the day that a toxic substance was used in Khan Shaykhun until the strike on the Al-Shayrat airbase — the USS Porter and Ross naval destroyers S/PV.8225 Threats to international peace and security 09/04/2018 8/26 18-09955 were already present in the Mediterranean Sea, where they were engaged in planned operations. They did not call into any ports where an exchange of munitions could have been effected as a way to increase their quantity of cruise missiles.Specifically, from 4 to 5 April, the USS Porter was located south-east of Sicily and the Ross was en route from the Rota naval base to an area south of Sardinia. Later, on 6 April, both ships were observed moving at accelerated speed towards the area of the firing positions to the south-west of Cyprus, from where they launched a massive strike on Al-Shayrat on 7 April. However, the 59 Tomahawk missiles that were launched would have exceeded the two destroyers' total munitions capacity if they had actually been engaged in the anti-missile defence operations that they were assigned to, which required only 48 units. That means, therefore, that even before the chemical incident in Khan Shaykhun, these United States naval vessels undertook a military operation with a strike capability above the number of cruise missiles necessary for their anti-missile defence operations, which could be evidence of advance planning by Washington of an action against Damascus.Among other things, Saturday's fake news from Douma was aimed at diverting the public's attention from the circus that is the Skripal case, in which London has become terminally mired, hurling completely unproven accusations at Russia and accomplishing its basic purpose of extracting solidarity from its allies in order to construct an anti-Russian front. Now the British are shifting away from a transparent investigation and concrete responses to the questions they have been asked while simultaneously covering their tracks.At the Security Council meeting on 5 April on the Skripal case (see S/PV.8224), we warned the Council that the attempt to accuse us, without proof, of involvement in the Salisbury incident was linked to the Syrian chemical issue. There was an interesting new development regarding the issue yesterday. As Britain's Foreign Minister Boris Johnson was continuing his display of rapier wit "exposing" Russia, another gem emerged. The Times informed us that Royal Air Force experts in southern Cyprus had intercepted a message sent from outside Damascus to Moscow on the day of the Skripals' poisoning that contained the phrase "the package has been delivered" and said that two people had "successfully departed". Apparently this formed part of the intelligence that London provided to its allies before expelling our Russian diplomats. Is not it obvious to everyone that there is an irrefutable Syria-Russia-Salisbury connection? I will give the British intelligence services one more huge hint, for free. Why do they not assume that the Novichok they are so thrilled about reached Salisbury directly from Syria? In a package. To cover its tracks. How pathetic.Ambassador Haley recently stated that Russia will never be a friend of the United States. To that, I say that friendship is both reciprocal and voluntary. One cannot force a friendship and we are not begging the United States to be friends. What we want from it is very little — normal, civilized relations, which it arrogantly refuses, disregarding basic courtesy. However, the United States is mistaken if it thinks that it has friends. Its so-called friends are only those who cannot say no to it. And that is the only criterion for friendship that it understands.Russia has friends. And unlike the United States, we do not have adversaries. That is not the prism through which we view the world. It is international terrorism that is our enemy. However, we continue to propose cooperating with the United States. That cooperation should be respectful and mutual, and aimed at resolving genuine problems, not imaginary ones, and it should be just as much in the interests of the United States. Ultimately, as permanent members of the Security Council, we have a special responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.Through the relevant channels, we already conveyed to the United States that military action conducted on false pretences against Syria, where Russian troops are deployed at the request of its legitimate Government, could have extremely serious repercussions. We urge Western politicians to temper their hawkish rhetoric, seriously consider the possible repercussions and cease their feeble, foolhardy efforts, which merely produce challenges to global security. We can see very good examples of what becomes of the military misadventures of the West in Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya. No one has invested Western leaders with the power to take on the roles of the world's policeman and its investigators, prosecutors, judges and executioners as well. We urge them to return to the world of legality, comply with the Charter of the United Nations and work collectively to address the problems that arise rather than attempting to realize its own selfish geopolitical dreams at every step. All our energy should be focused on supporting the political process in Syria, and for that, all stakeholders with influence must unite in a 09/04/2018 Threats to international peace and security S/PV.8225 18-09955 9/26 constructive effort. Russia is always ready for that kind of cooperation.In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to request a briefing of the Security Council on the results of the United Nations assessment mission in Raqqa and on the situation in the Rukban camp. We can see how the coalition members are trying to complicate a resolution of the problems resulting from their actions in Syria, particularly the carpet-bombing operation designed to wipe out Raqqa. No chemical provocations will distract our attention from that issue.Mr. Van Oosterom (Netherlands): We thank Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura and Deputy High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Thomas Markram for their briefings.Only five days ago, here in this Chamber (see S/PV.8221), we mourned as we remembered the sarin attack at Khan Shaykhun that occurred a year ago. This weekend another devastating gas attack was carried out in the city of Douma, killing more than 45 civilians and injuring more than 500. It was another in a series of chemical-weapon attacks in Syria. That is unacceptable. The Kingdom of the Netherlands is one of nine Security Council members that requested today's emergency meeting because we all believed that it was critically important to address this horrific attack. We must reinstate the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons. We must underscore the basic norms of the international legal order and stop the ongoing tragedy in eastern Ghouta and Douma.We almost met twice today because one permanent member of the Council seemed not to want a focused discussion on the issue at hand, the chemical attack in Douma. That begs the question of whether that particular member State would prefer the international community to stand by and watch like a spectator while it covers for the crimes of its ally, the Syrian regime, some of which amount to serious war crimes. The Council must not stand idly by. It is high time for us to act in three ways, condemning, protecting and holding to account. First, today we should condemn in the strongest possible terms any use of chemical weapons. International law has been trampled on. Silence and impunity are not an option. However, condemnation alone is not enough.Secondly, we must deliver on our responsibility to protect. The protection of civilians must remain an absolute priority. We call on the Astana guarantors to use their influence to prevent any further attacks. They must ensure a cessation of hostilities and a de-escalation of the violence, as per resolution 2401 (2018). An immediate ceasefire is needed in Douma so that humanitarian and medical aid can reach the victims of the attack and so that humanitarian personnel can continue their life-saving work. We owe it to the men, women and children of Douma and of Syria. We owe it to our own citizens.Furthermore, the Kingdom of the Netherlands would also like to point out that the majority of the States Members of the United Nations count on the permanent members of the Council not to use their veto in cases of mass atrocities. The international community should be able to count on the Council to uphold international humanitarian law and the international prohibition on the use of chemical weapons, and to act when international law is trampled. Let me be clear. We support the humanitarian work of the White Helmets. They do extremely important humanitarian work for civilians in Syria in dire circumstances.Thirdly, all members of the Council regularly stress the importance of accountability for perpetrators who use chemical weapons. Yet the Council has not been able to move forward on that issue for months owing to one permanent member's use of the veto. We have been unable to tackle this crisis because one permanent member is a direct party to the conflict and has proved that it will defend the Syrian regime at all costs. We must intensify our efforts to establish a mechanism that can continue the meticulous work of the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) and investigate and identify perpetrators independently of the politics in the Council. The JIM has identified both the Syrian regime and a non-State actor as responsible for the use of chemical weapons in Syria. As I said last week (see S/PV.8221), the discontinuation of the JIM mandate cannot be the end of the story — all the more so because since the JIM ceased to operate, we have received reports that the regime has carried out at least six more chemical-weapon attacks and perhaps even more. For those who claim that chemical-weapon attacks have not taken place or that such accounts have been fabricated, I have a clear message. The establishment of an effective, impartial and independent attribution and accountability mechanism must not be vetoed.Let us not forget that the United Nations is bigger than the Council alone. We have strong leadership at the helm of Organization and a powerful General S/PV.8225 Threats to international peace and security 09/04/2018 10/26 18-09955 Assembly. Both must consider all instruments to advance accountability for the use of chemical weapons. The work should build on the important work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Fact-finding Mission and the JIM. We welcome the Fact-finding Mission's immediate investigation of the terrible incident in Douma this weekend. It should be given full access and cooperation by all parties. We reiterate our strong support for, first, the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Those Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011; secondly, the Commission of Inquiry; thirdly, the International Partnership against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons, initiated by France; and fourthly, a referral of the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court in The Hague as the most appropriate path to accountability and justice.In conclusion, the Council must act. The OPCW Fact-finding Mission must complete an investigation as soon as possible, and there can be no impunity for the use of chemical weapons. To do otherwise is tantamount to condoning such appalling attacks, failing in our responsibilities and undermining the international architecture that we have collectively designed to stop such attacks. It is time for the Council and the international community as a whole to act.Mrs. Haley (United States of America): I thank Mr. De Mistura and Mr. Markram for their briefings.Almost exactly one year ago, I stood on the floor of the Security Council and held up pictures of dead Syrian children (see S/PV.7915). After that day, I prayed that I would never have to do that again. I could; there are many truly gruesome pictures. Many of us have worked hard to ensure that one day we would not have to see images of babies gassed to death in Syria. However, the day we prayed would never come, has come again. Chemical weapons have once again been used on Syrian men, women and children. And once again, the Security Council is meeting in response.This time I am not going to hold up pictures of victims. I could; there are many, and they are gruesome. Worse are the videos imprinted in our minds that no one should ever have to see. I could hold up pictures of babies lying dead next to their mothers, brothers and sisters — even toddlers and infants still in diapers, all lying together dead. Their skin is the ashen blue that is now tragically familiar from chemical-weapon scenes. Their eyes are open and lifeless, with white foam bubbles at their mouths and noses. They are pictures of dead Syrians who are unarmed, not soldiers and fit the very definition of innocent and non-threatening. Rather, they are women and children who were hiding in basements from a renewed assault by Bashar Al-Assad. They are of families who were hiding underground to escape Al-Assad's conventional bombs and artillery, but the basements that Syrian families thought would shelter them from conventional bombs were the worst place to be when chemical weapons fell from the sky. Saturday evening, the basements of Douma became their tombs.It is impossible to know for certain how many have died, because access to Douma is cut off by Al-Assad's forces. Dozens are dead that we know of, and hundreds are wounded. I could hold up pictures of survivors — children with burning eyes and choking for breath. I could hold up pictures of first responders washing the chemicals off of the victims and putting respirators on children, or of first responders walking through room after room of families lying motionless with babies still in the arms of their mothers and fathers. I could show pictures of a hospital attacked with chemical weapons. I could show pictures of hospitals struck by barrel bombs following the chemical attack. Ambulances and rescue vehicles have been repeatedly attacked, maximizing the number of dead civilians. Civil defence centres have been attacked in order to paralyse the medical response so as to increase the suffering of the survivors. Who does that? Only a monster does that. Only a monster targets civilians, and then ensures that there are no ambulances to transfer the wounded, no hospitals to save their lives and no doctors or medicine to ease their pain.I could hold up pictures of all of that killing and suffering for the Council to see, but what would be the point? The monster who was responsible for those attacks has no conscience, not even to be shocked by pictures of dead children. The Russian regime, whose hands are all covered in the blood of Syrian children, cannot be ashamed by pictures of its victims. We have tried that before. We must not overlook Russia and Iran's roles in enabling the Al-Assad regime's murderous destruction. Russia and Iran have military advisers at Al-Assad's airfields and operation centres. Russian officials are on the ground helping direct the 09/04/2018 Threats to international peace and security S/PV.8225 18-09955 11/26 regime's starve-and-surrender campaign, and Iranian allied forces do much of the dirty work.When the Syrian military pummels civilians, they rely on the military hardware given by Russia. Russia could stop that senseless slaughter if it wanted, but it stands with the Al-Assad regime and supports without any hesitation. What is the point of trying to shame such people? After all, no civilized Government would have anything to do with Al-Assad's murderous regime. Pictures of dead children mean little to Governments like Russia, who expend their own resources to prop up Al-Assad.The Council, which saw the pictures last year, has failed to act because Russia has stood in its way every single time. For a year we have allowed Russia to hold the lives of innocent Syrians hostage to its alliance with the Al-Assad regime. That also allowed Russian to weaken the credibility of the United Nations. We are quick to condemn chemical weapons in the Security Council, but then Russia prevents any action. It vetoed five draft resolutions on this issue alone and used 11 vetoes all together to save Al-Assad. Our lives go on as usual.The Council created the Joint Investigative Mechanism. It found the Syrian regime responsible for the attack at Khan Shaykhun a year ago. Because Russia supported Al-Assad and his actions, Russia killed the Mechanism. We condemned it, and our lives went on as usual. We pushed for a ceasefire. The Council unanimously agreed, but it was immediately ignored by Russia and Al-Assad. We condemned it, and our lives went on as usual. Now here we are, confronted with the consequences of giving Russia a pass in the name of unity — a unity that Russia has shown many times before it does not want. Here we are, in a world where chemical-weapons use is becoming normalized — from an Indonesian airport to an English village to the homes and hospitals of Syria. Since the Al-Assad regime used chemical weapons at Khan Shaykhun one year ago, chemical weapons have been reportedly used dozens of times, and the Council does nothing.What we are dealing with today is not about a spat between the United States and Russia. It is about the inhumane use of chemical agents on innocent civilians. Each and every one of the nations in the Council is on record opposing the use of chemical weapons. There can be no more rationalizations for our failure to act. We have already introduced and circulated to the Council a draft resolution demanding unrestricted humanitarian access to the people of Douma. Al-Assad is doing all he can to assure maximum suffering in Douma. Our priority must be to help the starving, the sick and the injured who have been left behind. We also call on the Council to immediately re-establish a truly professional and impartial mechanism for chemical-weapons attacks in Syria, including the attack this weekend. We hope that our colleagues on the Council will join us, as they have before.That is a very minimum we can do in response to the attack we just witnessed. Russia's obstructionism will not continue to hold us hostage when we are confronted with an attack like that one. The United States is determined to see the monster who dropped chemical weapons on the Syrian people held to account. Those present have heard what the President of the United States has said about that. Meetings are ongoing. Important decisions are being weighed, even as we speak. We are on the edge of a dangerous precipice. The great evil of chemical-weapons use, which once unified the world in opposition, is on the verge of becoming the new normal. The international community must not let that happen. We are beyond showing pictures of dead babies. We are beyond appeals to conscience. We have reached the moment when the world must see justice done. History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria. Either way, the United States will respond.Mr. Delattre (France) (spoke in French): I thank the Peruvian presidency for having convened this emergency Security Council meeting, at the request of France, together with eight other Council members. I also wish to thank the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, Mr. Staffan de Mistura, and the Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Thomas Markram, for their insightful briefings.There are times in the lives of nations where what is essential is at stake: life or death; peace or war; civilization or barbarism; the international order or chaos. That is the case today following the dreadful chemical carnage that once again pushed the boundaries of horror on Saturday in Douma. We are aware that two new and particularly serious chemical-weapons attacks took place in Douma on 7 April. The provisional toll of human life is appalling. There are nearly 50 dead, including a number of children, and 1,000 wounded. S/PV.8225 Threats to international peace and security 09/04/2018 12/26 18-09955 That toll is likely to be even higher, as assistance cannot reach some areas. Once again, toxic substances have been dropped to asphyxiate, to kill and to terrorize civilians, reaching them even in the basements where they sought refuge. Chlorine gas has the particular characteristic of being a heavy gas, capable of entering basements. For that reason, it is used. That is the level of deadly cynicism that has been reached in Syria.There are no words to describe the horror of the images that surfaced on 7 April, nearly one year after the Khan Shaykhun attack, which killed nearly 80 people. What we see in the thousands of photos and videos that surfaced in the course of several hours after the 7 April attacks reminds us of the images we have seen far too often: children and adults suffocating due to exposure to concentrated chlorine gas. What we also see are people suffering from violent convulsions, excessive salivation and burning eyes, all of which are symptomatic of exposure to a potent neurotoxin mixed with chlorine to heighten the lethal effect. As I mentioned, in total more than 1,000 people were exposed to that deadly chemical compound.The experience and the successive reports of the Joint Investigative Mechanism leave no room for doubt as to the perpetrators of this most recent attack. Only the Syrian armed forces and their agencies have the requisite knowledge to develop such sophisticated toxic substances with such a high degree of lethality. And only the Syrian armed forces and its agencies have a military interest in their use. This attack took place in Douma, an area that has been subjected to relentless shelling by the Syrian armed and air forces for several weeks. Unfortunately, the use of such weapons enables much swifter tactical progress than conventional weapons.We are all aware that the Syrian regime has already been identified by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism as the party responsible for the use, on at least four occasions, of chlorine and sarin gas as a chemical weapon. There are no illusions as to the sincerity of the declaration delivered by Syria on the state of its chemical stockpiles in 2013. Unfortunately, we once again we have proof in the form of empirical evidence. This dovetails with the regime's strategy of terror against civilians. We have already experienced this. At the worst, this is bad faith or, even worse, complicity. The Damascus regime clearly seeks, by sowing terror, to accelerate the capture of other urban areas that it wishes to control. What could be more effective to prompt those who resist the regime to flee than sieges, a tactic worthy of the Middle Ages, in addition to chemical terror. Let us make no mistake: the children frozen in an agonizing death are not so-called collateral victims. They are deliberate targets of these chemical attacks, designed and planned for the purpose of waging terror. The Damascus regime is conducting State terrorism, with its litany of war crimes and even crimes against humanity.The offensive and the shelling conducted by the regime, as well as by its Russian and Iranian allies, over the past 48 hours prove the degree to which they have engaged in a military race without any consideration of the human cost. This latest escalation of violence, punctuated by a new instance of the use of chemical weapons, brings us face to face with the destructive madness of a diehard regime that seeks to destroy its people completely. And that regime's Russian and Iranian allies are either unable or unwilling to stop it. We are aware of the fact, and the Russian authorities have confirmed this on several occasions, that Russian military forces have a presence on the ground and in the air in eastern Ghouta. On 7 April, as the second chemical attack took place in Douma, Russian aircraft were also taking part in air operations in the Damascus region. Russian and Iranian military support is present on the ground and at all levels of the Syrian war machinery. No Syrian aircraft takes off without the Russian ally being informed. These attacks took place either with the tacit or explicit consent of Russia or despite its reluctance and military presence. I do not know which is more alarming when it comes to our collective security.The stakes revolving around this recent attack are extremely grave. This is the latest proof of the normalization of chemical weapons use, which we should attribute not only to a regime that has become uncontrollable and continues to gas civilians with complete impunity, but also to its supporters, including a permanent member of the Security Council. That member failed in its commitment to implement resolution 2118 (2013), which it, itself, co-sponsored. That member's responsibility in the endless tragedy that is the war in Syria is overwhelming.France therefore of course turns towards Russia today in order to put forward two demands. The first demand is a cessation of hostilities and the establishment of an immediate ceasefire in Syria, in line with resolution 2401 (2018), adopted on 24 February, 09/04/2018 Threats to international peace and security S/PV.8225 18-09955 13/26 which to date has never been upheld by the Damascus regime. France deeply deplores the fact that, although it was unanimously adopted, it was not possible to implement that resolution, which provides for a truce and emergency humanitarian access. The second demand is the establishment of a new international investigative mechanism that will be able to document all of the factors of the attack in Douma and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. The end of the Joint Investigative Mechanism last November due to two successive Russian vetoes has stripped us of an essential tool of deterrence. For that reason, we support any initiative to bridge that gap. And in that spirit France has committed to a partnership to combat impunity for the use of chemical weapons. In that same spirit, we endorse the draft resolution that has been put forward today by the United States.With this attack the Al-Assad regime is testing yet again the determination of the international community to ensure compliance with the prohibition against chemica-weapons use. Our response must be united, robust and implacable. That response must make it clear that the use of chemical weapons against civilians will no longer be tolerated, and that those who flout that fundamental rule of our collective security will be held accountable and must face the consequences. The Al-Assad regime needs to hear an international response, and France stands ready to fully shoulder its role alongside its partners.Ultimately, we know that only an inclusive political solution will bring an end to the seven-year conflict, which has claimed the lives of 500,000 people and pushed millions to take the route of exile. That is why France will remain fully committed alongside the United Nations Special Envoy and in line with the Geneva process. However, in the light of this most recent carnage, we can no longer merely repeat words. Without being followed up by deeds, such words would be meaningless. I wish to reiterate here what President Macron has stressed on several occasions: France will assume its full responsibility in the fight against the proliferation of chemical weapons. France's position is clear. It will uphold its commitments and keep its word.Ms. Pierce (United Kingdom): I thank the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria and Mr. Markram for their briefings. I also thank all the United Nations teams on the ground for the important and incredibly difficult work they do.As Staffan de Mistura said, this is an important Security Council meeting. My Government shares the outrage that other colleagues have eloquently described today. It is truly horrific to think of victims and families sheltered underground when the chlorine found them.This is the third time in five days that the Council has convened to discuss chemical weapons. This is dreadful in the true sense of that word. The Council should dread what we risk happening — for chemical weapons to become a routine part of fighting. As one of the five permanent members of the Council (P-5), the United Kingdom believes that we have a particular responsibility to uphold the worldwide prohibition on the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). We agree with the Netherlands Ambassador that the P-5 has specific responsibilities. I believe that four members of the P-5 do believe that, but there is one that does not. The Russian Ambassador referred to a resurgence of the Cold War. This is not the Cold War. In the Cold War there was not this flagrant disregard for the prohibitions that are universal on the use of WMDs.The Special Representative of the Secretary-General also referred to the risks of escalation, and to international peace and security more broadly. We share his fears, but it is the Syrian Government and its backers, Iran and Russia, who are prolonging the fighting and risking regional and wider instability. There are real questions about what is happening in the T-4 airbase, with its foreign fighters and its mercenaries.We have been challenged today by our Russian colleague to say why we believe the attack was carried out by Syria and why we believe, further, that chemical weapons were used. The reasons are as follows. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism found six uses of chemical weapons between 2014 and 2017. Two it ascribed to Da'esh for the use of mustard gas, three it ascribed to the regime for the use of chlorine and one further use it ascribed to the Syrian regime for the use of sarin. That is the attacks that we talked about in the Council just last week at Khan Sheykhoun, which led to the United States strike — which we support — on Al-Shayrat. In addition, as the French Ambassador has said, we had reports of Russian and Syrian warnings before the chemical-weapon attack took place and of a pattern of Mi-8 Hip helicopters flying overhead. Those reports have come from the ground.S/PV.8225 Threats to international peace and security 09/04/2018 14/26 18-09955 I listened carefully to the Russian Ambassador's argument. As I have just set out, we, as the United Kingdom believe that the Syrian regime is responsible for these latest attacks. But there is one way to settle this — to have an independent fact-finding mission followed by an independent investigation — as we all know that fact-finding missions are there to determine whether chemical weapons have been used and, if they have been used, what sort of chemical weapons. But only an investigation can determine who is responsible for their use, and therefore start the path to accountability.I was very interested to hear the Russian offer that an OPCW fact-finding mission could visit and would have the protection of Russian forces. I believe that this is an offer worth pursuing, but it would, of course, be necessary for the OPCW mission to have complete freedom of action and freedom of access. That still leaves us with the question of who committed these atrocities. That is why we support the United States text for a draft resolution and we believe that there is no legitimate reason not to support the call for the Council to set up an independent investigative mechanism. As I said before, we have nothing to hide, but it appears that Russia, Syria and their supporters, Iran, do have something to fear.The Russian Ambassador singled out the United Kingdom, the United States and France for criticism. I would like, if I may, to turn to that. The responsibility for the cruelty in Syria belongs to Syria and its backers — Russia and Iran. The use of chemical weapons is an escalatory and diabolical act. It strikes me that what Russia is trying to do is to turn the debate in the Council away from the discussion of the use of chemical weapons into a dispute between East and West, presenting itself as the victim. It is far too important to play games with the politics between East and West in respect of chemical weapons. Russia's crocodile tears for the people of eastern Ghouta has an easy answer. It is to join us in the non-political attempt to get in humanitarian and protection workers from the United Nations to do their job of looking after and mitigating the risk to civilians. Russia's concern about attribution for the use of chemical weapons also has an easy answer. It is to join us in allowing the United Nations to set up an international investigative mechanism to pursue the responsible parties. I repeat here the two demands of my French colleague, and I hope we will be able to make progress.I had not intended to address the Skripal case in Salisbury, but since my Russian colleague has done so, I will address it today. He asked what the similarities were between Salisbury and Syria. I think it is important that I point out that the cases are different in the following respects. First, there is a thorough investigation under way in Salisbury. As we have heard, there is no investigation under way in Syria. The British Government in Salisbury is seeking to protect its people, as is its duty. The Syrian Government, on the contrary, as we have heard today, attacks and gasses its people. I am sorry to say that what the two do have in common though, is Russia's refusal to assume P-5 responsibilities to prevent the use of WMDs and its reckless support for the use of WMDs by its agents and by its allies.It is not we who want to alienate Russia. It alienates herself by not joining in the vast majority of the Council who wish to find a non-polemical way through and to address the use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria. The Russian Ambassador mentioned friends of the United States. My Government and its people are proud to be a friend of the United States. We stand with everyone on the Council who wants to find a way through the chemical weapons problem, to have a proper fact-finding mission and to have a proper investigation as the first step to bringing this dreadful conflict to a close.Mr. Wu Haitao (China) (spoke in Chinese): China would like to thank Special Envoy de Mistura and the Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Markram, for their briefings. China takes note of the reports alleging that chemical weapons were once again used in Syria and caused civilian casualties. That is of great concern to China.China's position on chemical-weapons has been consistent and clear. We are firmly opposed to the use of chemical weapons by any State, organization or individual under any circumstances. Any use of chemical weapons, whenever and wherever, must not be tolerated. China supports a comprehensive, objective and impartial investigation of the incident concerned so that it can reach a conclusion based on substantiated evidence that can stand the test of history and facts so that the perpetrators and responsible parties can be brought to justice.The Syrian chemical-weapons issue is closely linked to to a political settlement of the Syrian situation. China 09/04/2018 Threats to international peace and security S/PV.8225 18-09955 15/26 supports the ongoing important role of the Security Council and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) as the main channels for dealing with the Syrian chemical-weapons issue. We hope that the parties concerned will take a constructive approach so as to seek a solution through consultations, establish the facts, prevent any further use of chemical weapons, preserve the unity of the Security Council and cooperate with the efforts by the parties concerned to advance the political process in Syria.The Syrian conflict has entered its eighth year and is inflicting tremendous suffering on the Syrian people. A political settlement is the only solution to the Syrian issue. The international community must remain committed to a political settlement of the question of Syria, while fully respecting its sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.China has always opposed the use or threat of force in international affairs. We always advocate adherence to the Charter of the United Nations. All parties should increase their support for the United Nations mediation efforts and compel the parties in Syria to seek a political settlement under the principle of Syrian leadership and ownership in accordance with resolution 2254 (2015).The fight against terrorism is an important and urgent issue in the political settlement of the Syrian question. The international community must strengthen its coordination, uphold uniform standards and combat all terrorist groups identified as such by the Security Council.At a recent Security Council meeting, China set out its principled position with regard to the Skripal incident (see S/PV.8224). China believes that the parties concerned should strictly comply with their obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and, in line with the relevant provisions of the Convention, carry out a comprehensive, impartial and objective investigation and deal with the issues concerned within the framework of the OPCW. China hopes that the parties concerned will work in accordance with the principles of mutual respect and equality, engage in consultations, cooperate, avoid politicization and measures that might further exacerbate tensions and resolve their differences properly through dialogue.Mr. Skoog (Sweden): I thank Mr. Staffan de Mistura and Mr. Thomas Markram for their briefings this afternoon. I would also like to thank you, Mr. President, for acceding to our request for an emergency meeting.We are dismayed by the general escalation of violence in Syria, as described today by Staffan de Mistura, in clear violation of the various resolutions, including resolution 2401 (2018). In that regard, I want to plea with the Syrian authorities represented in the Chamber and with the Astana guarantors to live up to the Security Council's resolutions.We asked for this meeting today because over the weekend we were yet again faced with horrifying allegations of chemical-weapons attacks in Syria, this time in Douma, just outside Damascus. There are worrying reports of a large number of civilian casualties, including women and children. The graphic material that has been shared is beyond repugnant. We are alarmed by those extremely serious allegations. There must now be an immediate, independent and thorough investigation.Let me reiterate that Sweden supports all international efforts to combat the use and proliferation of chemical weapons by State or non-State actors anywhere in the world. We unequivocally condemn in the strongest terms the use of chemical weapons, including in Syria. It is a serious violation of international law and constitutes a threat to international peace and security. The use of chemical weapons in armed conflict is always prohibited and amounts to a war crime. Those responsible must be held accountable. We cannot accept impunity.Addressing the use of chemical weapons in Syria has become a central test of the credibility of the Council. How we respond to the most recent reports from Douma is therefore decisive. Despite the odds, we must put aside our differences and come together. Now is the time to show unity. In our view, the following needs to happen.First, we must condemn in the strongest terms the continued use of chemical weapons in Syria.Secondly, our immediate priority must be to investigate the worrying reports from Douma. In that context, we welcome the announcement by the Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) that the Fact-finding Mission for Syria — to which we reiterate our full support — is in the process of gathering information from all available sources. We express our hope that the Fact-finding Mission can be urgently deployed to Syria.S/PV.8225 Threats to international peace and security 09/04/2018 16/26 18-09955 Thirdly, all States, as well as the parties to the conflict, including the Syrian authorities, must fully cooperate with the Fact-finding Mission. What is particularly needed is safe and unhindered access to the site in Douma, as well as any information and evidence deemed relevant by the Fact-finding Mission to conduct its independent investigation.Fourthly, we need to urgently redouble our efforts in the Council to agree on a new independent and impartial attributive mechanism to identify those responsible for chemical-weapons use.Finally, if the allegations of chemical-weapons use are indeed confirmed and those responsible are eventually identified, the perpetrators must be held to account.We are ready to work actively and constructively with other members for urgent Council action. To that end, we have circulated elements as input to our discussions. We must immediately engage in consultations in order to break the current deadlock and to shoulder our responsibility under the Charter of the United Nations. We owe that to the many victims of the crimes committed in this conflict.Mr. Radomski (Poland): Allow me to thank Special Envoy Mr. Staffan de Mistura and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Mr. Thomas Markham for their important briefings.We are horrified by the news of another deadly attack in eastern Ghouta, which took place on Saturday evening. Dozens of people perished as a result of a vicious act of violence against civilians in Douma. The available information about the symptoms of the victims affirm that they are consistent with those caused by a chemical agent.Poland condemns that barbaric attack, and expects that it will be possible to hold the perpetrators accountable. No military or political goal can justify the extermination of innocent vulnerable people, especially those seeking help in medical facilities. That atrocious crime seems to be a cynical response to the debates in the Council last week, when we commemorated the first anniversary of the attack in Khan Shaykun (see S/PV.8221).We call on the actors affecting the situation in Syria, especially the Russian Federation and Iran, to take all the necessary actions to prevent any further use of weapons of mass destruction and to achieve the full cessation of hostilities in the whole territory of Syria. We insist that all parties to the conflict comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law.As has been stated many times by members of the Council, as well as United Nations officials and European Union representatives, it is highly regrettable that the renewal of the mandate of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism was vetoed, thereby allowing those responsible for the subsequent chemical attacks to remain unpunished. Today we face the results of that impunity, witnessing further attacks against civilians with the use of chemicals as weapons.We urge all our partners in the Council to engage in a serious discussion in good faith in order to re-establish an accountability mechanism for chemical attacks in Syria. That is the minimum that we owe the victims of Ghouta, Khan Shaykun, Al-Lataminah and the numerous other places where chemical weapons have been used.Mr. Alemu (Ethiopia): We would like to thank Special Envoy De Mistura and Mr. Thomas Markram for their briefings.Reports of the alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma on Saturday and the videos and pictures that we saw through media outlets are indeed very worrisome. It is also deeply disturbing that such reports of the use of chemical weapons have continued in the ongoing military activities in Syria. As we have repeatedly stated, we strongly condemn any use of chemical weapons by any actor under any circumstances. There is no justification whatsoever for the use of chemical weapons. Those responsible for these inhuman acts must be identified and held accountable. This is absolutely vital, not only for the sake of the victims of chemical weapons in Syria but also for maintaining international peace and security and for preserving the non-proliferation architecture.As the Secretary-General said in his 8 April statement, cited by the Special Envoy earlier, any use of chemical weapons, if confirmed, is abhorrent and requires a thorough investigation. That includes the need to establish accountability — something on which the Council has yet to achieve consensus. In the meantime, we believe the reported use of chemical weapons in Douma, and in other parts of Syria, should be investigated by the Fact-finding Mission, and all parties should extend full cooperation in that 09/04/2018 Threats to international peace and security S/PV.8225 18-09955 17/26 regard, in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions.While we all agree that accountability is indispensable for deterring and stopping the use of chemical weapons in Syria and beyond, there is currently, as has already be said, no independent, impartial and professional investigative mechanism that could identify those individuals, entities, State or non-State actors that use chemical weapons in the country. In that regard, the Council should recover its unity and engage in a positive and constructive discussion that could address the existing institutional lacunae.We all know that the threats to international peace and security we face today are becoming increasingly more complex by the day. We are seeing that the proliferation of nuclear weapons is posing a real danger and that the international norms on the use of chemical weapons are also being undermined. Since the end of the Cold War, the trust among major Powers has never been so low as it is currently, which has enormous implications not only for global peace and security but also for the transformative agenda that we have set for ourselves in the development sphere. We cannot think of making any meaningful headway towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals without creating the necessary global security environment. At the moment, we really cannot say that this is an environment conducive to making any progress on that account.The Security Council has the primary responsibility for the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security. Unfortunately, it has not been able to effectively address the new and emerging threats and challenges to peace and security that we are facing today. It has been all the more apparent that the lack of unity and cohesion among members is undermining the credibility of the Council. Perhaps we, the elected members, have to look for ways and means to have a greater impact, with a view to contributing to increasing the Council's effectiveness. Without dialogue among the major Powers to build the necessary trust and understanding, it will be extremely difficult to address some of the most difficult and complex security challenges we have ever seen, including the situation in Syria.Things are in fact bound to get even worse unless something is done. We cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand. The dangers are very palpable. That is why every opportunity should be seized. That is also why we consider the news about the upcoming summit-level meetings being planned to be encouraging. We can only hope that those meetings will help to defuse tensions and allow for serious discussions to take place with a view to finding a common approach to tackling current threats and challenges. The sooner those discussions happen, the better for preserving global peace and stability, which, as we speak, is becoming a source of extremely great concern. In fact, I am understating the magnitude of the potential danger we are facing.Mr. Tanoh-Boutchoue (Côte d'Ivoire) (spoke in French): The Ivorian delegation thanks Mr. De Mistura and Mr. Markram for their respective briefings on the latest developments in Syria, after the resumption of fighting in Douma and eastern Ghouta and the bombing of the city of Damascus, following the relative calm of recent weeks. My delegation would like to focus its statement on three main points.First, we remain deeply concerned about recent reports of chemical-weapons attacks against innocent civilian populations, which have reportedly resulted in numerous casualties who have shown symptoms of exposure to a chemical agent. While reaffirming its categorical rejection of any use or resort to chemical weapons, be it in times of peace or in times of war, Côte d'Ivoire strongly condemns such acts and calls for these events to be placed under an intense spotlight, with the contribution of all stakeholders.In the face of allegations of recurrent use of chemical weapons by the warring parties in the Syrian conflict, the Ivorian delegation stresses that it is more important than ever that the international community send a strong signal to show, beyond the usual principled condemnations, its determination to put a definitive end to this infernal cycle.The use of chemical weapons violates the most fundamental norms of international law and poses threats to our collective security. That is why we must engage in a unflagging fight against impunity in the use of chemical weapons and preserving the international chemical non-proliferation regime, which is one of the fundamental pillars of our common security.My second point concerns the need for the international community to put in place a mechanism for accountability and for the fight against impunity for those who use chemical weapons, in order to put an end to the repeated use of these weapons. In that regard, the Ivorian delegation expresses its readiness to work S/PV.8225 Threats to international peace and security 09/04/2018 18/26 18-09955 towards the establishment of such a mechanism and calls on the Council to return to the unity it had when it established the Joint Investigative Mechanism, whose mandate unfortunately could not be renewed despite our common efforts.Thirdly, Côte d'Ivoire notes with regret that resolution 2401 (2018), which remains the framework for our joint action, has not been implemented and that the humanitarian situation in Syria has further deteriorated. In the light of the distress of the civilian populations trapped in the fighting, the urgency for a cessation of hostilities remains more relevant than ever. In the face of the deteriorating situation, my country would like once again to call on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease hostilities and to respect international humanitarian law, including unhindered humanitarian access to persons in distress, in accordance with resolution 2401 (2018).In conclusion, Côte d'Ivoire reiterates its conviction that the solution to the crisis in Syria cannot be military. Only an inclusive political process can put a definitive end to this conflict. Such a political solution must be in accordance with resolution 2254 (2015) and imbued with the results of the Geneva negotiations. My country believes that the Geneva talks remain the right framework for achieving a lasting solution to the Syrian conflict.Mr. Ndong Mba (Equatorial Guinea) (spoke in Spanish): I thank Mr. Staffan de Mistura and Mr. Thomas Markram and their respective teams for their exhaustive briefings.The Republic of Equatorial Guinea expresses its gratitude to the French Republic and to the other members of the Council that called for the convening of this afternoon's meeting. We also thank the President of the Security Council for having decided to hold this afternoon's meeting under the agenda item "Threats to international peace and security: The situation in the Middle East". This is an appropriate topic, since recent events in the Middle East represent a genuine threat to peace and security, not only in that region but at the international level as well. From the protests in the Gaza Strip, with their loss of human lives, to the missile attacks on Syria, as well as the horrendous chemical weapons attack in the Syrian town of Douma, those are all situations of deep concern for the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.This past weekend we awoke to news that added a new low to the saddest and bloodiest episodes of the Syrian conflict. According to reports published in the international media, on 7 April, in the Syrian town of Douma in eastern Ghouta, more than 40 people, mostly women and girls, died from asphyxiation caused by inhaling a poison gas.As we heard in this Chamber on 4 April from the Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Thomas Markram (see S/PV.8221), the conclusions and recommendations of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Fact-finding Mission in the Syrian Arab Republic are not binding and do not attribute responsibilities in the case of evidence of the use of chemical substances prohibited under the relevant international treaties. In the light of that fact, we take this opportunity to recall the obligation of all parties to take essential steps towards the full implementation of resolution 2118 (2013), and we underscore the need to establish an independent investigation mechanism of the United Nations whose task should be focused on preventing impunity, identifying those responsible and preventing future attacks to the best of its abilities.As far as the Republic of Equatorial Guinea is concerned, no use of chemical weapons should go uninvestigated or unpunished. As a result, the alarming information coming out of Syria, especially that pertaining to the use of chemical weapons targeting civilians, both the case of Douma, which we are discussing today, as well as similar events in the past, must be investigated exhaustively, fairly, objectively and independently by international bodies in accordance with OPCW standards. The results of such investigations must be made public and those responsible must answer for their crimes before the implacable face of justice.The fact that chemical substances continue to be used, especially against civilians, is cause for serious concern to the Government of Equatorial Guinea. During the general debate of the seventy-second session of the General Assembly, the President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, His Excellency Mr. Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, condemned in the strongest terms the use, manufacture, possession and distribution of chemical weapons in armed conflicts (see A/72/PV.13). It is worth recalling that no member of the Council should be considered exempt from that obligation, which also reflects Chapter I of the Charter of the 09/04/2018 Threats to international peace and security S/PV.8225 18-09955 19/26 United Nations, which enshrines the determination of Member States to build a world of peace and ensure the well-being of humankind.The Security Council now finds itself at a crossroads with respect to its options. It can either strengthen the presence of international forces with a view to future military intervention, as some military Powers have been suggesting, or we can pursue international negotiations, be they in Geneva, Astana, Sochi or Ankara. However, history continues to teach us that military interventionism has never resolved conflicts; rather, it exacerbates and entrenches them, sowing desolation and ruin in its wake.As far as the Republic of Equatorial Guinea is concerned, the only solution to the Syrian conflict is to be found in the words spoken yesterday by Pope Francis in the traditional Sunday mass in Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican:"There is no such thing as a good war and a bad war. Nothing, but nothing, can justify the use of such instruments of extermination on defenseless people and populations . military and political leaders choose another path, that of negotiations, which is the only one that can bring about peace and not death and destruction."In conclusion, we reiterate the appeal made by the Republic of Equatorial Guinea to the countries and actors with influence in Syria, as well as in Israel and Palestine, to wield that influence in order to force all parties involved in those conflicts to mitigate the suffering of their people and to sit down to negotiate to put an end to that chronic threat to international peace and security which persists in the Middle East.Mr. Umarov (Kazakhstan): We thank Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura and Deputy High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Thomas Markram, for their briefings. We express our gratitude to Council members for initiating this emergency meeting, which we hope will lead to the launching of a timely and objective investigation of the incident in Douma.We firmly believe that the Security Council remains the main and sole body authorized to counter threats to international peace and security. Unfortunately, the situation within the Council is becoming increasingly strained. In order to achieve an appropriate solution to these critical issues, it is of utmost importance that the Council act unanimously, in a balanced and pragmatic manner. To that end, we must demonstrate greater flexibility and negotiability, rising above our national interests in order to achieve peace and stability. Any controversy that involves prejudices and mutual accusations and lacks conclusive results and irrefutable evidence will have only a destructive effect and will not lead to the results that the world community expects from us.With regard to the chemical attacks in Syria, we mourn together with the families of those killed and express our solidarity with them in the face of such atrocities, by which innocent civilians become victims of the relentless confrontation of the opposing parties. Kazakhstan has always taken a firm and resolute stand, uncompromisingly condemning any use of chemical weapons as the most heinous action and an unacceptable war crime.With regard to the situation in Douma, we call for an investigation into this alleged incident to be carried out and for all the circumstances to be clarified as soon as possible. The Council has the great responsibility to act on verifiable facts, not only before the world community, but before ourselves. Furthermore, history itself will ultimately be the judge of our decisions. Therefore, we need to verify all the details of the incident. In that regard, we would like to draw attention to the following aspects.First, are there any other reliable sources, in addition to White Helmets' claims, and who can verify the veracity of the assessments and testimonies of those sources? Some claim that the number of victims is 70, while others report that there were more than 150 victims and still others believe there were only 25 victims. Even one victim is too many. However, today, the Russian Federation denied the attack altogether. There are many allegations and assumptions regarding the very facts concerning the use of a toxic chemical substance.Secondly, we consider it important to take into account the fact that the Government of Syria has repeatedly notified us and requested that we check its reports that a number of terrorist groups on the side of the opposition were making attempts to transfer chemical weapons and prepare chemical attacks on the territory of eastern Ghouta. Actually, these allegations have not been given due attention and we have had no opportunity to verify all the facts. We are not advocating for any side in this conflict, but rather demanding a full S/PV.8225 Threats to international peace and security 09/04/2018 20/26 18-09955 and objective investigation on the basis of which we can make a thoughtful decision.Thirdly, we believe that it is imperative to conduct an independent investigation. We again recall the urgent need for an investigative mechanism, the establishment of which depends on the permanent members of the Council. They must make every possible effort to find common ground on the issue. We urgently need objective and verifiable information, as well as an immediate, independent, transparent and unbiased investigation before any decision or action, unilateral or otherwise, is taken.We fully support the proposal that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Fact-finding Mission be sent at the earliest. We are certain that the Syrian people are very interested in an objective investigation. Therefore, Damascus and opposing parties should provide all assistance and secure access for the speedy visit of the OPCW inspectors to the incident sites to collect facts on the ground.Finally, we again call for the preservation and strengthening of the unity of the Council to reach a consensus-based decision to preserve peace and stability in the world.Mr. Alotaibi (Kuwait) (spoke in Arabic): At the outset, we thank you, Mr. President, for the prompt convening of today's meeting. We were one of the countries that requested it.We also thank Mr. Staffan de Mistura, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, and Mr. Thomas Markram, Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, for their briefings.Since the beginning of this year, the State of Kuwait has occupied the Arab seat in the Security Council. One of our most important priorities, which we made clear before we joined it, is to defend and uphold Arab issues, voice the concerns about them and work to find peaceful solutions. We deeply deplore the lack of any real and genuine progress on any of these issues, in particular that of the Syrian crisis, which regrettably continues to deteriorate. Security Council resolutions on such issues are not implemented. The Council is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security but is unable to shoulder that responsibility. It is divided as it faces those dangers and threats. Therefore the crises continue, along with the suffering of the people in the region.The State of Kuwait condemns in the strongest terms the heinous rocket and barrel bomb attacks against residential areas under siege in eastern Ghouta, including the latest attack on Douma, on 7 April. Five days ago we marked the first anniversary of the Khan Shaykhun incident (see S/PV.8221), in which chemical weapons were used, as confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism. It also identified who used them.Two days ago, scores of civilians, including children and women, were killed or injured in attacks and air strikes against Douma. Many cases of asphyxiation were recorded. Several international reports confirmed that the crimes committed in both incidents were tantamount to crimes against humanity and war crimes, which reminds us once again of the request we all made in the Chamber for the establishment of a new mechanism to determine whether or not and by whom chemical weapons had been used, and to hold the perpetrators in Syria accountable. The mechanism must guarantee impartial, transparent and professional investigations in all chemical attacks in Syria in order to end impunity. For the past five years — specifically, since August 2013 — the perpetrators of chemical attacks in Syria have enjoyed impunity. They have not been punished, even when we witnessed the very first crime of the use of chemical weapons in eastern Ghouta.We do not want to mark the first anniversary of the attack in Douma without a conviction. We call for the Council to establish an accountability mechanism that would determine the perpetrators of the chemical-weapons crimes anywhere in Syria — be they a Government, entity, group or individual — so that they can be held accountable in accordance with the provisions of resolution 2118 (2013). The Council must shoulder its responsibility with regard to the maintenance of international peace and security. The use of chemical weapons in Syria is a genuine threat to the non-proliferation regime. The continued attacks against civilians in medical facilities and residential areas, through air strikes or artillery, are all flagrant violations of the international community's will and relevant Security Council resolutions, in particular resolution 2401 (2018), which demanded a 30-day ceasefire, at the very least, without delay.09/04/2018 Threats to international peace and security S/PV.8225 18-09955 21/26 The provisions of resolution 2118 (2013) are clear and definite. They call for accountability for the use of chemical weapons in Syria, which is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law. However, current events are a clear violation of the provisions of the resolution. As members of the Council, we cannot accept the status quo, which is the continued use of chemical weapons in Syria. It is another disappointment for the Syrian people, whose suffering caused by the use of such weapons in different parts of Syria we have been unable to end.The Council has a collective responsibility. The suffering Syrian people are sick and tired of tuning into meetings of the Council without seeing tangible results on the ground. At several junctures throughout this bloody conflict the Council has been able to find common ground to end the crisis. However, we must overcome our political differences and establish a new accountability mechanism in Syria that is professional, credible and impartial. Such elements are available in the draft resolution under discussion, which has been put forward by the United States. It includes updates on the incident in Douma. We call on all members of the Council to build on that draft as a good basis for negotiations on a future mechanism.We continue to seek a political solution as the only means to end the crisis in all its dimensions. The political road map is clear and agreed, based on the 2012 Geneva communiqué (S/2012/522, annex) and on resolution 2254 (2015). It seeks to maintain the unity, independence and sovereignty of Syria and meet the legitimate aspirations and ambitions of the Syrian people towards living a dignified life.Mr. Inchauste Jordán (Plurinational State of Bolivia) (spoke in Spanish): We thank Mr. Staffan de Mistura, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, and Mr. Thomas Markram, Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, for their briefings.We are deeply concerned about the reported use of chemical weapons in the city of Douma. Bolivia reiterates its condemnation of the use of chemical agents as weapons and considers it to be an unjustifiable criminal act. There can be no justification for their use, regardless of the circumstances or by whom they are used, as it constitutes a serious violation of international law and a grave threat to international peace and security.We believe that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Fact-finding Mission, in line with its mandate, should verify in the most objective, methodological and technical manner the reported use of chemical weapons. Should their use be verified, it must be investigated in an effective and transparent manner in order to ensure that the perpetrators can be identified and tried by the appropriate bodies so as to prevent impunity. We therefore need an independent, impartial and representative entity that will conduct a comprehensive, credible and conclusive investigation. Our major challenge is to ensure that we do not politicize or exploit the Security Council for our own purposes. We regret that so far there have been obstacles to the full implementation of resolution 2401 (2018), and we call on all the parties involved to make every effort to effectively implement it throughout Syrian territory. We emphatically reject the ongoing bombardments and indiscriminate attacks, especially those on civilian infrastructure such as health facilities, and we deplore all military activity in residential areas. Such actions only cause more displacements, injuries and deaths. We call on all the parties to respect international humanitarian law and human rights law, including authorizing humanitarian access throughout Syria and to all persons in need, in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions.We reiterate that there can be no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that the only option is an inclusive, negotiated and coordinated political process, led by the Syrian people for the Syrian people, aimed at enabling sustainable peace to be achieved in the area without any foreign pressure, as provided for in resolution 2254 (2015). We also reject any attempt at fragmentation or sectarianism in Syria.Bolivia wants to once again make clear its firm rejection of the use of force or the threat of use of force. We also reject unilateral actions, which are illegal and contrary to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, and undermine any effort to achieve a political solution.Lastly, with regard to the events in the city of Salisbury, we reiterate the importance of conducting an independent, transparent and depoliticized investigation in accordance with current rules and regulations of international law, especially as set forth by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. S/PV.8225 Threats to international peace and security 09/04/2018 22/26 18-09955 We believe that cooperation among the relevant parties will be essential to making progress through the appropriate diplomatic channels in solving the crime and strengthening the non-proliferation regime.The President (spoke in Spanish): I shall now make a statement in my national capacity.We thank Mr. De Mistura and Mr. Markram for their briefings. Peru is deeply concerned about the new reports of the use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, including minors, in the town of Douma. In that regard, we note the urgent need for a thorough investigation. Peru condemns any use of chemical weapons wherever it may take place. We want to point out that it is a heinous crime, a threat to the maintenance of international peace and security and a violation both of the non-proliferation regime and international humanitarian law.In the short term, we believe that the Syrian Government and all parties to the conflict, including countries with influence on the ground, should abide by and implement the humanitarian ceasefire that the Council provided for in resolution 2401 (2018), and to cooperate with the Fact-finding Mission in the Syrian Arab Republic of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. To that end, we once again reiterate the importance of establishing an independent and impartial accountability mechanism. The investigations should result in the prosecution and punishment of those responsible. The members of the Council cannot permit impunity.We must also remember that any response to the conflict in Syria and the atrocities committed there must be conducted in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. Peru opposes any use or threat of use of force contrary to international law. We reiterate our deep concern about the serious consequences that the ongoing atrocities in the Syrian conflict may have for the stability of the Middle East and for an international order based on minimum standards of humanity and coexistence. In that regard, I would like to conclude by calling on the members of the Council to restore a sense of unity and the common good to our discharge of our high responsibilities. In the case of Syria, that means implementing the ceasefire and ensuring the effective protection of civilians, investigating and punishing atrocity crimes and resuming a serious process of political dialogue, based on resolution 2254 (2015) and the Geneva communiqué (S/2012/522, annex), with a view to promoting the sustainable peace that the Syrian people so badly need.I now resume my functions as President of the Council.The representative of the Russian Federation has asked for the floor to make a further statement.Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): Like my Dutch colleague and friend, I too have three points to make.I would first like to respectfully request of my colleague Mrs. Nikki Haley, Permanent Representative of the United States, that from now on she refrain from labelling any legitimate Governments as "regimes". Right now I am referring specifically to Russia. I have made that request once before, but Ambassador Haley was not present, and I asked for it to be conveyed to her by her colleagues. Now I am requesting it personally. If it happens again, I will interrupt the meeting on a point of order.Secondly, the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom said that Syria is different from Salisbury in that there no investigation is being conducted in Syria, while one is under way in Salisbury. We would very much like to know more about the details of that investigation and would be grateful if she could communicate them to us. However, for the time being we know nothing other than that all of a sudden the alleged victims of a chemical warfare agent, thankfully, turn out to be alive and, apparently, almost completely well. However, nobody has seen them yet, and we fear for the condition of those important witnesses. At the moment, we have learned from newspaper reports, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has offered to shelter the Skripals in the United States under new identities. The CIA's participation in this is itself revealing. But it also means that we may never see these people, who are key witnesses to what happened, again.What else do we know? We know about the speedy euthanization of the Skripals' pets and the cremation of the cat and dead guinea pigs. We are also aware of the intention to demolish their house and the restaurant and pub they visited. We also know that Yulia Skripal's sister, Viktoria, who wanted to see her, was denied a British visa. Why? That is all we know. I repeat that we would very much like to learn more details about what is going on, and we would be grateful to our British 09/04/2018 Threats to international peace and security S/PV.8225 18-09955 23/26 colleagues if they could keep us regularly informed during the investigation.Thirdly, and lastly, we did not meet here today to address the situation in Douma. The agenda item is entitled "Threats to international peace and security", although, needless to say, it was the situation regarding Douma and the so-called chemical attack that prompted the meeting. In today's meeting, as Mr. De Mistura mentioned and the Secretary-General has previously discussed, we are moving towards a dangerous area. Unfortunately, the people who are playing these dangerous games and spewing irresponsible threats do not understand that. Today we heard once again what we have already heard many times. None of our Western colleagues want to hear or listen to objective information. None of them has expressed any doubts about the one and only version that has been given of what transpired. So what is the point of an investigation? Why bother? They have accused Damascus of a chemical-weapon attack not just before any investigation has been carried out but before the incident was even known about.They are not convinced by the information that we have provided today. They simply do not want to listen. We have already said that there are no witnesses to the use of chemical weapons at all. There are no traces of chemicals, no bodies, no injuries, no poisoning victims. Nobody went to the hospital. The footage was all clearly staged by the White Helmets. We demand that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) mission immediately visit Douma and the area of the alleged chemical weapons attack, interview the residents and medical staff and and collect soil samples. My British colleague said that only an investigation can establish who is to blame. We agree, except that did not stop her from blaming the so-called Syrian regime. Those two things do not really jibe. We insist that the OPCW mission visit Douma immediately. The Syrian authorities and Russian troops are ready to provide the necessary conditions for this to take place.Lastly, we too wish there were an independent investigative mechanism. I would like to remind the Council that our draft resolution, which includes a proposal for establishing such a mechanism, is in blue, and we are ready to adopt it today, if necessary.The President (spoke in Spanish): The representative of the United Kingdom has asked for the floor to make a further statement.Ms. Pierce (United Kingdom): I apologize for taking the floor again, but I want to clarify something. The Russian Ambassador's English is far too good for him not to have understood me when I spoke on 5 April (see S/PV.8224). The investigation of the Salisbury incident that is under way is an independent police investigation, and the United Kingdom will be very pleased to update the Council as and when we have something to say.If I may, I would like to add one more thing. The other difference between Salisbury and Syria is that the United Kingdom is a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention in good standing, and the Syrian Government has not complied with its obligations as certified by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.The President (spoke in Spanish): I now give the floor to the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic.Mr. Ja'afari (Syrian Arab Republic) (spoke in Arabic): The American representative said that Russia spends its resources to support what she calls the regime in Syria. My question to her is: What does the United States spend its resources on in Syria? Does it spend its resources providing milk and medicine to Syrian children, or on providing weapons and munitions to its terrorist groups, which have committed the most heinous crimes against the Syrian people? Or is it spending resources on the its alliance's aircraft, which have wreaked destruction in many places in Syria, particularly in the city of Raqqa? What about the continuous threats that are made against my country at nearly every meeting of the Security Council on this issue? Does she acknowledge that her Administration has no respect for the Security Council, this international Organization or the principles of international law?Let us test the credibility of what my colleague the United States Ambassador said. I ask members to note that I do not refer to the American Administration as the "American regime" because that would be legally shameful in this Chamber. Let us test the credibility of what my colleague the American Ambassador said when she asked the Security Council to act in order to achieve justice in Syria. Well, my test is to request that her Administration and her country allow the disclosure of the results of the United Nations Special Commission that investigated the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq for 18 years. The Commission was headed for some time by a Swede, Mr. Hans Blix.S/PV.8225 Threats to international peace and security 09/04/2018 24/26 18-09955 As Council members know, after 18 years of investigation the Commission found no chemical weapons in Iraq. Nor did they find Coca-Cola or Pepsi Cola. Nevertheless, in a semi-confidential meeting towards the end of 2008, the Security Council decided to end the Commission's work and bury its archives in iron boxes. I repeat — it decided to bury its archives in iron boxes. Only the Secretary-General knows the code that opens those boxes. There was one condition, which was that the boxes could not be opened for 60 years. What is so shameful in those archives? Why did they have to be buried in boxes that cannot be opened for 60 years? That question is directed to the American Ambassador.The Government of my country condemns in the strongest terms the ruthless Israeli aggression that took place this morning on the T-4 airbase in Homs governorate, in which a number of civilians were killed and injured. It was a flagrant violation of Security Council resolution 350 (1974) and of various Security Council resolutions on counter-terrorism, and would not have occurred were it not for the American Administration's unlimited and consistent support for Israel. The American Administration guarantees Israel immunity so that it will not be held accountable in the Council. That allows Israel to continue to practice State terrorism and to threaten peace and security in the region and beyond. Of course, Western countries did not even mention the Israeli aggression in their statements today, which shows that the Governments of their countries are complicit in it and are covering for it. Unfortunately, my dear friend Mr. De Mistura did not hear Netanyahu say this morning that it was Israel that launched the attack. That is why I was surprised when he said that the United Nations has not been able to verify the identity of its perpetrators. If Netanyahu himself says that he launched this aggression, why does Mr. De Mistura not refer to Israel as the aggressor?This Israeli aggression is an indirect response to the successes of the Syrian Arab Army in expelling armed terrorist groups from the suburbs of Damascus, its rural area and other Syrian territory. Those groups have been killing the Syrian people, kidnapping civilians, detaining them and using them as human shields. They targeted Damascus alone with 3,000 missiles over the course of three months, killing 155 martyrs and injuring 865 civilians, most of them women and children. The Syrian Government underscores that the repeated Israeli aggression did not and will not protect Israeli agents operating within terrorist groups, nor will it divert the attention of the Syrian Army from its decisive military achievements in combating terrorism.The American anti-racism activist Martin Luther King Jr. said that "a lie is like a snowball: the further you roll it the bigger it becomes". It would seem that this wise saying holds true at any time and at any place. The Governments of some countries lie incessantly. Fortunately, though, they have not quite perfected the details of their web of lies, much like the famous Baron Munchausen of German literature. How many roosters truly believe that sunrise is the result of crowing?Some permanent members have become professional liars, and that in itself is a weapon of mass destruction. Through their lies, Palestine was stolen. The lies of these countries fuelled the war in the Korean peninsula. Through their lies, they invaded Viet Nam. Through their lies, they invaded Grenada. Through their lies, they destroyed Yugoslavia. Through their lies, they occupied Iraq. Through their lies, they destroyed Libya. Through their lies, they created takfiri terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaida, the Taliban, Da'esh, Al-Nusra Front, Jaysh Al-Islam — and the list goes on and on. Through their lies, the same countries are trying to defeat Syria and prepare the ground for an assault today.It is worth noting that the today's negative statement of the United States representative is in absolute contradiction with a statement made by United States Secretary of Defence General Mattis in an interview with Newsweek two days ago with journalist Ian Wilkie. Mr. Wilkie used the following title for the interview: "Now Mattis Admits There Was No Evidence Assad Used Poison Gas on His People." That was said by the American Defence Secretary, not the Syrian Defence Minister. What a harmonious Administration!On 10 December 2012, some six years ago, we submitted a formal letter to the Council (S/2012/917), before the operators of terrorist groups claimed, for the first time, that sarin gas was used in Khan Al-Assal on 19 March 2013. We informed the Council that the United States, the United Kingdom and France had launched a campaign of allegations claiming that the Syrian Government may have used chemical weapons. Back then, we warned that such allegations would encourage Governments that sponsor terrorists to provide chemical weapons to armed terrorist groups and then claim that the Syrian Government had used such weapons. What happened in the past few years 09/04/2018 Threats to international peace and security S/PV.8225 18-09955 25/26 in Khan Al-Assal, Ghouta, Kafr Zita, Lataminah, Tal Minis, Khan Shaykhun and many other villages and towns in Syria confirms unequivocally what we had warned of five to six years ago, and during all these six years.The United States, the United Kingdom and France have been extremely eager to hold one meeting after another based on fabricated information. That is part of the deep crisis that we are witnessing. They want to involve other Council members in that crisis. Since 2013, those three countries have created a big elephant of lies and deceit in the Security Council. That elephant is living in the Chamber today and is stomping on the credibility of the Council with its huge feet. It seems that these countries called for the holding of today's meeting to support terrorists and to obstruct the agreement reached about Douma.However, those countries were a bit late because the terrorists had hoped this meeting would be held before they were forced to reach an agreement with the Syrian State to leave their strongholds and hand over their weapons. These countries were late in fulfilling their promises to the terrorists. It would have been better not to repeat their nasty story and not to rely on false reports from mercenaries — so-called White Helmets, founded by British intelligence officer James Le Mesurier. He is British, but his name is French. What proves that these countries were lying is that the residents of Douma left the city safely — 170,000 civilians left the city safely. Those terrorists chose to reach an agreement with the Syrian State as a last resort for them and their families. Many buses are transferring them and their families to the city of Jarabulus, after they refused to settle their affairs and chose to go there. However, the vast majority of residents chose to stay in their houses and resort to the Syrian State.It has been proven that the allegations of certain States, including some States members of the Council, on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in eastern Ghouta were lies, just as we saw in Aleppo and other places. As it turned out, terrorist group warehouses were full of medication and food, monopolized by their elements who sold some of those items to civilians at exorbitant prices. At this point, I must ask: Did the three countries call for this meeting in order to legitimize the Israeli aggression that occurred this morning or to impede the implementation of the agreement reached with their terrorist tools?In this context, I must thank the delegation of the Russian Federation for recognizing the true nature of what these countries were preparing for, and aptly called for the meeting to be held under the agenda item "Threats to international peace and security". That is the correct agenda item.We have conveyed to the Security Council, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and what used to be called the Joint Investigative Mechanism 145 letters, the latest on 1 April 2018. I thank the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan for pointing out that the Council members do not read and that the Council does not respond to those letters. The letters contain accurate information. They indicate that armed terrorist groups possess toxic chemical substances, notably chlorine and sarin. We have warned time and again that those groups were preparing to commit crimes involving chemical weapons against innocent Syrians, and were working with the White Helmets to fabricate evidence, photograph locations and film Hollywood-like scenes with everything staged in order to blame the Syrian Government and influence public opinion against Syria and its allies. Those countries call for the holding of meetings such as this in order to create a pretext that would justify any military aggression against Syria.It seems that the directors of that terrorist scene failed to perfect their web of lies. We note that in each of those theatrical scenes on the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Government, the substances never seem to affect the armed elements, but only women and children. These chemical weapons seem to discriminate against women and children and do not affect armed men. It suffices to wash away these chemicals with water in front of the camera. Water appears to heal everything. Rescue workers never need to wear protective masks. The Syrian Arab Army does not use these substances because it does not possess them to begin with. The Americans destroyed them on the vessel MV Cape Ray in the Mediterranean. So, the Syrian Arab Army uses these substances, which it does not possess, only when it is making military progress. How strange that is!This vehement campaign lacks the minimum standards of credibility. It relies on fabricated information on social media by elements of armed terrorist groups and their operators. I announce from this table that the Syrian Government is fully prepared to facilitate an OPCW fact-finding mission to Douma, S/PV.8225 Threats to international peace and security 09/04/2018 26/26 18-09955 where the incident is alleged to have occurred, as soon as possible to investigate and verify these allegations. We endorse the Russian proposal to hear a briefing on the fact-finding mission's report after its visit to Al-Raqqa. We welcome this visit as soon as possible.I hope that this offer does not suffer the same fate as the first offer we made to former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after the Khan Al-Assal incident of chemical substance use in March 2013. At that time, we asked the Secretary-General to provide assistance to the Syrian Government in immediately investigating what happened in the town of Khan Al-Assal. It took the United Nations four months and 11 days to send Mr. Sellström, as Council members recall. Yes, it took the United Nations four months and 11 days. That is how the United Nations interpreted the term "immediately" — four months and 11 days. When Mr. Sellström arrived in Damascus to investigate what had happened in Khan Al-Assal, terrorists in Ghouta were instructed to use chemical substances again. Mr. Sellström therefore left Khan Al-Assal and moved to Ghouta. Council members should be aware that since March 2013, investigations into what happened in Khan Al-Assal have not taken place.Today, we directly accuse Washington, D.C., Paris, London, Riyadh, Doha and Ankara of providing Da'esh, Al-Nusra Front, Jaysh Al-Islam, Faylaq Al-Rahman and scores of other affiliated terrorist groups with toxic chemical substances to be used against Syrian civilians. We accuse them of inciting those massacres and of fabricating evidence to falsely blame the Syrian Government for the use of toxic chemical substances in order to prepare the ground for an aggression against my country, just as the United States and the United Kingdom did in Iraq in 2003.Yes, we say to the United States, the United Kingdom and France that, in Syria and Iraq, we eliminated the vast majority of Da'esh elements within three years — not within 30 years, as President Obama has said. Those States have plans to justify undermining the stability of the region. Yes, we say to Saudi Arabia today that we cut off its terrorist tentacles — the gangs of Jaysh Al-Islam — in eastern Ghouta. Yes, we say to Qatar and Turkey that we cut off their terrorist tentacles — the gangs of the Al-Nusra Front and Faylaq al-Rahman — in eastern Ghouta. I say to all those who sent moderate, armed, genetically modified opposition fighters to our land that we eliminated these toxic exports. We call on those exporters to bear the consequences of their actions, as some surviving elements will return to their original countries.The issue is very simple. Let me just say that on our borders with Turkey and in the separation zone in the Golan with Israel, there are tens of thousands of good, moderate terrorists with their light weapons, long beards, black banners and white helmets. Whoever wants to adopt them should submit an application to their operators. They are ready to go to Europe and the West as refugees.In conclusion, the Syrian Arab Republic stresses once again that it does not possess chemical weapons of any type, including chlorine. We condemn anew the use of chemical weapons at anytime, anywhere and in any circumstances. My country, Syria, reaffirms its readiness to cooperate fully with the OPCW in fulfilling its commitments under the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction.The Russian Centre for Reconciliation in Syria announced today that Russian military experts have carried out investigations in Douma and confirmed that they have found no sign of the use of chemical weapons there. While treating the sick in the hospitals of Douma, Russian doctors have proven that these patients have not been subjected to any chemical substance. What we were seeing there was nothing but Hollywood-style scenes.The President (spoke in Spanish): There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers. I now invite Council members to informal consultations to continue our discussion on the subject.The meeting rose at 5.45 p.m.

The Situation In The Middle East This Record Contains The Text Of Speeches Delivered In English And Of The Translation Of Speeches Delivered In Other Languages. ; United Nations S/PV.8164 Security Council Seventy-third year 8164th meeting Tuesday, 23 January 2018, 3 p.m. New York Provisional President: Mr. Umarov. . (Kazakhstan) Members: Bolivia (Plurinational State of). . Mr. Llorentty Solíz China. . Mr. Shen Bo Côte d'Ivoire. . Mr. Tanoh-Boutchoue Equatorial Guinea. . Mr. Ndong Mba Ethiopia. . Ms. Guadey France. . Mr. Delattre Kuwait. . Mr. Alotaibi Netherlands. . Mr. Van Oosterom Peru. . Mr. Tenya Poland. . Ms. Wronecka Russian Federation. . Mr. Nebenzia Sweden . Mr. Skoog United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . Mr. Allen United States of America. . Mrs. Haley Agenda The situation in the Middle East This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the translation of speeches delivered in other languages. The final text will be printed in the Official Records of the Security Council. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room U-0506 (verbatimrecords@un.org). Corrected records will be reissued electronically on the Official Document System of the United Nations (http://documents.un.org). 18-01889 (E) *1801889* S/PV.8164 The situation in the Middle East 23/01/2018 2/11 18-01889 The meeting was called to order at 3.05 p.m. Adoption of the agenda The agenda was adopted. The situation in the Middle East The President: The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): I should like at the outset to apologize to the members of the Security Council and the Secretariat for the fact that I ruined their siesta today. We have requested the convening of an open meeting of the Security Council because the issue that we intend to raise is far too important for the discussion to be held in closed consultations. We have nothing to hide. When we discussed Syria in consultations yesterday, many touched on the importance of establishing a new structure to investigate instances of chemical-weapons use in Syria to supplement the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), which fully discredited itself. We have never forgotten this issue, and we have consistently recalled in meetings our readiness to continue consultations on this matter, as noted by Minister Lavrov to the Secretary-General last week. Yesterday, however, we were unable to rise to that call. Today, upon instruction from our capital, it is my honour to report the following. Russia has consistently stressed the importance of taking the most serious approach to the problem of the manufacture and use of chemical weapons. We are troubled by manifestations of chemical-weapons terrorism in the Middle East, which are not limited to Syrian territory. Unfortunately, the JIM, which no longer exists, caused the collapse of the investigation, which from a scientific and technical perspective was an utter failure and became an instrument for political manipulation. Members of the international community and the Security Council were well aware of the Russian specialists' scrupulous analysis of the conclusions of the JIM. In an attempt to interpret certain elements of the Russian approach, during consultations on 9 January the United States delegation circulated the relevant document. However, at no point in the document was there even an attempt to approach the matter from a professional standpoint. The so-called refutations of our position do not stand up to any criticism. I invite Council members to familiarize themselves with the material supporting our position in the response that we circulated yesterday as an official Security Council document. Today, incidentally, senior representatives of the United States Department of State made further unfounded accusations alleging that Russia is hindering international verification of the facts of the use of chemical weapons in Syria. We have already responded to that, and anyone who wants to can read Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov's comments on the issue. No one has called more than we have for a further investigation — a professional one rather than a simulacrum — into the incidents involving the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and at the moment we are still trying to get the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to send its specialists to Syria to see for themselves the stockpiles of chemical weapons left by militants in liberated areas that the Syrian Government has discovered. By the way, during yesterday's consultations, following the reports of various recent incidents involving the use of toxic substances in Syria, which have yet to be verified, the representatives of the United States and the United Kingdom — without a second's pause or any evidence, let alone an investigation — hastened to declare them the work of what they refer to as the Syrian "regime". Now they are trying to drag Russia into it too. Secretary of State Tillerson brought this up in Paris today at the meeting of the so-called international partnership of States against impunity for the use of chemical weapons, basing his argument on an incident that allegedly occurred yesterday in eastern Ghouta. However, his statement was devoted almost exclusively to Russia. By the way, does nobody find it strange that this alleged incident, whose genuineness has yet to be confirmed — as does the identity of its perpetrators, if it is genuine — coincided very conveniently with the meeting in Paris and the forthcoming Syrian national dialogue conference in Sochi? An amazing coincidence. Some States are persisting in their attempts to push through an anti-Damascus verdict at the OPCW at all costs, and thereby undermining that respected organization's authority. Others are seeking to scrape together a narrow alliance of anti-impunity-ites through non-legitimate formats. In November of last year, Russia, working with others of like mind, put together draft resolution 23/01/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8164 18-01889 3/11 S/2017/968, which would have ensured that the JIM's activities conformed to the the high international standards of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which guarantee a genuinely impartial and professional investigation. The initiative was blocked by a number of delegations at the time. We want to rise above those differences and propose creating a new international investigative body that could establish the facts that the Security Council needs in order to identify those who used toxic substances as weapons, based on irreproachable, irrefutable information from transparent, credible sources. It must be professional and non-politicized. We have prepared a draft of such a resolution and ask that the Secretariat circulate it. We hope that Council members will study our initiative with their capitals as soon as possible. We are ready for substantive consultations. Mrs. Haley (United States of America): Russia has convened us with almost no notice, and then put forth a proposal that it hopes will distract from the new French initiative to hold accountable those who use chemical weapons. Today, Russia is again doing what it does best with regard to chemical weapons. It is running from the facts. It has the audacity to lecture the Security Council about how to stop the use of chemical weapons. I know that I have said this before, but it is worth repeating. In the past year, Russia exercised the right to veto three times to kill the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) in Syria. All by itself, Russia killed the Mechanism, which we had specifically tasked with identifying those responsible for using chemical weapons in Syria. Russia should look in the mirror before bringing us into the Security Council to talk about chemical weapons. Earlier this week, we received yet another report that the Al-Assad regime had used chlorine gas on its own people. Dozens of civilians had to be treated for suffocation. Syrian children were literally gasping for breath as chlorine gas surrounded them. Of course, it is no coincidence that this week's chlorine-gas attack reportedly happened in the exact place that the Al-Assad regime is trying to take over militarily. We know that it resorts to such brutal tactics when it wants to retake territory, without any regard for innocent civilians, and we know that Russia has looked the other way for years while its Syrian friends use those despicable weapons of war. Russia is complicit in the Al-Assad regime's atrocities. Will the representative of the Russian Federation say anything at all today about the suffering caused by Al-Assad's barbaric tactics? Will it hold Al-Assad to account? Of course not. It never does. It is therefore fitting that Russia brought us here on the same day that a new initiative on accountability for chemical weapons has been introduced in Paris. Today, France launched an international partnership against impunity for chemical weapons. We strongly support that effort and commend France for its leadership. More than 25 like-minded countries have come together to share and preserve information on who has used chemical weapons and to make sure that the perpetrators will be held accountable. Make no mistake — the United States, together with the Council, will continue to pursue those who have used chemical weapons to ensure that they are held accountable for their atrocities. Russia says that it has concerns about this French initiative to share evidence of the use of chemical weapons. That is no surprise. Russia opposed the Joint Investigative Mechanism because it collected facts about who used chemical weapons in Syria. Now Russia is questioning the French effort to collect facts on who used chemical weapons. What can we conclude? To put it simply, when Russia does not like the facts, it tries to distract the conversation. That is because the facts come back over and over again to the truth that Russia wants to hide, which is that the Al-Assad regime continues to use chemical weapons against its own people. Today, Russia once again threw around many different accusations. Again, that is not surprising. Russia often puts out misleading and unfounded claims to confuse the conversation about chemical weapons. In fact, this happens so often that we recently wrote to the Security Council with a detailed assessment of Russia's misleading claims. The letter is public and available for anyone to see. We encourage everyone to take a look at it for themselves. Here is the bottom line. The Security Council gave the Joint Investigative Mechanism a mandate to tell us who used chemical weapons in Syria. When investigators found the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham to be responsible, Russia was fine. When the investigators found that the Al-Assad regime had used them, Russia tried to find any excuse to poke holes in the investigation and threw up smoke to question the findings. But hat is not how independent investigations work. You do not get to question the findings when they do not go your way. We are therefore not going to accept any Russian proposal that undermines our S/PV.8164 The situation in the Middle East 23/01/2018 4/11 18-01889 ability to get to the truth or that politicizes what must be an independent and impartial investigation. If the Russians want to work in good faith towards that goal, we are ready to re-establish the JIM, with its original, independent and impartial mandate, right now. But anything less is unacceptable. To be crystal clear: the United States supports accountability for anyone who uses chemical weapons. We agree with Russia that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham must be held accountable for its use of such weapons, as the Joint Investigative Mechanism has found. But the difference between the United States and Russia is that we believe that no one should be let off the hook. Chemical weapons must never be used. Russia can continue to talk for as long as it wants about chemical weapons. It can bring it up in the Security Council Chamber as often as it wants. We welcome the debate. The United States and the international community will not be fooled. We remain steadfast in pursuing accountability for those who use chemical weapons. We stand strong in doing all we can to preserve the norm against their use. We remain forever committed to preserving the truth about what the Al-Assad regime has done in Syria and, sadly, what it will likely continue to do. Mr. Delattre (France) (spoke in French): We meet today after receiving news about another chemical attack in Syria — this time in Douma — which resulted in more than 20 victims, including women and children. Furthermore, the attack was penetrated in a de-escalation zone. We are closely following all available information. We expect that the international investigative mechanism in place — in particular the Fact-finding Mission — will shed light on the attack. As we commemorate the one hundredth anniversary this year of the end of the First World War, during which chemical weapons produced on an industrial scale were used for the first time in history, repeated chemical-weapon attacks in Syria are an affront to the human conscience and a violation of the most fundamental norms of international law. The facts prove that the scourge continues to exist. Last year in Syria, on 4 April, more than 80 people, including women and children, were killed by a powerful nerve agent. Four years prior, 2,000 Syrian civilians were gassed in Ghouta with sarin gas. The use of chemical weapons was confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The OPCW-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) clearly determined that the Syrian regime and Da'esh were responsible for those attacks. France itself independently confirmed that the Syrian regime was responsible for the attack perpetrated on 4 April. Since 2013, investigations have revealed more than 100 allegations of the use of chemical weapons, primarily in Syria but also in Iraq and Malaysia. Chlorine gas, sarin, mustard gas and VX — all deadly nerve agents — have returned to the forefront of the international arena a century after the horrors of the First World War. Gruesome images of the victims of such weapons of terror, which we thought we had long ago left behind, have also resurfaced. We cannot allow the use of such loathsome weapons to become commonplace. They destabilize entire regions and threaten everyone's security. They increase the risk of chemical terrorism, which we all fear. They also weaken the regime against chemical weapons as well as the entire non-proliferation regime. They undermine international law and call into question the outcome of international forums that have been held for decades. That is why we must take action. We owe it to history; it is a responsibility we must shoulder together. Those of us who claim to be committed to the non-proliferation regime and helped to build it should bear that in mind. Let us be clear: those who hamper our efforts to combat impunity endorse de facto impunity for the perpetrators of such chemical attacks. They prevent us from deterring and bringing to justice those who participated in chemical-weapon programmes and those Governments and entities that give the orders to carry out attacks. We therefore cannot turn a blind eye and allow them to continue — and all the more so, and I repeat this, given that the chemical-weapon non-proliferation regime is the most developed and successful of all international non-proliferation regimes. Allowing it to be weakened without taking action would be tantamount to accepting the erosion of the entire non-proliferation regime on weapons of mass destruction, which we built together, step by step, over decades and which now serves as the backbone of the international security architecture and one of multilateralism's main accomplishments. France has therefore proposed the establishment of a new international partnership to combat impunity for the use of chemical weapons by anyone — State and non-State actors alike. That partnership was launched yesterday in Paris at a conference convened by the 23/01/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8164 18-01889 5/11 French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean-Yves Le Drian, at which representatives of 24 States were in attendance to reiterate their willingness to work together to counter the threat. I should like to mention just a few of the partnership's ambitious commitments. They include the transfer and sharing of information, when possible, about the perpetrators of attacks; a commitment to impose national or international sanctions against entities and individuals concerned; assistance for building State capacity with regard to designations and sanctions; and the publication of a single, consolidated list of the names of individuals involved in attacks. Criminals who claim responsibility for developing and using such barbaric weapons must know that they will not go unpunished. Once again, this is about the future of the entire collective security system. One should not be able to violate the most basic norms without eventually facing the consequences. Owing to obstruction on the part of certain countries, we were unable to renew the JIM's mandate at the end of last year. Yesterday's consultations on Syria confirmed that an overwhelming majority of the members of the Security Council do not agree with the current impasse. In that regard, we take note of the proposal made today by Russia. We will consider it in the light of the principles I have just outlined. The new partnership launched in Paris does not aim to replace international instruments and the investigative mechanism established by the United Nations and the OPCW. Instead, it seeks to complement and bolster that structure by making a new operational instrument available to the multilateral system and the international community. It will assist investigations and help the international justice system in its work. It is neither an anti-Syrian instrument nor an exclusive club of countries. All countries can join this pragmatic and open partnership by adhering to its statement of principles. Through the partnership, they will show their commitment to law, international stability, justice and security in order to end impunity for the perpetrators of chemical attacks and their accomplices. We must therefore work through the partnership to consolidate the regime prohibiting chemical weapons. The cornerstone of the partnership was laid in Paris and embodies our faith in effective and demanding multilateralism. In an effort to take immediate action, I can confirm that France has imposed asset-freezes on networks involved in the proliferation of chemical weapons in Syria. In conclusion, I recall that there will be no justice or sustainable peace in Syria without putting an end to impunity. How can we continue to defend the regime and reiterate its willingness to speak in good faith and seek a political solution when that very same regime employs barbaric weapons against its own people? There has never been a larger gap between words and deeds. At the United Nations in both Vienna and Geneva, I said that we must work together to reach a political solution in Syria. Implementing an inclusive political solution as outlined in resolution 2254 (2015), which serves as our guidepost now more than ever, will depend upon a neutral environment in Syria guaranteed by the regime's clear commitment to credible constitutional change and democratic elections. It is the only way to permanently end the suffering of Syrians. We continue to believe that we can, and must, bring the Security Council together to proceed in that direction. Mr. Allen (United Kingdom): When I heard today that Russia had called for an urgent meeting on the use of chemical weapons in Syria, I was glad that we could return to an issue on which the Council has a duty to ensure that those responsible are held to account. That duty is even more pressing today, because yet another heinous attack on civilians was reported yesterday to the Council by the Secretariat. In that attack, in Douma, in eastern Ghouta, at least 21 civilians were treated for symptoms consistent with exposure to chlorine. That followed another reported attack in eastern Ghouta on 13 January, affecting six people. In 2016, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) found in three cases that the Syrian regime had used chlorine gas to attack civilians. Last year, it found that the regime had used sarin in Khan Shaykhun. Now, as the regime is escalating its attacks on eastern Ghouta in an attempt to force the besieged opposition to surrender, we remain deeply concerned about continuing reports of the use of chemical weapons in Syria. In all of this, we should not forget that it was the regime's 2013 attack on eastern Ghouta, using sarin, that led to the Council's adoption of resolution 2118 (2013), which had the clear, unanimously endorsed aim of disarming Syria's chemical-weapon programme. Throughout that process, Russia has claimed to be acting as a leading Power, a guarantor. But when the Al-Assad regime deliberately ignored its obligation to stop using chemical weapons and continued to do so with careless regard for human life, Russia chose to S/PV.8164 The situation in the Middle East 23/01/2018 6/11 18-01889 abuse its power of veto to protect that regime. Russia says that it supported the renewal of the JIM mandate and that it was the rest of us who killed it, because we could not agree with Russia's terms. Yet Russia's proposed draft resolution would have removed the JIM's ability to investigate the Al-Assad regime, which has been found responsible for multiple attacks. Russia has made it clear several times that it will not support a new investigative mechanism as long as it has the power to hold to account a State Member of the United Nations, and it seems, from a rapid reading of the latest text, that this proposal is another attempt to shift attention to non-State actors. The Russians have even claimed that Syria is a signatory in good standing to the Chemical Weapons Convention. It is not. It has not completed its declaration. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has repeatedly warned of inconsistencies, gaps and omissions. Russia has great influence over the Al-Assad regime. For the sake of the Syrian people and for preventing the future use of chemical weapons, we call on Russia to persuade its Syrian friends to get rid of their chemical weapons and comply fully with the Chemical Weapons Convention. By ending the JIM, Russia also stopped its investigations of chemical attacks by Da'esh. The investigators had found that those terrorists had carried out at least two such attacks. We condemn Da'esh unreservedly for its use of these vile weapons, which is yet another reason why we must defeat those terrorists once and for all. The United Kingdom was proud to join the international partnership against impunity for the use of chemical weapons led by our French colleagues today in Paris. The use of chemical weapons is barbaric, illegal under international law and must stop. We must ensure that we can re-establish a mechanism to ensure accountability. We all know where the obstacle to that lies. In response, we will only redouble our efforts to pursue accountability for these crimes. Mr. Van Oosterom (Netherlands): The Kingdom of the Netherlands is deeply shocked by the ongoing attacks using chemical weapons in Syria. The Secretariat briefed the Council yesterday on yet another alleged chemical-weapon attack, the second this month. Two surface-to-surface projectiles targeted eastern Ghouta, releasing what is suspected to be chlorine. The attack resulted in injuring 21 people through exposure to chlorine, of whom eight were men, six women and seven children. Furthermore, there are shocking estimates of 130 chemical attacks between 2012 and 2017, with more than 60 pending allegations of chemical-weapon use in Syria still to be investigated by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and its Fact-finding Mission. The Netherlands condemns in the strongest terms the use of chemical weapons by any State or non-State actor. I would now like to make three points. First, accountability for the use of chemical weapons in Syria is neither optional nor negotiable. Secondly, it is unacceptable that four years after Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, its declaration is still unable to be verified as accurate and complete. Thirdly, the Netherlands will use its membership of the Security Council to bring accountability to the fore. We regret the dismantling of the OPCW-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM). We were convinced of the professionalism and independence of the JIM's work, and its results still stand. The Council should shoulder its responsibility in that regard. In particular, the countries on the Council with influence on Syria should use it with the Syrian regime to convince it to refrain from further chemical-weapon attacks, acknowledge its past use of such weapons and complete its chemical-weapon declaration. As long as the Council remains deadlocked, our focus on accountability will not stop here. We will look for complementary measures so that impunity will not prevail. We therefore thank France for taking the initiative to establish an international partnership against impunity for the use of chemical weapons. The Netherlands participated in the meeting of the partnership that took place in Paris today. The Paris initiative aims to collect evidence of the use of chemical weapons anywhere in the world. It will enable States to take action to uphold the international norms against the use of chemical weapons. It represents a political commitment to increasing pressure on those responsible for the use of chemical weapons, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands is fully committed to that goal. Furthermore, the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011; the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic; and national prosecution in third countries, as well as sanctions, remain instrumental for achieving accountability for the crimes committed 23/01/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8164 18-01889 7/11 against the Syrian people. We must use all the tools available to us to achieve accountability. In conclusion, the Netherlands remains convinced that a referral of the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court in The Hague is by far the best option for achieving accountability for the extremely serious crimes that have taken place in Syria. Mr. Skoog (Sweden): Yesterday the Council members were briefed by Under-Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman on yet another alleged chemical-weapon attack in Syria. Allegations of the use of such weapons continue to be reported. There are some 60 cases of the reported use of chemical weapons in Syria that are currently being examined by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and that its Fact-finding Missions continue to investigate and report, including a case of a sarin attack in Lataminah in March of last year. I would like to reiterate once again that Sweden condemns the use of chemical weapons in the strongest terms. It is a serious violation of international law and its use in armed conflict amounts to a war crime. Bringing the perpetrators of such crimes to justice remains a high priority. There must be no impunity for those responsible. That is why we participated in the meeting of the international partnership against impunity for the use of chemical weapons held today in Paris. As a member of the Council and the OPCW Executive Council, Sweden attaches great importance to all international efforts to combat the use and proliferation of chemical weapons by State and non-State actors alike, anywhere in the world. We trust that the French initiative will complement and support our collective work in multilateral forums, as well as the existing multilateral mechanisms to achieve unity around those important goals. That also includes the Human Rights Council's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic and the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for the Syrian Arab Republic, which play an important role in collecting information. It was highly regrettable that the Council was not able to agree on an extension of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism. It is a critical to establish a similar new impartial and independent attributive mechanism now. The Council needs to come back together and speak with one voice. We need to be forward-looking and overcome our differences with a view to protecting the international disarmament and non-proliferation regime and ensuring accountability. That should be possible if everyone engages seriously, constructively and genuinely in good faith. We stand ready to engage in such efforts in order for the Council to fully shoulder its responsibilities. Ms. Wronecka (Poland): We are deeply concerned about the reported use of chemical weapons in eastern Ghouta, which is in clear violation of international law and deserves condemnation in the strongest possible terms. This alleged use of chemical weapons, as with other incidents, including in Talmenes, demonstrates the need to hold perpetrators accountable. There is no space for impunity in this regard. We support taking all the necessary measures to fill the gap left by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism, so as to ensure that no one goes unpunished for using chemical weapons, which cause unacceptable harm and suffering. Those responsible for chemical attacks must realize that they will be held accountable because their acts are an affront to all humankind and the basic rules of civilization. We support the tireless work done by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. We are convinced that it is the responsibility of the Security Council to establish and maintain a suitable institution to investigate alleged cases of the use of chemical weapons. Let me take this opportunity to thank France for today's hosting of a high-level meeting to launch a new initiative to protect the core values underpinning the credibility of the non-proliferation regime on chemical weapons established by the Chemical Weapons Convention. Poland joined that new partnership with the sole purpose of using all the tools at our disposal to end impunity for those responsible for chemical attacks and to promote and complement existing standards and mechanisms against the use of chemical weapons. We look forward to working on this issue in the Council in the months to come. Mr. Tenya (Peru) (spoke in Spanish): The Security Council has the highly sensitive responsibility of contributing to the prevention of the use of chemical weapons, which entails identifying and prosecuting those responsible for atrocities such as the one perpetrated yesterday in Syria. S/PV.8164 The situation in the Middle East 23/01/2018 8/11 18-01889 Peru participated in the meeting convened by France today to establish a partnership to combat impunity for the use of chemical weapons, at which a declaration of principles was adopted. The document sets out a series of measures aimed at ensuring that individuals and entities responsible for the use of chemical weapons are brought to justice. During that meeting, Peru's Ambassador to France referred in particular to paragraph 3 of the terms of reference, which had been circulated in advance, wherein it is expressly stated that the purpose of the initiative is not in any way meant to replace, reproduce or supersede international inquiry and investigation mechanisms that serve the same purpose. Our Ambassador also expressed his satisfaction with those words, insofar as Peru, as a member of the Security Council and a member of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, encourages the necessary action to be taken by those competent bodies. Peru condemns in the strongest possible terms the lack of accountability in the continuing incidents involving chemical weapons in Syria, for we believe it undermines international regimes on the matter and weakens peace efforts in the region. Mr. Shen Bo (China) (spoke in Chinese): China expresses its grave concern about the use of chemical weapons in Syria and extends its deepest sympathy to the Syrian people for their suffering. China's position on chemical weapons has been clear and consistent. We firmly oppose the use of chemical weapons by any country, group or individual for any purpose and under any circumstances. The use of chemical weapons is unacceptable, whenever or wherever they are used. China supports a comprehensive, objective and fair investigation into such incidents in order to arrive at a conclusion that can stand the test of time and to shed light on the facts in order to bring the perpetrators to justice. China welcomes the draft resolution circulated by the delegation of the Russian Federation that would establish a new investigative mechanism on Syrian chemical weapons. China appreciates the efforts made by Russia in the Security Council to continue to advance the work on the Syrian chemical weapons issue. China will seriously study the draft resolution and actively participate in consultations on it. It is imperative to establish a new investigative mechanism to find out the truth and to deter further use of chemical weapons in Syria. We hope that Council members will participate in the consultations in a constructive manner and strive to reach consensus on the establishment of a new mechanism. The Syrian chemical weapons issue is closely linked to a political settlement to the Syrian question, and it requires a comprehensive, balanced and integrated approach. China supports the role of the Security Council and of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons as the main channel for achieving an appropriate resolution to the Syrian chemical weapons issue. We hope that all the relevant parties will adopt a constructive attitude and seek appropriate solutions during consultations. We must maintain the unity of the Council and coordinate with the relevant parties in an effort to actively promote the political process in Syria. Mr. Llorentty Solíz (Plurinational State of Bolivia) (spoke in Spanish): Bolivia reiterates its strong, categorical condemnation of the use of chemical weapons and chemical substances as weapons as unjustifiable and criminal acts — wherever, whenever and by whomever they are committed. We believe that there can be no justification for the use of such weapons, regardless of the circumstances and of who uses them, as it constitutes a serious crime under international law and a threat to international peace and security. We emphatically condemn the reported use of chemical weapons in the city of Douma, in eastern Ghouta. That incident must be investigated in order to identify the perpetrators, bring them to justice and ensure that their actions do not go unpunished. Accordingly, we reiterate our support for the work carried out by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and its Fact-finding Mission in the Syrian Arab Republic. However, as we have stated on other occasions, we emphasize the urgent need for an investigative mechanism with a clear mandate that can carry out its assigned tasks of investigating methodically, transparently, technically, faithfully, with assistance and in a fundamentally depoliticized way. We must have a mechanism that can develop an independent, impartial, complete and conclusive investigation to hold accountalbe those responsible for such horrific crimes. We believe that, if what we want is an independent and transparent mechanism, we have the challenge of not exploiting the Security Council by bringing geopolitical interests on the ground into the Chamber. We have 23/01/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8164 18-01889 9/11 the challenge of demonstrating to the international community the unity of the Council. To that end, we must not turn the Chamber into a sounding board for warring confrontation and, even less so, transfer the immediate interests of the battlefield to this setting. In that regard, we welcome the proposal put forward by the Russian Federation today. We will study the text, and we hope that consultations will be convened as soon as possible and that they will result in the Council and the international community having on an independent investigation mechanism. It is essential that we overcome the lack of trust that exists in the Council. Furthermore, we must always bear in mind that no initiative, however well intended, should supplant our responsibilities, as established by the Charter of the United Nations. Mr. Alotaibi (Kuwait) (spoke in Arabic): The ongoing use of chemical weapons in Syria represents one of the deplorable elements of this crisis, which has been continuing for seven years. It is all the more deplorable when we see that there is an absence of justice and accountability and that there is impunity for every criminal who has contributed to and participated in such crimes against civilians. Following the attack when chemical weapons were used in Ghouta, where most of the victims were civilians, we witnessed the unity of the Council in ensuring that such a crime would not be repeated and that perpetrators would be held accountable through the adoption of resolution 2118 (2013). However, unfortunately, we note that there are still reports of chemical attacks in Syria, most recently by Mr. Jeffrey Feltman, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, yesterday regarding a chemical attack on the city of Duma on 13 January. We would therefore like to express our disappointment that the Security Council has been unable to reach consensus on renewing the mandate of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism, which, we believe, carried out its work in a professional, impartial and independent way. As a result, the failure to renew the mandate meant the complete absence of a tool for accountability in Syria. For that reason, the perpetrators of such crimes will go unpunished and there is no guarantee of holding them, or any perpetrator of such crimes in future, accountable. The State of Kuwait has a firm, principled position strongly condemning any use of chemical weapons at any time, anywhere and by anyone, since the use of chemical weapons is a grave violation of international law. We underscore the need to hold perpetrators — individuals, entities, non-State groups or Governments — accountable. As members of the Security Council, we are responsible for maintaining international peace and security. We must therefore seek alternatives and mechanisms, agreeable to all members of the Security Council, to ensure the independence, impartiality and professionalism of any new future mechanism to ensure that criminals are held accountable. We note that there is a draft resolution before us on establishing a new mechanism. We recall the clear and decisive language in resolution 2118 (2013), which stipulates the need to hold accountable those responsible for the use of chemical weapons in Syria. In that regard, the State of Kuwait welcomes the French initiative to convene the Paris meeting on an international partnership against impunity for use of chemical weapons. Along with a number of countries, the State of Kuwait participated in that event to underscore the importance of strengthening the values of justice and accountability and to implement the principle of ending impunity. We support the international mechanisms established by the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council to gather evidence regarding any crimes related to human rights violations in Syria. In conclusion, we emphasize that it is important for the Security Council to stand united when dealing with issues that threaten international peace and security, such as the incidents mentioned in reports on the Syrian crisis, through the unanimous adoption of such resolutions as resolution 2118 (2013), on chemical weapons; resolution 2165 (2014), on the humanitarian situation; and resolution 2254 (2015), on the political track of the Syrian crisis. Mr. Tanoh-Boutchoue (Côte d'Ivoire) (spoke in French): My delegation thanks the Russian Federation for having called for this emergency meeting of the Security Council with a view to once again discussing the issue of the use of chemical weapons in general, and in Syria in particular, where, it seems, that atrocious weapon is being used. My country, which is opposed to the use of chemical weapons, ratified the Convention on the Prohibition S/PV.8164 The situation in the Middle East 23/01/2018 10/11 18-01889 of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction in order to show the world our determination to work with other international stakeholders for the complete elimination of such weapons. To that end, on this very day, 23 January, we signed in Paris the declaration of principles, issued by the meeting held at the initiative of France on the topic of combating impunity through the international partnership against impunity for the use of chemical weapons. Côte d'Ivoire extends its full support to that initiative and vehemently condemns any use of chemical weapons, regardless of the reasons or perpetrators. In firm support of the values of equity and justice, Côte d'Ivoire wishes to draw the attention of the Security Council to the need to set up a new consensus mechanism aimed at combating the use of chemical weapons. In that regard, we welcome the Russian initiative to propose the establishment, by means of a resolution, of a new mechanism. We assume that such a mechanism, like the previous one, would be tasked with identifying perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons, in general. In the specific case of Syria, the perpetrators of such acts must be identified and be held accountable for their actions. Inaction by the Council on this important issue would be a bad sign and send a message of encouragement to those who indulge in the use of chemical weapons with impunity. To conclude, my delegation calls on the Council to act in a consensus-based and coordinated manner in order to establish a new mechanism, for our action must prompt us not only to protect and to help victims, who are martyrs in the endless war in Syria, but also to work to uphold international peace and security. Mr. Ndong Mba (Equatorial Guinea) (spoke in Spanish): The use of chemical weapons, the issue we are considering is critically important to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea. We categorically repudiate and condemn their use by any country, State or non-State actor. We also condemn in the strongest terms the recent chemical-weapon attacks in Syria. With regard to the issue of who is responsible for the use of such weapons, there is no consensus among the members of the Security Council on that. We realize that the Security Council must address the issue of the use of chemical weapons in a spirit of understanding and unanimity, with a view to combating impunity, thereby sending an unambiguous message to anyone who has used such weapons or is thinking of doing so that they will be held responsible for their actions. We repeat that we categorically condemn the production, stockpiling and use of chemical and other weapons of mass destruction. If we are to take steps against those who have used such weapons, we must clearly identify the responsible parties in a way that leaves no room for doubt. That is why, given the lack of consensus among the members of the Council and the need to identify those responsible for the use of such weapons, we are of the view that the proposal that the Russian Federation has just made is worth considering as a new opportunity for conducting a fully transparent investigation whose results all Council members would have to accept, thereby fostering the unanimity and consensus within the Council that would enable it to take the necessary steps against the perpetrators of the heinous act of using chemical weapons. The President: I shall now make a statement in my national capacity as the representative of Kazakhstan. We are deeply worried about the fact that chemical weapons continue to be used in Syria. It is regrettable that this inhuman and illegal type of weapon is being used with the specific purpose of intimidating ordinary people, since it mostly affects unprotected civilians. Another discouraging fact is the lack of unity and the deepening confrontation among the parties on the chemical dossier, which complicates our ability to address this threat in an appropriate way. It is therefore urgent to start thinking about developing a new investigative tool that can effectively counter all such chemical crimes. Any delay or inaction on the part of the Council could lead to an increase in the commission of such acts in the absence of clear plans and mechanisms to end impunity. We welcome the Russian Federation's proposal to establish a new mechanism, giving us a new opportunity to look into the matter. Since we will have to start over with the creation of an investigative mechanism, we must try to get it right from the very beginning, on a basis of consensus. The mechanism should be impartial, depoliticized, professional, representative, and with a clear mandate that will preclude any doubts and ensure the credibility of its work. That does not mean that we think the previous mechanism was unfit for its purpose, but it is obvious that accountability requires a Security Council that is united in its decision-making. 23/01/2018 The situation in the Middle East S/PV.8164 18-01889 11/11 Kazakhstan is ready to contribute and to assist in finding the best way to move forward together. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. The representative of the Russian Federation has asked to make a further statement. Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): I am taking the floor to further clarify our position. It is a pity that my friend Mrs. Haley has left the Chamber. She mentioned that we convened this meeting today on short notice, for which I apologize. As I recall, however, we have frequently been convened by Mrs. Haley's call, and we are ready to do it again. Please let her know that I am doing it because I am always very pleased to see her here. Once again, everything that we heard from the United States in its statement today was about Russia. The fact that it is rejecting our proposed draft resolution from the get-go says a great deal. It once again betrays a truth that we are sadly familiar with. The United States has no need of any independent professional mechanism. It is not only betraying a truth, it is betraying itself in the eyes of the international community. Let me say straight out what I spoke about before in a rhetorical question. It was no accident that the allegations — which will remain allegations until they are confirmed — about the use of chemical weapons in eastern Ghouta emerged on the eve of some important political events for Syria, the meeting in Vienna and the Syrian national dialogue conference in Sochi. Furthermore, I will say it again, why does the United States need an investigative mechanism when both yesterday and today, before any kind of investigation, it asserted, without apparently a shadow of doubt, that it was the Syrian Government that did it? It has taken the role of both judge and prosecutor. Does the United States at least understand that it is betraying itself by this? If it genuinely wants to establish a professional, independent attributive mechanism, it should at least read the draft resolution before rejecting it. Did we not discuss a new mechanism with Council members of the Council at the conclusion of the multiple acts in the political spectacle surrounding the closure of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism? We did not time our draft resolution to coincide with any events or partnerships. However, I want to reiterate something that I spoke about at a Council meeting presided over by President Nazarbayev on 18 January, which is that no commissions, partnerships or so-called independent mechanisms in this area can be legitimate unless they are approved by the Security Council. That must be our premise. I would like to echo what the Permanent Representative of Sweden — and he was not the only one — said in his statement, which is that we must overcome our differences, engage in dialogue and try to restore the Council's lost unity. That is the aim of our proposal. The meeting rose at 4.10 p.m.

Consists of thesaurus used in indexing the public papers of Leonor K. Sullivan, housed in the Saint Louis University School of Law Library. ; SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSDY GE JK1323 1952 .S34 1989 c.3 THE HONORABLE Leo nor K. (Mrs. John B.) Sullivan A Guide to the Collection St. Louis University Law Library Saint Louis University Schoo( of Law 3700 Lirufeff B(vd., St. Louis, MO 63108 LEONOR K. SULLIVAN 1902-1988 A Guide to the Collection Researched and prepared by: Joanne C. Vogel Carol L. Moody Loretta Matt LAW LIBRARY ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY 3700 LINDtLL BLVD. ST. LOUIS, MO 63108 Copyright 1989 Saint Louis University Law Library 00 ' ()) THE HONORABLE LEONOR K. SULLIVAN 1902-1988 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Portrait of Leonor K. Sullivan II. Biography III. Sullivan Plaques and Awards IV. The Leonor K. Sullivan Collection V. List of Subject Headings LEONOR K. SULLIVAN Leonor K. Sullivan, the first woman from Missouri to serve in the United States House of Representatives, was born Leonor Alice Kretzer, August 21, 1902, in St. Louis. She attended public and private schools in St. Louis, including Washington University. Prior to her marriage, Mrs. Sullivan pursued a business career and eventually became the director of the St. Louis Comptometer School. She married Missouri Congressman John B. Sullivan on December 27, 1941, and served as his administrative assistant and campaign manager until his death in January, 1951. Following her husband's death, Mrs. Sullivan unsuccessfully attempted to win the local Democratic party's nomination to succeed Congressman Sullivan in the special election. The seat was lost to a Republican candidate. In 1952, Leonor K. Sullivan running on her own, without party support, defeated six opponents in the primary election to become the Democratic nominee for the Third Congressional District. In the general election, she defeated her Republican opponent and recaptured the seat once held by her husband. Mrs. Sullivan represented the Third Congressional District until her retirement in 1976. While in Congress, Leonor K. Sullivan was known as a champion of consumer issues and she had a key role in enacting legislation to improve the quality of food. The Poultry Inspection Law and the Food Additives Act are just two of her important triumphs. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs of the House Committee on Banking and Currency, Mrs. Sullivan was responsible for the Consumer Credit Protection Act of 1968, which included the Truth in Lending Act, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970. Mrs. Sullivan also authored the original food stamp plan to distribute government surplus food to the needy and she worked to solve the housing problems in our cities. At the time of her retirement, she was the senior member of the House Committee on Banking, Currency, and Housing. She was a member of the National Commission on Food Marketing, 1964-66; the National Commission on Mortgage Interest Rates, 1969; the National Commission on Consumer Finance, 1969-72; and she helped found the Consumer Federation of America in 1966. Mrs. Sullivan served as chairman of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. Her support of the American Merchant Marine earned her the American Maritime Industry's Admiral of the Ocean Seas Award (AOTOS) in 1973. The men and women who served in the Coast Guard and the Merchant Marine continuously honored Mrs. Sullivan for her support, understanding, and dedication. Always active in waterways projects, she fought to allow the 51 year old DELTA QUEEN to continue as an overnight excursion vessel. Mrs. Sullivan's work as chairman of the Subcommittee on Panama was especially important as she became involved with the political, economic, and social challenges of the Canal Zone and the people who lived and worked there. Leonor K. Sullivan worked hard for St. Louis. She sponsored legislation to fund the development of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial on the St. Louis Riverfront, to keep St. Louis a well managed port city on the Mississippi trade route, and to preserve the buildings so important to the history and heritage of St. Louis. Wharf Street has been renamed Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard to honor her support of the Gateway Arch project and the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. Following her retirement, Mrs. Sullivan returned to her river bluff home which overlooked the Mississippi River. She remained active in civic affairs, serving on numerous boards and committees. She became a director of Southwest Bank, chairman of the Consumer Advisory Council to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, a member of the Board of Directors of Downtown St. Louis, Inc., a member of the Lay Advisory Board of Mount St. Rose Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, and she sponsored a consumer award program through the Better Business Bureau. Mrs. Sullivan was always in demand as a featured speaker at business, educational, and social functions. In 1980, Mrs. Sullivan married Russell L. Archibald, a retired vice president of the American Furnace Company. Mr. Archibald died March 19, 1987. Leonor K. Sullivan died, in St. Louis, on September 1, 1988. SULLIVAN PLAQUES AND AWARDS The Sullivan Collection includes many awards, citations, plaques, letters of recogn1tlon, pictures, and other memorabilia. During her career, Mrs. Sullivan received over 200 awards, some of which are permanently displayed in the Law Library. 1. Missouri State Labor Council, AFL-CIO - a proclamation designating Leonor K. Sullivan as organized labor's First Lady. Presented September 8, 1976. 2. Robert L. Hague Merchant Marine Industries Post #1242 - Distinguished Service Citation for Mrs. Sullivan's work as Chairman of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. 3. Oceanographer of the Navy - presented by RADM J. Edward Snyder, Jr., USN, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary or the Navy. 4. Panama Canal Gavel - made from one of the original beams of the Governor's House, the gavel was presented to Mrs. Sullivan by Governor W. E. Potter as a "token of appreciation for demonstrated interest in the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone Government." 5. Consulting Engineers Council of Missouri - expresses appreciation for Mrs. Sullivan's concern and understanding of the role of the consulting engineer. 6. St. Louis Democratic City Central Committee - Special Award recognizes Leonor K. Sullivan's "dedicated service to the people of Missouri, the United States of America, and the Democratic Party . ," presented September, 19, 1976. 7. Consumer Federation of America - CFA Distinguished Public Service Award, June 14, 1972. 8. Reserve Officers' Association, Missouri - President's Award recognizing Mrs. Sullivan's service to the nation during her 24 years in Congress. 9. American Waterway Operators, Inc. - recognizes Mrs. Sullivan's " . Instrumental Role in the Development of the Inland Waterways of the United States." I 0. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, St. Louis Section - 1976 Civic A ward for Outstanding Contributions to Communities and Nation during 24 years in the House of Representatives, May 11, 1976. 11. Federal Land Banks 50th Anniversary Medal - " . awarded in 1967, to Leon or K. Sullivan for outstanding contributions to American Agriculture." 12. St. Louis Board of Aldermen - Resolution #101 (March 12,1976) honoring Mrs. Sullivan for her 24 years in Congress. 13. Human Development Corporation of Metropolitan St. Louis - Certificate of Recognition, September 29, 1978. 14. Older Adults Special Issues Society (OASIS) - Confers honorary membership upon Leonor K. Sullivan, August 22, 1974. 15. National Health Federation - Humanitarian Award, October 11, 1958 - especially recognizes Mrs. Sullivan's efforts for protective legislation against injurious additives in food and beverages. 16. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, New York - an award presented to Mrs. Sullivan by the Alumni of Kings Point. 17. American Numismatic Association - a 1972 award presented to Mrs. Sullivan for her generous support. 18. Official Hull Dedication for New Steamboat - replica of the dedication plaque unveiled by Mrs. Sullivan in Jeffersonville, Indiana, November 11, 1972. Hull 2999 was the official designation of the new passenger riverboat being built for the Delta Queen Steamboat Company. The dedication also recognized Leonor K. Sullivan's successful legislative efforts on behalf of the DELTA QUEEN. 19. Jewish War Veterans of the United States, Department of Missouri - 1963 Americanism Award for "her unselfish devotion and untiring efforts on behalf of all Missourians regardless of race or creed." 20. National Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association, AFL-CIO - recognizes Mrs. Sullivan's service and support of the U.S. Merchant Marine, February 26, 1975. 21. Child Day Care Association - 1973 award for sponsoring child welfare legislation. 22. St. Louis Democratic City Central Committee - 1973 Harry S. Truman Award. 23. Seal of the Canal Zone Isthmus of Panama - a wooden copy of the Seal "presented in appreciation to Hon. Leonor K. Sullivan . " Canal Zone; Masters, Mates, and Pilots Association; National Maritime Union; Central Labor Union; Joint Labor Committee, 1969. 24. Atlantic Offshore Fish and Lobster Association - recognizes Leonor K. Sullivan's efforts to preserve and protect the Northwest Atlantic Fishing Industry, June, 1973. 25. Photographic portrait of President and Mrs. Johnson inscribed to Leonor K. Sullivan. 26. Photographic portrait of Lyndon Johnson inscribed to Leonor Sullivan. 27. Photographic portrait of Hubert H. Humphrey inscribed to Congressman (sic) Leonor K. Sullivan 28. H.R. I 0222 - Food Stamp Act of 1964 - first page of the engrossed copy of the bill, signed by John McCormack, Speaker of the House. 29. St. Louis University School of Law - Dedication of the New Law School, October 17-18, 1980 - recognizes Mrs. Sullivan's leadership gift. 30. West Side Baptist Church Meritorious Achievement Award, 1974. 31. Inaugural visit to St. Louis of the MISSISSIPPI QUEEN, July 29, 1978. 32. Gold-framed reproduction of a portrait of Mrs. Sullivan which hangs in the Longworth House Office Building. 33. Flora Place Association, November 4, 1976 - an award recognizing Mrs. Sullivan's 24 years in Congress. 34. St. Louis Police Relief Association, July 24, 1974. 35. St. Louis Argus Distinguished Citizen's Award, 1978. 36. George M. Khoury Memorial Award- "Woman of the Year," February 2, 1974. 37. Distinguished Service to the United States Coast Guard, February, 1976. 38. National Association of Mutual Insurance Agents - Federal Woman of the Year, October 12, 1974. 39. Chief Petty Officers Association, United States Coast Guard - Keynote speaker at Sixth Annual Convention, October 7-12, 1974, in St. Louis, MO. 40. Home Builders Association - Distinguished Service A ward, November 7, 1970. 41. Young Democrats of St. Louis - Distinguished Service Award, 1964. 42. Bicentennial Year Award, 1976 - a Waterford crystal bell and base presented to Mrs. Sullivan during the nation's Bicentennial. 43. Cardinal Newman College - Mrs. Sullivan's Cardinal Newman College Associates membership certificate presented during her tenure as Chairman, Board of Trustees, November 3, 1981. THE LEO NOR K. SULLIVAN COLLECTION Before her retirement, Leonor K. Sullivan made arrangements to donate her congress ional papers, correspondence, and memorabilia to St. Louis University Law Library. Mrs. Sullivan chose St. Louis University Law Library because her husband, Congressman John B. Sullivan (1897 -1951 ), was a graduate of the law school, having received his LL. B. degree in 1922, and his LL. M. degree in 1923. In 1965, Mrs. Sullivan founded a scholarship at St. Louis University for young women interested in studying political science. The collection covers Mrs. Sullivan's 24 years in the U.S. House of Representatives and is arranged according to her own subject headings. In this way, the materials provide insight into the way her office files and correspondence were organized. Mrs. Sullivan was known as one of the hardest working members of Congress and the wealth of materials in her collection attests to this. She had a tremendous concern for the average American family and much of her work dealt with their needs. Mrs. Sullivan often said the · best legislative ideas came from constituents, so she read every letter ever sent to her. Not only did she learn how the voters felt about current issues, but where there were problems which needed to be current issues. Papers from Leonor K. Sullivan's years as a member of the House Merchant Marine Committee and the Banking and Currency Committee provide background information for much of the legislation proposed during the period. Mrs. Sullivan was known as a consumer advocate long before such a position was popular and her efforts to improve the quality of food, drugs, and cosmetics are well documented. Materials are also available on Mrs. Sullivan's struggle for credit protection for the consumer, truth-in-lending, and fair credit reporting. Mrs. Sullivan was a strong supporter of the American Merchant Marine, the U.S. supervision of the Panama Canal, and the development of America's inland waterways. Her collection includes in-depth information on all these areas. Local St. Louis concerns are well represented in Leonor K. Sullivan's papers. She spent untold hours on the development of the Gateway Arch, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, and the port of St. Louis. She worked hard to maintain and increase the river traffic which is so important to St. Louis. After her retirement, Mrs. Sullivan continued to receive letters from former constituents and friends. She was active in civic affairs and her opinion on current issues was frequently solicited. The collection includes newspaper clippings, letters, and personal materials from this post-retirement period. Persons interested in using the Leonor K. Sullivan Collection should contact Joanne C. Vogel or Eileen H. Searls at St. Louis University Law Library, (314)658-2755. Written requests for information may be sent to: St. Louis University Law Library Leonor K. Sullivan Collection 3700 Lindell Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63108 Arthritis Research Arts Arts and Humanities see also Grants--National Endowment for the Arts Grants-- National Endowment for the Humanities Assassination of John F . Kennedy see Kennedy, John F. - -Assassination Assassinations--Select Committee to Investigate see Select Committee to Investigate Assassinations Atlantic Convention Atlantic Union Atomic Accelerator Laboratory Atomic Bomb--Fallout Shelter see a/ SO Nuclear Weapons-- Radioactive Fallout Atomic Energy see also Nuclear Energy Nuclear Weapons Auto Inspection Safety Auto Insurance Auto Insurance and Compensation Study Automotive Industry Automotive Transport Research and Development Act Aviation see a/ SO Airlines, Airport and Airway B-1 Program Development Act Airports Civil Aeronautics Board Concorde Supersonic Tra nsport Federal Aviation Administration Banking and Currency Committee Banking and Currency Committee-- Aluminum Penny Bill Banking and Currency Committee--Area Redevelopment Program Banking and Currency Committee Failures see a/so Independent Bankers Association of America Banking and Currency Committee- -Bank Holdings Company Act see a/so Banking and Currency Committee-­Citicorp Banking and Currency Committee--Bank Holding Company Issues Banking and Currency Committee--Bank Lobbying Banking and Currency Committee--Bank Mergers 83nking and Currency Committee- -Bank Protection Act of 1968 Banking and Currency Committee- -Bank Safety Regulations Banking and Currency Committee--Bank Security Measures Banking and Currency Committee--Banking Act of 1965 Banking and Currency Committee -- B a nk i11~ Changes Banking and Currency Committee- ­Bankruptcy B:mking and Currency Committee--Taxation Banking and Currency Committee--Trust Activities Ban king and Currency Committee-- Certificates of Deposit Banking and Currency Committee--Citicorp see also Bank Holding Company Banking and Currency Committee-- Committee Business Banking and Currency Committee-­Committee Notices Banking and Currency Committee-- Conferee Banking and Currency Committee-­Congressional Record Entries Banking and Currency Committee-­Consumer Credit see also National Commission on Consumer Finance Banking and Currency Committee-­Correspondence with Boyd Ewing Banking and Currency Committee--Credit Information Ban king and Currency Committee-- Credit Union Financial Institutions Act Banking and Currency Committee--Credit Unions see also General Accounting Office- - Credit Unions Banking and Currency Committee- - Credit Unions--Insurance on Deposits Banking and Currency Committee- - Credit Unions--National Credit Union Bank Bill Banking and Currency Committee--Credit Uses Reporting Act of 1975 Banking and Currency Committee- - Debt Collection Banking and Currency Committee -- Defense Production Act see a[ so Joint Committee on Defense Production Banking and Currency Committee-­Democratic Caucus Banking and Currency Committee-­Disclosure Act Banking and Currency Committee-- Economic Development Act ee a[ SO Economic Development Banking and Currency Committee-- Economic Stabilization Act --Amendments B3nking and Currency Committee -- Economic Stabilization Act -- Correspondence Banking and Currency Committee-- Economic Stabilization Act--Mark-Up Session Banking and Currency Committee-- Economic Stabilization Subcommittee Banking and Currency Committee-- Emergency Financial Assistance Act see a[ so Banking and Currency Committee- ­lntergovermental Emergency Assistance Act Banking and Currency Committee--New York City-- Correspondence Banking and Currency Committee--New York City- -Legislation Banking and Currency Committee--Energy Conservation Legislation see also Energy Conservation Banking and Currency Committee--Export Control see a/so Export Administration Act Export Control Act International Trade Commission Banking and Currency--Export/Import Bank Banking and Currency Committee- -FINE Study (Financial Institutions and the Nation's Economy) Banking and Currency Committee- -FINE Study--Hearings Banking and Currency Committee--Farmers Home Administration- ­Low Interest Loans Banking and Currency Committee-- Financial Reform Act of 1976 Banking and Currency Committee--Gold Backing and Federal Reserve Notes Banking and Currency Committee- -Gold Price Banking and Currency Committee- ­Insurance see also Insurance Banking and Currency Committee-­Interamerican Bank see also Agency for International Development Banking and Currency Committee--Interest Rates see also Interest Rates Banking and Currency Committee--Prime Interest Rate Banking and Currency Committee- -Savings and Loans- - Interest Rates Banking and Currency Committee-- Interest Rates-- Hearings Banking and Currency Committee- ­Intergovernmental Emergency Assistance Act see a/so Banking and Currency Committee-­Emergency Financial Assistance Act Banking and Currency Committee- ­International Banking Act Banking and Currency Committee-- International Development Association Banking and Currency Committee-- International Monetary Policy see a/ o Banking and Currency Committee- - Monetary Policy Banking and Currency Committee--Laws of the State of Missouri Relating to Banks and Trust Companies Banking and Currency Committee-­Lockheed Case Banking and Currency Committee-­Monetary Policy see also Banking and Currency Committee-­International Monetary Policy Banking and Currency Committee-­Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy Banking and Currency Committee-- Mortgage Interest Rates see also Federal National Mortgage Association Banking and Currency Committee-­Mortgage Interest Rates--District of Columbia Banking and Currency Committee-­Mortgage Interest Rates--Hearings Banking and Currency Committee--Mutual Savings Banks Banking and Currency Committee--National Commission on Productivity and Work Quality Banking and Currency Committee--National Consumer Cooperative Bank Act see also Consumer Interest--Miscellaneous Banking and Currency Committee--National Consumer Cooperative Bank Act see a/so Consumer Interest--Miscellaneous Banking and Currency Committee--New York City-­Correspondence see also Banking and Currency Committee- ­Emergency Financial Assistance Banking and Currency Committee--New York City- - Legislation see also Banking and Currency Committee-­Emergency Financial Assistance Banking and Currency Committee--NOW Account Banking and Currency Committee--One Bank Holding Company Bill Banking and Currency Committee--One Bank Holding Company Bill- -Clippings Banking and Currency Committee--One Bank Holding Company Bill- - Committee Information Banking and Currency Committee--One Bank Holding Company Bill--Letters Banking and Currency Committee--One Bank Holding Company Bill--Reports from Interested Groups Banking and Currency Committee--One Dank ll nlclinR c: . np:111y Bill-- Reports from Other Agencies Banking and Currency Committee--Penn Central see a/so Railroad Legislation Banking and Currency Committee--Prime Interest Rates see a/so Interest Rates Banking and Currency Committee--Record Maintenance in Banking Institutions Banking and Currency Committee-- Recurring Monetary and Credit Crisis Banking and Currency Committee-- Reven ue Bonds Banking and Currency Committee--Safe Banking Act Banking and Currency Committee- - St. Louis Banking Banking and Currency Committee-- Savings and Loan Companies see a/so Housing-- Savings and Loans Housing--Savings and Loans Bill Housing--Loans Banking and Currency Committee- -Savings and Loan Companies-­Holding Companies Banking and Currency - - Savings and Loan Companies-- Interest Rates see a/so Interest Rates Banking and Currency Committee--Interest Rates Banking and Currency Committee-- Savings and Loan Companies-­Investigation Banking and Currency Committee--Silver Banking and Currency Committee--Small Business see a/so Sma ll Business Administration Poverty Program-- St . Louis Small Business Development Center St . Louis--Small Business Administration Banking and Currency Committee- - Steering Committee Banking and Currency Committee-­Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy ,,,.,. also Banking and Currency Committee- ­Monetary Policy Banking and urrt!ncy Committee--Swiss Bank Accounts Uanking and Currency Committee--Taxing of National Banks Banking and Currency Committee- - Variable Interest Rate Mortgage Loans Bankrupt see Banking and Currency Committee -­Bankruptcy Barge Lines see also Federal Barge Lines Dccf Research and Information Act n ct•J" Ucllcr Communities Ad see Housing--Better Communities Act Bicentennial Civic Improvement Association see a/ SO American Revolution Bicentennial Bicentennial Civic Improvement Bicentennial Coinage see also Coinage Bicentennial Material Billboards Association-- Clippings see Highways-- Beautification- - Billboards Birth Control see also Family Planning Illegitimacy Population Growth Sex Education Black Lung Act see also Coal Black Militants see Militants Mine Safety Act see also Negroes--Black Militants Bl ackman's Development Center Blind see also Handicapped Blood ::,ee Health -- Blood Banks Blumeyer P roject see Housing-- Blumeyer Project Boating see also Coast Guard Boggs , Hale Bookmobile National Safe Boating Week Recreation see Education --Bookmobile Books Sent to Libraries and Schools see also Lib raries Bowlin Project see Housing -- Bowlin Project for the Elderly Braceros see National Commission on Food Marketing Bracero Study Brazil see Foreign Affairs- - Brazil Bretton Woods Agreement Bride's Packet see Publications --Packets for the Bride Bridges see Martin Luther King Bridge Buchanan, Mrs. Vera Budget see also Management and Budget, Office of Budget and Impoundment Control Act Budget Material Building Sciences Act see Housi ng-- Building Sciences Act Bur"r'u of Standards see Food and Drug Administration--Bureau of Standards Bus Service see also Transi t -- Bi- State Business and Professional Women's Clubs see also Women's Organizations Busing see Education- - Busing Buy American Act Care see Foreign Affairs--Care Cabanne Turnkey Project see Housing--Cabanne Turnkey Project Calley, William L. Cambodia see Foreign Affairs - -Cambodia Campaign Conference for Democratic Women see a/so Women in Politics Campaigns Campus Riots see also Education--Campus Unrest Cancer see a/ SO Medical Insurance for Radiation Treatment Cannon Dam see Conservation--Cannon Dam Capital Punishment Capitol- - United States Carpentry see Housing--Building Sciences Act Catalog of Federal Assistance Programs Cattle see Food and Drug Administration- -Cattle Cemeteries see National Cemeteries Census see also Population Growth Central Intelligence Agency Century Electric Company see National Labor Relations Board-­Century Electric Company Chain Stores see National Commission on Food Chamber of Commerce Cha rities Marketing- -Chain Stores Child Abuse and Neglect Child and Family Services Act see a/so Comprehensive Child Development Act Child Care see Poverty Program--Day Care Centers see also Poverty Program--Head Start Centers Poverty Program- -St. Louis Day Care St. Louis Day Care Child Protection Act Children , Youth , Maternal, and Infant Health Care Programs Chile see Foreign Aff:1irs--Chile Chirm sec Foreign Affairs--Red China China's Art Exhibit Cigarette Advertising Cities see Urban Affairs see a/so Housing--Urban Renewal Revenue Sharing Citizenship see Immigration -- Naturalized Citizens City Planning see a/ 0 Urban Affairs Civil Aeronautics Board see a/so Federal Aviation Administration Aviation Civil Air Patrol Civil Defense see also Emergency Preparedness Missouri--Disaster Area Civil Rights- -Clippings see also Integration Militants Negroes--Black Militants Negroes--National Assocation for the Advancement of Colored People Civil Rights- -Discharge Petition Civil Rights-- Equal Employment Opportunity see a/so Equal Employment Opportunity Equal Opportunity Civil Rights- -Equality for Women see a/so Women- -Equal Rights Amendment Civil Rights-- Housing see a/so Housing--Fair Housing Housing--Open Negroes--Housing Civil Rights- -Ireland's Roman Catholics Civil Rights--Legislation Civil Rights--Mississippi Seating Civil Rights --Pro Civil Rights-- Webster Groves Incident Civil Service Health Benefits Civil Service Legislation see also Federal Employees Civil Service Retirement Clara Barton House Clean Air Act see also Air Pollution Pollution Coal see a/ SO Black Lung Act Energy Crisis Mine Safety Act Mineral Resources Coal Mine Surface Area Protection Act see a/ so Mining Coal Slurry Pipeline Act Coal Tar Products see Food and Drug Administration- - Hair Dye Coast Guard see also Boating National Safe Boating Week Coastal Areas see a/so Outer Continental Shelf Lands Coca-Cola Bottling Company Cochran Apartments see Housing--Public Housing-Cochran Apartments Coinage Sl!l' a/ SO Bicentennial Coinage National Stamping Act Colleges and Universities see Education- - College Loan Program see a/so Schools--College Debate Color Additives see Food and Drug Administration--Color Additives Commemorative Postage Stamp for Jeannette Rankin Commemorative Stamps see a/so Kennedy, John F . First Day Cover Issues see Food and Drug Administration-­Cranberries Creating a Joint Committee to Investigate Crime Credit Unions see Banking and Currency Committee- ­Credit Unions see a/so General Accounting Office- - Credit Unions Crime--Bail Reform Act Crime--General see a/so J oint Committe to Investigate Crime Juvenile Delinquency Law Enforcement Assistance Administration Prisons Crime--Gun Control Crime--Riots see a/so Housing--Insurance--Riots Crime--Riots- - Clippings Crime- - Switch - -Blades Cruelty to Animals Current River see Conservation--Current River Power Line Customs Bureau Cyprus see Foreign Affairs - -Cyprus Czechoslovakia see Foreign Affairs--Czechoslovakia Daily Digest see Panama Canal--Daily Digest Dairy Products see Milk see a/so Food and Drug Administration-­Milk Dams see Lock and Dam 26 Conservation- - Cannon Dam Danforth Foundation see a/ 0 Foundations Darst- -Webbe Public Housing see Housing- - Public Housing--Darst-Web be Davis- -Bacon Act see Labor- - Davis-Bacon Day Care Centers see Poverty Program--Day Care Center see a/ 0 Poverty Program--St. Louis Day Care St. Louis Day Care Daylight Savings Time Deafness see Hearing Aids Death with Dignity Debt Ceiling Bill See a/so Goverment Debt National Debt Decontrol of Certain Domestic Crude Oil see a/so Oil Leases Defense ee a/ 0 Nation:1l Defense Defense Appropriations see a/ SO Military Construction Appropriation Bill Military Expenditures Military Pay Military Procurement Defense Contracts See a/so Federal Government Contract Legislation Military Procurement Defense Mapping Agency Sl!£' n/so Aeronautical Chart and Information Center Defense Production Act see Banking and Currency Committee-­Defense Production Act .\Ce a/ so Joint Committee on Defense Production Defense Production, Joint Committee see Joint Committee on Defense Production Delta Queen Delta Queen-- Clippings Delta Queen--Correspondence Delta Queen- -Extend Exemption Delta Queen/Mississippi Queen--Clippings Delta Queen/Mississippi Queen-- Correspondence Democratic City Central Committee Democratic Clubs Democratic Coalition Party Democratic Convention--1972 Democratic Convention--1976 Democratic National Committees Democratic Organizations Democratic Party see a/so Banking and Currency Committee-­Democratic Caucus Campaign Conference for Democratic Women Democratic State Committees Democratic Cities see Housing- - Democratic Cities Dental Health see Health--Dental Deodorant see Food and Drug Administration-­Deodorant Department of Housing and Urban Development see Housing- -HUD Department of Labor see Grants--Department of Labor--St . Louis Department of Peace see Peace, Dept. of Department of the Interior see Grants--Department of the Interior-- St. Louis Department of Transportation see Grants--Department of Transportation-- St. Louis Desoto-- Carr Project see Housing- - Desoto-Carr Project Detention see Emergency Detention Act Development Bank ·ce Housing--Na tional Development Bank Diabetes Research see a/so National Diabetes Advisory Board Diet Foods see Food and Drug Administration--Diet Foods Digestive Diseases :,ee National Digestive Disease Act of 1976 Direct Popular Election of the President Disabled American Veterans see Veteran's Organizations Disarmament see also Arms Control Postal Boutique Commission of Consumer Finance see National Commission on Consumer Finance Commission on Federal Paperwork Commission on Food Marketing sec National Commission on Food Marketing Commission on History and Culture :see Negroes-- Commission on History and Culture Commission on Neighborhoods see National Commission on Neighborhoods Committee on Political Education see Political Education, Committee On Committee on P opulation Crisis see Population Crisis Committee Committee on Standards of Official Conduct Committee Reform Commodity Exchange Act see also Re- Pricing Commodities Commodity Futures see a/so Re- Pricing Commodities Common Cause Communications see also Federal Communications Commission Communism Radio Telecommunications Television Community Development Act Community Services Administration Comprehensive Child Development Act see a/so Child and Family Services Act Comprehensive Employment and Training Act see also Employment Compton--Grand Association see Housing Compton-Grand Association Comptroller General of the United States Concorde Supersonic Transport see also Aviation Concentrated Industries Anti - Inflation Act see also Inflation Congress- - 91st Congress--9lst--Senate Subcommittees Congress- -92nd Congress- -93rd Congress--94th Congress--94th--Majority Rpt . Congress--94th--Member's Pay Raise see a/ so Congressional and Civil Service P ay Raise Congress- -Committee on House Administration Congress-- Economic Committee see J oint Economic Committee Congress-- House Beauty Shoppe Congress--House Budget Committee Congress- - House Unamerican Activities Committee see a/ so Internal Security Congress- - Redistricting SC'(' Missou ri - - Redistricting Congress--Rules of Congressional and Congress--Scandals see a/ 0 Powell, Adam Clayton Congressional and Civil Service Pay Raise see a/ o Congress- - 94th- -Member Pay Raise Federal Pay Raise Congressional Fellowship Congressional Office--Payroll Congressional Pay Raise Congressional Record Inserts see a/so Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Congressional Record Inserts Congressional Reorganization see a/ 0 Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 Congressional Travel Conservation --Cannon Dam see a/so National Park Service Parks Conservation --Current River Power Line Conservation --Eleven Point River Conservation-- Harry Truman Dam Conservation- -Lock Dam 26 see Lock and Dam 26 Conservation--Meramec Basin Conservation--Meramac Park Reservoir Conservation- -Meramac Recreation Area Conservation- -Mineral Resources see Mineral Resources Conservation --Miscellaneous see a/so Recycling Waste Conservation- - Recreation Area Conservation--Redwood National Park Conservation--Upper Mississippi River National Recreation Area see a/so Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission Conservation-- Water Resources see a/so Water Resources Planning Act Conservation-- Wild Rivers Conservation - - Wilderness Conservation -- Wildlife .\ee a/ :so Lacey Act Constitutional Changes Consumer Credit see Banking and Currency Committee--Consumer Credit see also National Commission on Consumer Finance Right to Financial Privacy Act Consumer In terest Miscellaneous see a/so Banking and Currency Committee- ­National Consumer Cooperative Bank Act National Commission on Food Marketing-- Consumer Information Publications-- Packet for the Bride Consumer Prod uct Information Bulletin see a/so Publications- -Consumer Product Information Copyright Legislation Copyrights Cosmetics see Food and Drug Administration- - entries Cosmetologists see National Hairdressers and Cosmetologists Cost of Living Council Cost of Living Task Force Council of Catholic Women see a/so St. Louis Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women Women-- Organizations Cranberries Diseased Pets District of Columbia see also Home Rule-- District of Columbia Doctors see Immigration--Foreign Doctors see a/so Education--Nurses and Medical Students/Medical Schools Health Manpower Bill Douglas, William 0 . see Impeachment (Justice Douglas) Draft Dru'g Abuse see a/so Alcoholism, Narcotics Drug Abuse Office and Treatment Act Drug Advertising Drug Cases Drug Cost Drug Legislation Drug Regulation Drug Testing and New Drugs Drugs, Baby Asprin Drugs, Chemical Names Drugs, Factory Inspection Drugs, Habit- Forming Drugs, Interstate Traffic Drugs, Krebior:en see a/so Krebiozen Drugs, Strontium 90 see a/so Strontium 90 Drugs, Thalidomide see also Thalidomide Earthquakes East - West Gateway Coordinating Council see a/so St. Louis--East West Gateway Coordinating Council East St. Louis Convention Center Ecology see also Environmental Education Act Economic Committee see Joint Economic Committee Economic Development see a/so Banking and Currency-- Economic Development Act Economic Development Administration see a/so Grants--Economic Development Administration Economic Program Economic Summit Conference Economics--Joint Economic Committee see Joint Economic Committee Editorials--KMOX-TV see Radio and T elevision --Editorials Education see a/ so Schools Ed ucntion --Adult see a/ SO Adult Education Missouri - -Adult Education Act Education--Aid to Parochial Schools see a/so Aid to P arochial Schools Education --Federal Aid to Education Parochial Schools Education- - Aid to Private Schools See a/ 0 Aid to Private Schools Education --Federal Aid to Education Private Schools Education--Appropriations Education -- Bookmobile see a/ 0 Bookmobile Libraries Education--Busing see also Busing Integration Education--Campus unrest see also Campus riots Militants Education -- Clippings see ah;o Schools - - Clippings Education--College Loan Program see a/so Colleges and Universities Education--Higher Education Education--St udent Aid Bill Loans- - Student Student Loans Education- -Elementary and Secondary see also Schools Education--Federal Aid to Education see a/so Education--Aid to Parochial Schools Education-- Student Aid Bill Federal Aid to Education Education-- F ederal Charter for Insurance and Annuity Association see ah;o Insurance Education -- Food and Nutrition Program see a/ SO School Lunch Program School Milk Program Education--HEW Appropriations see also Health , Education and Welfare Education--Higher Education see also Education-- College Loan Program Education --Student Aid Bill Higher Education Missouri -- University Education- - Miscellaneous see also Quality Education Study Education--National Defense Education Act see a/so National Defense Education Act Education- - Nurses and Medical Students see also Doctors Heal t h Manpower Bill Medical Education Medical Schools Nurse Training Act Nurses Education-- Residential Vocational Education see also Education- - Vocational Education Vocational Education Education--Student Aid Bill see also Education- - College Loan Program Education--Higher Education Education --Federal Aid to Education Loan-- Student Student Loans Education --Tax Deductions for Education see a/ SO Taxes- - Deduction for Education of Dependents Education- - T eachers Corps see a/ ·o Teachers Corps Education-- Upward Bound Branch see also Upward Bound Education--Vocational Education see also Vocational Education Educational Grants Grants - - Educational Grants--HEW-- Public Schools Egypt see Foreign Affairs--Egypt Eisenhower, Dwight David Eisenhower College Elderly see also Aging National Institute on Aging Older Americans Act Elderly-- Employment Opportunities see also Employment Opportunities for the Elderly Older Americans Act Elderly - - Housing see Housing--Bowlin Project for the Elderly see also Housing--Elderly Election Laws see Missouri--Election Laws Election Reform see also Voting Rights Act Election Reform--Post Card Registration see alSO Post Card Registration Voter Registration Elections Commission Electoral College see also Direct Popular Election of the President Electric and Hybrid Research, Development and Demonstration Act of 1976 ee also Energy Conservation and Electric Power Electricity see Lifeline Rate Act Conversion Act of 1976 Elementray and Secondary Education Eleven Point River see Conservation- -Eleven Point River Elk Hills Oil Reserve see also Oil Leases Emergency Detention Act see also Detention Emergency Employment see also Employment Emergency Livestock Credit Act See a/so Agriculture Emergency Rail Transportation Improvement and Employment Act See Railroads--Emergency Rail Transportation Improvement and Employment Act Emergency Rooms see Medical Emergency Transportation and Services Act Emergency Security Assistance Act Emergency Telephone Number see a/ 0 Nine One One Emergency Unemployment Compensation Assistance ·ee a/so Unemployment Compensation Emergency Utility Loans and Grants for Witerizing Homes see a/ o Utility Loans Employment See a/ 0 Comprehensive Employment and Training Act Immigration Labor entries Manpower Minimum Wage Unemployment Employment- - Equal Opportunity Employment of the Handicapped see also Handicapped Labor--Handicapped Workers Employment Opportunities for the Elderly see Elderly --Employment Opportunities Endowment for the Arts see Grants--National Endowment for the Arts Endowment for the Humanities see National Endowment for the Humanities Energy-- Correspondence Energy Conservation see also Banking and Currency Commission--Energy Conservation Federal Power Commission Natural Gas Act Protection of Independent Energy Conservation and Conversion Act of 1976 see also Electric & Hybrid Research, Development & Demonstration Act of 1976 Energy Crisis SC'e also Coal Fuel for Cars Gas and Gasoline and Oil Allocations Oil Imports Oil Leases Energy Crisis-- Correspondence Energy Crisis--Material Energy Excerpts Energy Independence Act of 1975 Energy- - Information & Material see also Arctic Gas Project Energy Research and Development Environmental Education Act see also Ecology Environmental Pesticide Control Act of 1976 see alSO Pesticides Environmental Policy Act Environmental Protection Agency see also Grants--Environmental Protection Agency-- St. Louis Equal Employment see a/so Civil Rights- -Equal Employment Opportunity Minority Groups Women--Employment Opportunities Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Equal Opportunity see a/so Civil Rights-- Equal Employment Opportunity Equal Pay for Equal Work !:>Cl! also Women--Employment Opportunities Equal Rights- - Clippings Equ al Rights for Women see a/so Women--Equal Rights--Material Equal Time ee a/ ·o Federal Communications Commission Euclid Piau Radio Television see Housing--Euclid Plaza Excess Property see Missouri - - Excess Property see Federal Excess Property Executive Reorgan ization Export Administration Act see a/so Banking and Currency--Export entries Export Control Act see a/so Banking and Currency Committee -­Export Control FBI see Federal Bureau of Investigation FCC see Federal Communications Commission FDIC see B & C Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Fair Labor Standards Act see Labor--Fair Labor Standards Fair Plan see Insurance --Fair P lan Fair Trade see also Trade--Expor ts and Imports Fallout Shelters see Atomic Bomb--Fallout Shelters see Nuclear Weapons--Radioactive Fallout Family Assistance Act see also Welfare Welfare--Family Support Family Assistance Material and Clippings See a/so Welfare--Clippings Family Assistance Plan Family Fare see Publications--Family Fare Family Planning see a/ so Birth Control Illegitimacy P opulation Growth Sex Education Family Planning Services Act Family Week see National Family Week Farm Bill see Agriculture--Farm Bill Farm Workers see also Agriculture National Commission on Food Marketing--Bracero Study Federal Advisory Committee Act Federal Aid to Education see Education --Federal Aid to Education Federal Aviation Administ ration see also Aviation Civil Aeronautics Board Federal Barge Lines see a/ so Barge Lines Federal Buildi ngs see a/ so Public Buildings Federal Bureau of Investigation Federal Communications Commission see also Communications Equal Time Radio and Television Television Federal Deposit Insurance Corp see also FDIC Federal Employees See a/ SO Civil Service Legislation Federal Excess Property see a/so Excess Property Missouri --Excess Property Fede ral Government Contract Legislation see a/so Defense Contracts Federal Home Loan Bank Board Federal Housing Administration see Housing-- Federal Housing Administration Federal Judical Center see also J udiciary Federal Land Bank of St. Louis see also Land Bank Federal National Mortgage Association see a/so Banking and Currency--Mortgage Interest Rates Mortgages and Interest Rates Federal Pay Raise see a/so Congressional and Civil Service Pay Raise Federal Power Commission see a/so Energy Conservation Fuel and Energy Resources Commission Lifeline Rate Act Federal Reserve System Federal Trade Commission Federal Voting Assistance Program see a/so Voter Registration Federation of Independent Business see National Federation of Independent Business Feed Grain see a/so Agriculture Food and Drug Administration-- Grain Grain Purchases Fetal Experimentation see Health , Education and Welfare--Fetal Experimentation Fi nancial Disclosure see a/so Right to Financial Privacy Act Financial Institutions Act Fire Protection see a/so National Academy for Fire Prevention & Central Site Selection Board Fish and Fish Products see a/so Food and Drug Administration-­Fish Fish Inspection Food and Drug Administration-- Trout Trout see a/so Inspection , Food Fl ag Day Flood Control Meat Inspection Poultry Inspection see a/so St. Louis- - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Flood, Daniel J. Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission see P anama Canal--Correspondence- - Flood, Daniel J . Flood Insurance Program see a/so Insurance--Flood National Flood Insurance Program Flood Protection Project see also St. Louis--U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Floods see a/so Missouri - - Disaster Area Missouri- - Flood National Flood Insurance Program Rivers Fluoridation of Water Fonda, Jane Food see also Agriculture National Commission of Food Marketing P oultry Food and Drug Administration Index Code Food and Drug Administration Appropriations Food and Drug Administration-- Botulism Food and Drug Administration--Bread Prices Food and Drug Administration--Bureau of Standards Food and Drug Administration --Cattle-­General Food and Drug Administration- -Cattle-­Legislation Food and Drug Administration--Color Additives Food and Drug Administ ration-­Confectionery Food and Drug Administration - -Copy of Bill Food and Drug Administ ration - -Cranberri•·> Food and Drug Administ ration -- DeodorauL Food and Drug Administration -- Diet Foods see a/ o Nut rition Food and Drug Administration --Eye Make-up Food and Drug Administration--Facial Creams Food and Drug Administration-- Fish Flour Food and Drug Administ ration--Food Additives Cases See a/ 0 Addi tives Food and Drug Administration -- Food Additives -- General ee also Nutrition Food and Drug Administration- - Food Additives-- Legislation Food and Drug Amdinistration-- Freezone Food and Drug Administration-- General Commentary Food and Drug Administration-- General Information Food and Drug Administration -- General Letters Food and Drug Administration-- Grain see a/ 0 Feed Grain Food and Drug Administration--Hair Dye Food and Drug Administration -- Hair Preparations Food and Drug Administration -- Hai r Remover Food and Drug Administration- - Hair Sprays Food and Drug Administration -- Ice Cream Food and Drug Administration -- Investigation Food and Drug Administration-- Legislation Food and Drug Administration- - Lipsticks Food and Drug Administration--Medical Devices see Medical Device Amendments Food and Drug Administration--Milk Food and Drug Administration-- Miscellaneous Food and Drug Administration- - Nail Polish Food and Drug Administration--Packaging Food and Drug Administration--Packaging (Wax) Food and Drug Administration--Pesticide Cases Food and Drug Administration--Pesticide Legislation and General Information Food and Drug Administration--Pesticides Food and Drug Administration-­Preservatives Food and Drug Administration--Pre- testing Food and Drug Administration-- Request for Copy of Research Food and Drug Administration--Soap Food and Drug Administration--Special Dietary Foods see also Nutrition Food and Drug Administration--Sun-tan Lotion Food and Drug Administration--Trout Food and Drug Administration--Vaporizers Food and Drug Administration--Varnish Food and Drug Administration--Vitamin Supplements see a/so Nutrition Food and Drug Administration- - Water see also Water Food Assistance Act see Foreign Aid- -Food Assistance Act Food Crisis see a/ SO Agriculture Food for Peace Hunger and Malnutrition Nutrition Population Crisis Committee Population Growth Right to Food Resolution see also Agriculture Food Prices see also Agriculture Food Stamp Plan 1954--Bills see a/ SV Agriculture Hunger and Malnutrition Food Stamp Plan 1954--Comments and Criticism Food Stamp Plan 1954-- Correspondence Food Stamp Plan 1954--Food Surplus Food Stamp Plan 1954--St. Louis Food Stamp Plan 1954--Speeches and Testimony Food Stamp Plan 1955--Correspondence and Legislation Food Stamp Plan 1955--Food Surplus Food Stamp Plan 1956--Bills and Hearings Food St amp Plan 1956--Commodity Credit Corp. Food St amp Plan 1956- - Correapondence, Speeches, Testimony Food Stamp Plan 1956- - Food Surplus Distribution Food Stamp Plan 1956--Personal Letters Food Stamp Plan 1957-- Bills Food Stamp Plan 1957--Correspondence Food Stamp Plan 1957--Food Surplus and Food Stamp Plan Food Stamp Plan 1957--Hearings Food Stamp Plan 1957--Speeches Food Stamp Plan 1957--Testimony Food Stamp Plan 1958--Activities Carried on Under PL 63 -4RO Food Stamp Plan 1958--Bills Food Stamp Plan 1958--Comments and Criticism Food Stamp Plan 1958--Correspondence Food Stamp Plan 1958--Hearings and Reports Food Stamp Plan 1958--Personal Letters Food Stamp Plan 1958- - Speeches and Testimony Food Stamp Plan 1958--Study and Procedure Food Stamp Plan 1959- - Bills Food Stamp Plan 1959--Comments and Criticism Food Stamp Plan 1959--Congressional Record Entry Food Stamp Plan 1959--Correspondence Food Stamp Plan 1959-- Hearings and Reports Food Stamp Plan 1959--Personal Letters Food Stamp Plan 1959--Releases Food Stamp P lan 1959-- Speeches and Testimony Food Stamp Plan 1959- -Studies and Procedure Food Stamp Plan 1960- -Activities Carried on Under PL-480 Food Stamp Plan 1960-- Bills, Hearings, Reports Food Stamp Plan 1960-- Correspondence Food Stamp Plan 1960-- Personal Letters Food Stamp Plan 1961-- Correspondence and Clippings Food Stamp Plan 1961--Personal Letters Food Stamp Plan 1962--Bills, Correspondence, Testimony Food Stamp Plan 1962-- Clippings Food Stamp Plan 1962--Personal Letters Food Stamp Plan 1963--Bills Food Stamp Plan 1963--Comments and Criticism Food Stamp Plan 1963--Correspondence Food Stamp Plan 1963- - Hearings Food Stamp Plan 1963-- Releases Food Stamp Plan 1963--Speeches Food Stamp Plan 1963--Studies and Procedures Food Stamp Plan 1964--Appropriations Food Stamp Plan 1964--Bills Food Stamp Plan 1964--Comments and Criticism Food Stamp Plan 1964--Correspondence Food Stamp Plan 196-t -- Hearings Food Stamp Plan Hl64 --Minority Views Food Stamp Plan 1964--Releases Food Stamp Plan 196-t -- Speeches Food Stamp Plan 196-t -- Studies and Procedures Food Stamp Plan 1965 --Appropriations Cut Food Stamp Plan 1965- - Correspondence Food Stamp Plan 1965 - -District of Columbia Food Stamp Plan 1965--Expansion Food Stamp Plan 1965--Kinlock MO Food Stamp Plan 1965 --Missouri Food Stamp Plan 1965--Personal Letters Food Stamp Plan 1965--St. Louis MO Food Stamp Plan--Legislative History Food Stamp Plan--Miscellaneous Statistics Food Stamp Plan--Petition 1967 Food Stores see National Commission on Food Ford Foundation see also Foundations Ford, Gerald Marketing- -Chain Stores see Nixon, Richard M.-- Pardon Foreign Affairs--Amnesty Foreign Affairs--Angola Foreign Affairs- -Brazil Foreign Affairs--CARE Foreign Affairs--Cambodia see a/so Moratorium War Protest Foreign Affairs--Chile Foreign Affairs-- Cyprus Foreign Affairs- - Czechoslovakia Foreign Affairs-- Egypt see also Foreign Affairs - -Middle East Foreign Affai rs - - General Countries Foreign Affairs-- Genocide Treaty Foreign Affairs- - Indochina Foreign Affairs -- Israel see a/ 0 Foreign Affiars --Middle East Foreign Affairs-- Israel-Arab War see a/so Foreign Affairs- -Middle East Foreign Affairs - -Jordan see also Foreign Affairs--Middle East Foreign Affairs --Lebanon see a/so Foreign Affairs--Middle East Foreign Affairs --Middle East see also Foreign Affairs- - Egypt Foreign Affairs -- Israel Foreign Affairs -- Israel Arab War Foreign Affairs --Jordan Foreign Affairs--Lebanon Oil Imports Foreign Affairs- -Mid-East Sinai Pact Foreign Affairs --Non-Proliferation Treaty Foreign Affai rs --Peru Foreign Affairs- - Pueblo Foreign Affaris- -Puerto Rico see a/ SO Puerto Rico Foreign Affairs--Red China Foreign Affairs--Republic of China see Republic of China Foreign Affairs -- Rhodesia Foreign Affairs - - Soviet Union Foreign Affairs--Turkey Foreign Affai rs --United Nations Foreign Affairs -- United Nations Development Program Foreign Affairs -- Vietnam ee a/ SO Missing in Action Prisoners of War Select Committee to Investigate Missing in Action Foreign Affairs -- Vietnam- - Mrs. Sullivan 's Voting Record (as of 1972) see a/so Sullivan, L.K. Voting Record Foreign Affairs Legislation Foreign Aid Foreign Aid- - Food Assistance Acl Foreign Policy Foreign Visitors Forest Park Blvd. Turnkey Project see Housing--Forest Park Blvd. Turnkey Project Forestry Legislation see also Lumber Fort San Carica see Jefferson National Expansion Memorial--Building a Replica of Fort San Carlos Foster Grandparents see Poverty Program--Foster Grandparents Foundations see also Ford Foundation Danforth Foundation Grants Grants--National Science Foundation National Science Foundation Four Freedoms Study Group Franchises Franchising Practice Reform Act Freedom of Information Act see also Sunshine Bill Freedom of the Press see also Newspapers Radio Television Fuel and Energy Resources Commission see a/so Energy Conservation Federal Power Commissron Fuel for Cars see also Energy Crisis Gas and Gasoline and Oil Allocation Fur see also Laclede Fur Co. GAO see General Accounting Office GPO see Government Printing Office GSA see General Services Administration Gambling see also Lotteries Gas--Laclede Gas see also Natural Gas Gas--Natural Gas and Gasoline and Oil Allocation see also Energy Crisis Fuel for Cars Gateway Arch see Jefferson National Expansion Memorial General Accounting Office General Accounting Office--Credit Unions see also Banking and Currency--Credit General Electric General Motors Unions General Services Administration see also Grants--General Services Administration- - St . Louis Genocide Treaty see Foreign Affairs--Genocide Treaty Georgetown University Gerontology Cold Star Wives Goldenrod Showboat see Jefferson National Expansion Memorial- -Showboat Goldenrod Government Debt see also Debt Ceiling Bill National Debt Government Insurance Government Operations Government Printing Office Government Regional Offices Government Reorgani~:ation Program see Reorganiution Program Grace Hill Area see Housing--Grace Hill Grading, Meat see Meat Grading Grain Purchases ee also Agriculture Feed Grain Grand Canyon see Conservation--Grand Canyon Grandparents, Foster see Poverty Program--Foster Grandparents Grants see also Foundations National Science Foundation Grants- - Clippings Grants-- Dept. of Housing and Urban Development see Housing- - St . Louis--Grants from HUD Grants-- Department of Labor--St . Louis Grants-- Department of the Interior- -St. Louis and MO Grants-- Department of Transportation--St. Louis see also Transportation Grants - -Economic Development Administration- - St. Louis see also Economic Development Administration Grants-- Educational see also Educational Grants Learning Business Centers Grants- -Environmental Protection Agency-­St. Louis Grants--General Services Administration -­St. Louis Grants- - Health, Education and Welfare-- Miss& uri Grants--HEW--Public Schools Grants--HEW--St. Louis Grants--HEW--St. Louis University Grants--HEW-- Washington University see also Washington University Grants to Hospitals G r·an ts- - Housing see Housing-- St. Louis- - Grants from HUD Grants--Law Enforcement Assistance Administration -­Missouri ee also Law Enforcement Assistance Administration Grants--Law Enforcement Assistance Administratiou - - SL . Louis see also Law Enforcement Assistance Administration Gran ta--M any Sou rcea-- Colleges Grants--Many Sources- -Missouri Grants--Many Sources--St. Louis University Grants--Many Sources--Universities Grants--Many Sources- -University of Missouri Grants--Many Sources- - Washington University see also Washington University Grants- - Miscellaneous Grants--National Endowment for the Arts see also Arts and Humanities Grants--National Endowment for the Humanities see also Arts and Humanities Grants--National Science Foundation see also National Science Foundation Foundations G ranta--OEO- - Missouri Poverty Program--Office of Equal Opportunity Grants- -Post Office--St. Louis see also Postal Service St . Louis - -Post Office -­Operations Grants--Roth Study Grocery Stores see National Commission on Food Marketing--Chain Stores Guam Guatemalan Earthquake Gun Control see Crime--Gun Control HUAC See Congress-- House Unamerican Activities Committee Hair Car Products see Food and Drug Administration H ai rd ressers see National Haridressers and Cosmetologists Halpern, Seymour see Resignations Handicapped see also Blind Herman, Philip Employment of the Handicapped Labor--Handicapped Workers see Panama Canal--Correspondence-­Harry Flannery Herman, Philip See Radio and Television- -Harry Flannery Harry Truman Dam See Conservation--Harry Truman Dam Hatardous Material see a/so Transportation -- Dept. of Proposed Regulations Hazardous Occupational Safety and Health Act see a/ 0 Mine Safety Act Occupational Safety and Health Administration Head Start Center See Poverty Program--Head Start Centers Health -- Blood Banks Sl!<' (1/ SO Medical Care Health--Dental Health and Welfare Council of Greater St. Louis see a/ SO Welfare Health Education and Welfare see also Grants--Health Education and Welfare- -Missouri Housing--Public--HEW Task Force Health, Education and Welfare--Fetal Experimentation see also Human Experimentation Health Insurance see a/so Medical Insurance for Radiation Treatment National Health Insurance Health Insurance for the Unemployed see a/so Unemployment Health Legislation see a/so National Health Care Act Health Manpower Bill see also Education--Nurses and Medical Health, Mental Students Immigration--Foreign Doctors Manpower Nurse Training Act !!JI!<' Mental Health Health Program Health- - Polio Vaccine Health Security Act Hearing Aids Higher Education see a/so Education -- Higher Education Higher Education Act Highway Beautification see a/so Anti--Billboard Law High way-- Clippings Highway Patrol ee Missouri- -Highway Patrol Highway Safety see a/so National Bicentennial Highway Safety Year Highway Through St. Louis see a/so St . Louis Highways Highway Trust Fund Highways see a/so Martin Luther King Bridge High ways- - Beautification-- Billboards The Hill see Housing--The Hill Hill-Burton Act see Hospitals--Hill-Burton Historic Preservation see a/so National Historic Preservation Act HolidaJ.s see a SO Kennedy, John F, Holiday Home Owners Mortgage Loan Corp see Housing--Home Owners Mortgage Loan Corp Home Rule--D.C. see a/ SO Distict of Columbia Hospitals- - Closing ·ee a/ so Public Health Services Hospi tals Hospitals--Emergency Rooms ee Medical Emergency Transportation and Services Act Hospitals--General Hospitals--General MAST Program Hospitals- - Grants see Grants--Hospitals Hospitals- -Hill-Burton Hospitals- -Non-profit House Administration, Committee on House Beauty Shoppe see Congress. House Beauty Shoppe House Budget Committee House Un - American Activities Committee see also Congress. House Un-American Acitivities Comm1 Ll ee Household P ets Housing Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 see also Housing--HUD Housing--Anonymous letters Housing--Arson-- Clippings Housing--Better Communities Act Housing Bills Housing Bills- - Letters Housing--Bingham's Bill Housing--Blumeyer Project Housing- - Blumeyer Project--Clippings Housing-- Bowlin Project for the Elderly Housing- - Building Sciences Act see also Lumber Housing--Cabanne Turnkey see also Housing--Forest Park Blvd Turnkey Project Housing--Turnkey Projects Housing- -College Loan Programs Housing- - Community Development Block Grants Housing--Compton Grand Association Housing--CR Excerpts Housing- -Correspondence- -Out of State Housing-- Demonstration Cities Housing- - Dept. of Community Developmt!IIL Housing--DeSoto- Carr Housing-- Elderly see also Nursing Homes Housing--Emergency Housing--Energy Conservation see also Energy Conservation Housing- - Euclid Plan Housin~r - -Fair Housing see also Civil Rights--Housing Housing- - Open Housing- - Fair House Enforcement in Missouri Housing- -Federal Housing Administration Housing--Forest Park Blvd .--Turnkey Project see also Housing- -Cabanne Turnkey Project Housing- -Turnkey P rojects Housing-- General Housing- -Grace Hill Housing- -The Hill Housing- -Home Owners Mortgage Loan Housing- -HUD Corps. see also Housing and Urban Development Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 Houiang--St. Louis -­Applications to Jill f) Housing- -St. Louis - -Grants from HUD Housing--Missouri-- Grants from HUD Housing--HUD- - Consolidated Supply Program Housing--HUD --Housing Material Housing- -Housing Authoriution Act Housing-- Inspection Housing-- Insurance--Riots see also Crime- -Riots Insurance Housing-- Jeff- Vander-Lou Housing--KMOX Editorials see also Radio and Television Editorials Housing--Laclede Town Housing--Laclede Town-- Clippings Housing-- LaFayette Square Housing- - LaSalle Park Housing-- Lead Paint Housing-- Lead Poisoning see also P oisons Housing-- Loans see also Banking and Currency- -Savings and Loan Entries Interest Rates Housing--Low Income see also Housing-- President's Task Force on Low Income Housing Poverty Program- -General Housing--Mansion House Housing--Maryville Housing--Mill Creek Valley Housing--Miscellaneous Clippings Housing--Miscellaneous Letters Housing--Missouri Housing--Mobile Homes Housing- -Model Cities Housing- -Model Cit ies- - Clippings Housing--Mullanphy Project Housing--National Development Bank Housing--National Housing Act Housing-- National Tenants Organir;ation Housi ng--Negro see also Civil Rights--Housing Housing--Open Negroes- - General Housing- - Neighborhood F acilities Grant Housing- -Newcastle Project Housing- -O'Fallon Housi ng- -Ombudsman Housi ng- -Open see also Civil Rights--Housing Housing--Fair Housing Negroes- -Housing Housing--Open- -Against (District) Housing-- Open- -For (District) Housing- -Open--Against (Out of District) Housing--Open--For (Out of Dist rict) Housing- -Open- -Clippings Housing- -Operation Breakthrough Housing--Operation Breakthrough-- Clippings Housing--Operation Rehab ee also Housing-- Rehabilitation Housing--Rock Springs Rehabilitation Association Housing Panel Housing- - Para Quad Housing--Peabody- -Clippings Housing--President's T ask Force on Low Income Housing see also Housing--Low Income Housing Program Cute Housing--Public Housing Bills Proposed Housing-- Public Housing--Cochran Apts.-- Clippings Housing--Public Housing-- Darst-W ebbe Public Housing Housing- -Public Housing- -Darst- Web be Clippings Housing- - Public Housing-- General- - Clippings Housing--Public Housing--General Letters Housing--Public--HEW Task Force see also Health, Education,&: Welfare Housing--Public Housing--Kosciuksko St. Housing- - Public Housing- -Mailing List Housing--Public Housing- - Neighborhood Gardens Housing- - Public Housing- -Pruitt- lgoe Housing--Public Housing- - Pruitt - Igoe-­Clippings Housing- - Public Housing-- Pruitt- lgoe-­Proposals Housing- - Public Housing-- Rent Strike-­see also Strikes Clippings Housing--Public Housing- -Rent Strike-- Reports Housing--Public Housing--Reports Housing--Red Tape Housing- -Rehabilitation see also Housing-- Operation Rehab Housing--Rock Springs Rehabilitation Association Housing-- Rent Supplements Housing-- Reports and Materials Housing-- Rock Springs Rehabilitation Association see also Housing--Operation Rehab Housing-- Rehabilitation Housing- - St. Louis Housing--St. Louis-- Applications to HUD see also Housing--HUD Housing- -St. Louis--Area Expeditar Housing--St. Louis--Code Enforcement Housing--St. Louis- -Code Enforcement-- Clippings Housing-- St. Louis--Grants from HUD see also Housing--HUD Housing- -St . Louis Housing and Land Clearance Authority Housing- - St. Louis Housing Plan Housing-- St. Louis Meeting Housing-- St. Louis-- Workable Program Housing -- Savings and Loans See a/ 0 Banking and Currency Committee- ­Savings and Loan Companies Housing- - Savings and Loan Bill see also Banking and Currency Committee-­Savings and Loan entries Housing- - Section 8 Housing-- Section 22l(d)(2) Housing- - Section 221(d)(3) Housing-- Section 221(h) Housing- - Section 235 Housing- - Section 236 Housing- -Section 701 Housing- -Soulard Area see a/so National Historic Preservation Act Housing--South Broadway Housing-- South Side Housing- - State of Missouri Housing-- State of Missouri- - Grants from HUD see also Housing--HUD Housing--Subcommittee Notices Housing - -Ten Park Improvement Association Housing- -Town House Project Clippings Housing-- Turnkey Projects see a/so Housing- - Cabanne Turnkey Project Housing- - Forest Park Blvd Turnkey Project Housing- -Turnkey Projects--Clippings Housing--Twelfth and Park Housing-- Union--Sarah Housing-- Urban Reports Housing-- Urban Renewal Housing-- Urban Renewal- - Clippings Housing-- Urban Renewal-- Letters Housing- -Urban Renewal--Material Housing-- Vaughn Area- - Clippings Housing-- Villa de Ville Housing- -Washington University Medical Housing-- Wellston Housing--West End Center Housing--West End- - Clippings Housing- - West Pine Apartments Human Development Corporation see Poverty Program- - Human Development Corporation see also Poverty Program- - St. Louis Human Development Corporation Human Experimentation see also Health, Education and Welfare-- Fetal Experimentation Humanities see National Endowment for the Humanities Hunger and Malnutrition see a/so Food Crisis ICC Food Stamp Plan entries Right to Food Resolution see Interstate Commerce Commission Ice Cream see Food and Drug Administration--Ice Cream Ill egitimacy see also Birth Control Immigration Family Planning Sex Education ee a/so P opulation Growth Employment Immigration and Naturalir.ation Service Immigration-- Foreign Doctors Immigration- -Material Immigration--N aturalir.ed Citizens Immunity (Nixon) Against see also Nixon, Richard Milhouse Immunity (Nixon) For Immunity (Nixon) Out of State Impeachment (Justice Douglas) see also Supreme Court Judiciary Impeachment see also Nix on , Rich ard M Impeachment- -Against Impeachment Bill Impeachment-- Clippings Impeachment-- For Impeachment --Not Answered Impoundment Control/ Spending Ceiling Independent Bankers Association of America see also Banking and Cu rrency Committee-­Bank-- Entries Independent Business Federation see Nation al Federation of Independent Business Independent Meat P ackers see also Meat P ackers Indians see also Minority Groups Indochina see Foreign Affai rs-- Indochina Industry Funds Inflation see also Concentrated Industries Anti- Infl ation Act Inflation--House Resolution Inspection--Food see F ish Inspection see also Meat Inspection Poultry Inspection Institute of Psychiatry see Missouri-- Instit ute of Psychiatry Insurance see also Banking and Currency Committee- ­Insurance Education- - Federal Charter for Insu rance and Amminty Association Goverment Insurance Housing--Insurance- -Riots Insurance Coverage for Women see also Women Insurance--Fair Plan Insurance - -Floods see National Flood Insurance P rogram Insurance, Health see Health Insurance Insurance--No Fault Insurance--Shoppers Guide Integration see also Civil Rights entries Education --Busing Negroes - - entries Interest Rates ee also Banking and Currency Commitr.·c Interest Rates Banking and Currency Committee--Prime Interest Rate Banking and Currency Committe--Savings and Loan Interior (Dept. Of} Interior (Dept . of}--Oil Shale Program see also Energy Crisis Oil Leases Intelligence, Select Committee See Select Committee on Intelligence Internal Security see also Congress--House Unamerican Activities Committee Wire Tapping and Bugging Intern ational Development Association see Banking and Currency Committee-­International Development Association International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act see also Arms Control Internation al Trade Commission see also T rade--Exports and Imports In ternat ional T rade Subcommittee Not ices In te rstate Commerce Commission see also Movers of Household Goods Interstate Horseracing Act In terviews see also News Releases--Radio Press Comments Press and News Reporters Intra-Ut erine Devices see Medical Device Amendments Invi tations Israel see Foreign Affairs--Israel Jeanette Rankin see Commemorative Postage Stamp for Jeanette Rankin J efferson Barracks J efferson Barracks- - Landmark Status J efferson Barracks--National Cemetery Memorial Chapel J effe rson Barracks Park J efferson Nation al Expansion Memorial see also Lewis and Clark National Park Services St. Louis- -Arch St . Louis--Jefferson Nation al Expansion Memorial Jefferson National Expansion Memorial- - Bills J efferson Nat ional Expansion Memorial- ­Brochure J efferson Nat ional Expansion Memorial-­Budget Material Jefferson National Expansion Memor ial-­Building a Replica of Fort San Carlos J efferson Nat ional Expansion Memorial-­Clippings J efferson Nat ional Expansion Memorial-­Congressional Record Inserts J effe rson National Expa nsion Memorial-­Dedication Jefferson National Expansion Memorial-­File for Hearing J effe rson Nat ional Expansion Memorial-­Ground Breaking Ceremonies Jefferson National Expansion Memorial-­Releues, etc. J efferson National Expansion Memorial-­River Music Barge J efferson National Expansion Memori al-­Showboa t Goldenrod J effe rson National Expansion Memorial-­Testimony of Mrs. Sullivan Jefferson National Expansion Memorial - Visitors Center Jeff-- Vander-Lou see Housing--Jeff- Vander-Lou Jewish War Veterans see also Veterans' Administration Job Training Program see also Labor- -Manpower Development and Training Poverty Program- - St. Louis Job Corps Center St. Louis Job Corps Center Johnson, Lyndon Baines Joint Committee on Defense Production See also Banking and Currency Committee-- Defense Production Act Joint Committee to Investigate Crime see also Crime- - General Joint Economic Committee Jordan see Foreign Affairs--Jordan Judge Oliver see Oliver, Judge Judiciary see also Federal Judicial Center Impeachment (Justice Douglas) Supreme Court Justice Department Junior Village Juvenile Delinquency see also Crime--General Prisons KMOX see Radio and Television entries see also Housing KMOX Editorials News Releases--Radio KWK, Radio Station see Radio Station KWK Kansas-Texas RR see Missouri-Kansas-Texas RR Kennedy, John F . Kennedy, John F .--Assasination Kennedy, Jonn F .- -Eulogies Kennedy, John F .- -Holiday see a/ so Holidays Kennedy, John F .--Inaugural Address Kennedy, John F .--First Day Cover Issues see a/so Commemorative Stamps Kissinger, Henry see also State, Dept. of Kluxzynski Federal Office Building Korea see Foreign Affairs --Korea Koscuisko St. see Housing--Public--Kosciusko St. Krebiozen see Drugs, Krebiozen Labor see a/ 0 Employment Entries National Labor Relations Board -- Century Electric Company Postal Union Recognition Railroads - -Shopcraft Unions Strikes Unions Labor- - Davis-Bacon Labor-- Fair Labor Standards Labor-- Farm Labor See also Agriculture Labor--Handicapped W orkera see also Employment of the Handicapped Handicapped Labor Legislation see also Right to Work Labor--Manpower Development Training see also Job Training Corps Center Poverty Program--St. Louis Jobs Corps Center St. Louis Job Corps Center Labor Organizations--AFL-CIO Labor Orgnaizations--Misc. Labor- -Railroads see Railroads--Shopcraft Unions Labor- - Situs P icketing Labor Unions--Homes for the Aged Labor-- Workmen's Compensation Laws Lacey Act see also Conservation--Wildlife Laclede Fur Company Laclede Gas see Gas--Laclede Gas Laclede Town see Housing- - Laclede Town Lafayette Square see Housing--Lafayette Square Land Bank see Federal Land Bank of St . Louis Land Clearance see Housing--St. Louis Housing and Land Clearance Authority Land Management Organic Act Land Use Bill--Against Land Use Bill- - For LaSalle Park see Housing--LaSalle Park Lead Poisoning see Housing-- Lead Poisoning Law Enforcement Assistance Administratiom see also Crime--General Grants--Law Enforcement Assistance Administration Missouri--Highway Patrol League of Women Voters see also Voters Women Learning Business Centers see also Grants--Educational Unemployment Lebanon see Foreign Affairs- - Lebanon Legal Aid Society see also Crime--General Legal Services Corporation Legislative Activities Disclosure Act Legislative Proposals Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 see also Congressional Reorganization Lettuce see National Commission on Food Marketing--Lettuce Study Lewis and Clark see also Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Libraries see also Bookmobile Books sent to Libraries and Schools Education--Bookmobile Libraries--Depository Library Extension, Congressional Library of Congress Library Services Lifeline Rate Act see a/so Energy Conservation Federal Power Commission Union Electric Company Lincoln Sesquicentennial Commission Loans--Student see Education- - College Loan Program see a/so Education--Student Aid Bill Lobby Groups Lobbying Local Public Works Capital Development and Investment Act see a/so Public Works Lock and Dam 26 at Alton, Ill. Lock and Dam 26--Clippings Lockheed Corp. see Banking and Currency Committee-­Lockheed Case Lotteries see also Gambling Low Income Housing see Housing--President 's Task Force on Low Income Housing Lumber see a/ 0 Forestry Legislation Housing--Building Sciences Timber Supply Lumber Preservation Legislation see a/so T imber Supply Harry Lundeberg School see a/so Maritime Academies MAST Program MIA see Missing in Action See a/ SO Foreign Affairs -- Vietnam Magna Carta Select Committee to Investigate Missing in Action see a/so American Revolution Bicentennial Malpractice see Medical Malpractice Claims Settlement Assistance Act Management and Budget, Office of see also Budget Manpower see also Employment Labor- -Manpower Development and Training Health Manpower Bill Poverty Program-- Office of Economic Opportunity Mansion House Maritime Academies see a/ so Harry Lundeberg School Martin Luther King Bridge see a/ 0 Highways St. Louis- -Highways Maryville see Housing--Maryville Meals on Wheels see also Aging Meat Grading ee Grading, Meat Meat Imports see a/so Trade--Imports and Exports Meat Inspection see also Fish Inspection Inspection, Food Poultry Inspection Meat Inspection Bill Meat Inspection--St. Louis Independent Packing Company Meat Packers see a/so Independent Meat Packers Medical Care see a/so Health entries National Health Care Act Medical Device Amendments Medical Education see Education--Nurses and Medical Students see a/so Medical Schools Military Medical Schools Medical Emergency Transportation and Services Act Medical Insurance for Radiation Treatment see also Cancer Health Insurance Medical Malpractice Claims Set tlement Assistance Act Medical Schools see also Education--Nurses and Medical Students Mental Health Health Manpower Bill Nurse Training Act see also Health- -Mental Meramec Basin News Stories see also Conservation Meramec Basin or River see Conservation--Meramec Entries Merchant Marine see Harry Lundeberg School see also Coast Guard Maritime Academics Metric System Metropolitan Youth Commission see a/so Youth Affairs Middle East see Foreign Affairs- - Middle East Militants see also Civil Rights-- Clippings Education--Campus Unrest Negroes--Black Militants Military Construction Appropriation Bill see also Defense Appropriations Military Expenditures see a/so Defense Appropriations Military Medical School Military Pay see alSO Armed Forces Defense Appropriations Military Procurement see a/so Defense Appropriations Defense Contracts Military Retirement Milk see a/so Agriculture FDA--Milk Mill Creek Valley see Housing--Mill Creek Valley Mine Safety Act see a/so Black Lung Act Coal Hazardous Occupational Safety and Health Act Mining Mine Safety and Health Act Mineral Resources see also Coal Minimum Wage see a/so Employment Wage and Price Controls Mining see a/so Coal Mine Surface Area Protection Act Mine Safety Act Missouri Bureau of Mines Mink Ranchers Minority Groups see also Equal Employment Indians Negroes--Minority Groups Women Miscellaneous Organintions see a/so National Organintions Questionable Organizations Missiles see Nike Base Aeronautics and Space Arms Control Missini in Action ee also Foreign Affairs --Vietnam Missing in Action, Select Committee to Investigate ee Select Committee to Investigate Missing in Action Mississippi Queen see Delta Queen/Mississippi Queen Missouri, State of Missouri --Adult Education Act see a/ 0 Education--Adult Missouri--Area Redevelopment Missouri, Bureau of Mines see also Mining Missouri --Disaster Area see also Civil Defense Floods Missouri - - Election Laws see a/so Missouri-- Redistricting Missouri --Excess Property see a/so Federal Excess Property Missou ri - - Flood see also Floods National Flood Insurance Program Missouri -- Grants see Grants entries Missouri --Highway Patrol see a/ 0 Law Enforcement Assistance Administration Missouri--Housing see Housing--Missouri Missouri - - Institute of Psychiatry Missouri --Kansas-Texas RR see a/ o Railroad entries Missouri --Motor Vehicles Missouri -- Ozarks Regional Commission Missouri - - Redistricting ee al o Missouri --Election Laws Redistricting Missouri - - Sesquicentennial Miaaouri - - State Politics see a/ SO St. Louia-- Politica Women in Politics Missou ri State Society Missouri-- University see also Education- -Higher Education Grants--Many Sources-­University of Missouri Missouri-- Missouri A Missouri B Missouri C-Com Missouri Con-Dept. of D Missouri Dept. of E­Missouri Dept of F-G Missouri H Missouri 1-N Missouri 0-P Missouri 0 -Z Mobil Homes see Housing- - Mobil Homes Model Cities see Housing--Model Cities Moratorium see a/so Foreign Affairs--Cambodia Foreign Affairs-- Vietnam Mortgages and Interest Rates see a/so Banking and Currency Committee-­Variable Interest Mortgage Rates Federal National Mortgage Association Movers of Household Goods see also Interstate Commerce Commission Mullanphy Project see Housing- -Mullanphy Project NAACP see Negroes - - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NLRB ee National Labor Relations Board- ­Century Electric Company National A-National H see also Miscellaneous Organiroations National !- National Q National R-National Z National Academy for Fire Prevention and Central Site Selection Board see a/ SO Fire Prevention National Aeronautics and Space Act see also Aeronautics and Space--Space Program National Air Guard Employment see a/so National Guard National Association for the Advancement of Colored People see Negroes--National Association for the Advancement of Colored People National Bicentennial Highway Safety Year see also American Revolution Bicentennial Highway Safety National Cemeteries (Jefferson Barracks) National Cemeteries . ee Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery Memorial Chapel National Center for Women ee also Women National Commission of Consumer Finance Appendices ee al 0 Banking and Currency Committee-­Consumer Credit National Commission on Consumer Finance Chapter I National Commission on Consumer Finance Chapter II National Commission on Consumer Finance Chapter Ill National Commission on Consumer Finance Chapter IV National Commission on Consumer Finance Chapter VI National Commission on Consumer Finance Chapter VIII National Commission on Consumer Finance Chapter IX National Commission on Consumer Finance Chapter X National Commission on Consumer Finance Chapter XI National Commiaaion on Consumer Finance Chapter XII National Commission on Consumer Finance--Clippings National Commission on Consumer Finance-­Correspondence National Commission on Consumer Finance--Press Kat National Commission on Consumer Finance-- Speeches National Commission on Consumer Finance- -Studies National Commission on Food Marketing see also Agriculture National Commission on Food Marketing -­Attempt to Form Commission see also National Commission on Food Marketing- - Creation of the Commission National Commission on Food Marketing-­Background Material National Commission on Food Marketing-­Congratulatory Notes to Mrs. Sullivan National Commission on Food Marketing-- Hearings National Commission on Food Marketing-­Bracero Study see also Farm Workers National Commission on Food Marketing-­Chain Stores National Commission on Food Marketing-­Clippings National Commission on Food Marketing-­Commission Meetings National Commission on Food Marketing · Consumer lnformata on see a/ SO Consumer Interest - - Miscellaneous National Commission on Food Marketing- ­Correspondence National Commission on Food Marketing-­Creation of the Commission See al;o,o Batuibak Commission on Food Marketing- -Attempts to Form the Commission National Commission on Food Marketing- ­Formal Interviews National Commission on Food Marketing-­General Info National Commission of Food Marketing-­Individual Views of the Report National Commission on Food Marketing-­Lettuce Study National Commission on Food Marketing-­Press Releases National Commission on Food Marketing-­Questionaire Correspondence National Commission on Food Marketing-­Report Status National Commission on Food Marketing-­Speeches National Commission on Food Marketing-­Staff Changes National Commission on Food Marketing-­Staff Selection National Commission on Food Marketing National Commission on Food Marketing-­Chapter 13 of Final Report National Commission on Neighborhoods National Commission on Productivity see also Banking and Currency entries National Consumer Cooperative Bank Act see Banking and Currency Commission-- National Debt National Consumer Cooperative Bank Act see also Debt Ceiling Bill Government Debt National Defense see a/ SO Armed Services Defense National Defense Education Act see Education- -National Defense Education Act National Development Bank see Housing--National Development Bank National Diabetes Advisory Board see also Diabetes Research National Digestive Disease Act of 1976 National Endowment for the Arts see Grants--National Endowment for the Arts National Endowment for the Humanities see Grants--National Endowment for the Humanities National Energy and Conservation Corporation see also Energy Conservation National Family Week National Federation of Independent Business see also Small Business Administration National Flood Insurance Co see also Flood Insurance Program Floods Missouri--Flood National Good Neighbor Day National Guard see also Air Guard Armed Services National Air Guard Employment National Hairdressers and Cosmetologists National Health Care Act see also Health Legislation Medical Care National Health Insurance Health Insurance National Historic Preservation Act Historic Preservation Housing--Operation Rehab Housing- - Soulard Area National Housing Act see Housing--National Housing Act National Institute on Aging see also Aging Elderly Older Americans Act Select Committee on Aging National Labor Relations Board- - Century Electric Company see also Labor National Opportunity Camps National Park Service see a/so Conservation entries Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Parks National Safe Boating Week see also Boating Coast Guard National Saint Elizabeth Seton Day National Service Corps see a/so Peace Corps National Science Foundation see a/so Foundations Grants--National Science Foundation National Stamping Act see also Coinage National Summer Youth Program see Poverty Program- - National Summer Youth Program National Tennants Organization see Housing--National Tenants Organization Natural Gas see a/so Energy Conservation Laclede Gas Natural Gas Act see a/so Energy Conservation Natural Gas Act--Amendments Naturalized Citir.ens See Immigration --Naturalir.ed Citizens Negroes --Black Militants see also Civil Rights--Clippings Militants Negroes--Commission on History and Culture Negroes - - General see a/so Housing--Negroes-- Integration Negroes--Minority Group see a/so Minority Groups Negroes-- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ee a[ SO Civil Rights entries Neighborhood Facilities Grant see Housing- -Neighborhood Facilities Grant Neighborhoods ee National Commission on Neighborhoods See a/so National Good Neighbor Day National Historic Preservation Act Nerve Gas see a/so Arms Control New York City Financial Crisis See Banking and Currency Committee-- Emergency Financial Assistance Act Newcastle Project see Housing-- Newcastle Project News Releases --Radio see a/so Interviews Press and News Reporters Presa Comments Radio Radio and Television--Press Releases and Interviews Sullivan, Leonor K., Press Releases Sullivan, Leonor K., Publicity Newspaper Preservation Act Newspapers see a/so Pulitr;er, Joseph Freedom of the Press Nike Base see a/so Arms Control Nine One One see Emergency Telephone Number Nixon, Richard M see also Agnew, Spiro T . Immunity (Nixon) Impeachment Vice President Watergate Nixon, Richard M.- -Pardon, Against Nixon, Richard M.--Pardon, For Nixon, Richard M.--Transition Allowance No-Fault Insurance see Insurance--No- Fault Noise Control Act Nuclear Energy see a/so Atomic Energy Energy Crisis entries Panama Canal- - Nuclear Technology Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty see Foreign Affain-- Non- Proliferation Treaty Nuclear Weapons see a/su Arms Control Atomic Bomb--Fallout Shelters Atomic Energy Weapons Nuclear W capons--Radioactive Fallout see a/so Atomic Bombs--Fallout Shelters Nuclear Weapons- -Testing Nurse Training Ad see a/so Education--Nurses Medical Students Health Manpower Medical Schools Nurses see a/so Education--Nurses and Medical Students Nursin!{ Homes see also Housing--Elderly Aging Nut rition see a/so FDA--Diet Foods OEO FDA--Special Dietary Foods FDA--Vitamin Supplements Food Crisis ee Grants--OEO-- Missouri see also Poverty Program entries OSHA see Hazardous Occupational SafeLy and Health Act see a/so Occupational Safety and Health Administration Obscene Literature Obscenity Occupational Safety and Health Administration see a/ SO Hazardous Occupational Safety and Health Act O'Fallon Area see Housing--O'Fallon Office of Economic Opportunity see Granta--OEO--Miuouri see a/so Poverty ProiJ'am--Office of Economic Opportunity Office of Management and Budget see Management and Budget, Office of Office of Technology Alleaament see a/so Technology Aaaeasment Office Official Gazette-- List Oil lmporta see also Energy Crisis Oil Leases Foreign Affairs--Middle East Trade--Imports and Exports ee a/ 0 Elk Hills Oil Reserve En rgy Crisis Interior (Dept. of) - - Oil Shale Program Older Americans Act ee a/ o Aging Oliver, Judge Olympic Games Olympics Ombudsman Elderly- -Employment Opportunitiea Nation I Institute on Aging Select Committee on Aging see Housing--Ombudsman Omnibus Operation Breakthrough see Housing- - Operation Breakthrough Opportunity Camps see National Opportunity Campa Outer Continental Shelf Landa see a/ o Coaat Coa~tal Area~ Overseaa Private Investment Corporation Onrk Lead Company Onrka Regional Commisaion Ozone Protection Act Pow·. ee Foreign Affaira-- Vietnam P cemakers See Medical Device Amendments Pacific Air Routes ee a/ 0 Airlines Panama Canal- - Clipping• Panama Canal--Congressional Record Jnaerta Panama Canai--Corr apondence-­Armatrong, Anthony Pan am a Canal--Correspondence--Flood, Daniel J Panama Canal--Correspondence--General Panama Canal Correspondence--Harman, Philip Panama Canal Correspondence- - Raymond , David Panama Canal--Daily Digest Panama Canal--Finance Panama Canal--Hearings Panama Canal--Inspection Visit Panama Canal-- Legislation Panama Canal--Legislative Correspondence Panama Canal--Living Conditions Panama Canal --Military Penonnel Panama Canal--Miscellaneous and Reports Panama Canal--Nuclear Technology see also Nuclear Energy Panama Canal- -Operations Panama Canal--Panama and Treaty Panama Canal--Sea Level Canal Study Commission-­Correspondence Panama Canal--Sea Level Canal Study Commission--Legislation Panama Canal--Sea Level Canal Study Commission--Reports P anama Canal Tolla Pam- medica see Medical Emergency Transportation and Services Act P ara-quad Housing see Housing- -Para-quad P ardon of Richard Nixon see Nixon, Richard M. --Pardon Parks see a/so Conservation entries National Park Service P arochial Schools see Education- -Aid to Parochial Schools Passports Patents Peabody Area see Housing--Peabody--Clippings Peace Corpa see also National Service Corps Peace, Dept. of Penn Central Railroad ee Banking and Currency Committee--Penn Central P ension Plan Pension Reform Peru see Foreign Affain--Peru Pesticides see Environmental Pesticide Control Act of 1976 ee a/so FDA--Pesticide entries Pets see Household Peta Photograph Request see Sullivan, Leonor K.--Photograph Request Physicians--Malpractice ee Medical Malpractice Claims Settlement Assistance Act Poelker, J ohn H see also St. Louis--Mayor Poisons see a/ so- -Housing--Lead Poisoning Polio Vaccine see Health --P olio Vaccine Political Education, Committee On Politics see Missouri --State Politica see also St. Louis--Politics Women in Politics Pollution Sl!£' a/so Air Pollution Clean Air Act Solid Waste P ollution Water Pollution Pollution--Noise see Noise Control Act Pollution--Solid Waste see Solid Waste Pollution see also Air Pollution Water Pollution Poor People 's Campaign Pope John XX:IIl Population Crisis Committee see also Food Crisis Population Growth see also Birth Control Census Family Planning Food Crisis Immigration Sex Education Portraits--Presidents see Presidents' P ortraits Post Card Registration see a/so Election Reform--Post Card Registration Voter Registration Post-Dispatch see Pulitzer, Joseph Newspapers Post Office Closings Post Office Department Post Office Regulations Postage Increase Postal Boutiuqea see also Commemorative Stamps Postal Clippings Postal Legislation Postal Pay Raise Postal Rate Commission Postal Rates Postal Rates --REA Postal Reform Legislation Postal Reform Material Postal Reorganization and Salary Postal Service Adjustment Act see a/so Grants--Post Office-- St . Loui£ Postal Strike see also Strikes Postal Union Recognition see a/ so Labor Unions Potato Bill Poultry- - Application to Make St. Louis see a/ o Food Poultry Indemnity Bill Poultrr Inspection see a/. 0 Fish Inspection Meat Inspection Poverty Program- -Clippings Poverty Program--Day Care Center see also Poverty Program-- Head Start Centers Poverty Program- -St. Louis-­Daycare St. Louis Day Care Poverty Program- - Foster Grandparents Poverty Program--General see also Housing--Low Income Poverty Program--Head Start Centers see a/so Poverty Program--Day Care Centers Poverty Program--St. Louis -­Day Care Centers St. Louis Day Care Poverty Program--Human Development Corporation see also Poverty Program--St. Louis-­Human Development Corp Poverty Program--Material Poverty Program--Micellaneous Poverty Program--National Summer Youth Program see also Poverty Program--Summer Youth Program Summer Youth Employment and Recreation Poverty Program--Office of Economic Opportunity see also Grants--OEO--Missouri Labor--Manpower Development and Training Manpower Poverty Program--Office of Economic Opportunity-­Amendments Poverty Program--Office of Economic Opportunity--Cuts Poverty Program--St. Louis--Day Care see also Poverty Program--Day Care Centers Poverty Program- - Head Start Centers St. Louis Day Care Poverty Program--St. Louis Human Development Corporation see a/so St. Louis Human Development Corp. Poverty Program--St. Louis Job Corps Center see also Job Training Program Labor--Manpower Development and Training St. Louis Job Corps Center Poverty Program--St. Louis Small Business Development Center see also Banking and Currency-- Small Business Administration St. Louis--Small Business Administration Small Business Administration Poverty Program--St. Louis Workers Poverty Program--Summer Youth Programs see also Poverty Program--National Summer Youth Program Summer Youth Employment and Recreation Poverty Program--Total Bay Project Poverty Program- - VISTA Powell , Adam Clayton see also Congress--Scandala Prayer in School see Religion- - Prayer in School Preservatives see Food and Drug Adminislralion-- Preserv atives President Ford see Nixon, Richard M.--Pardon President Johnson see Johnson, Lyndon Baines President Kennedy see Kennedy, John Fihgerald President Nixon see Nixon, Richard M Presidential Pardon see Nixon, Richard M.,--Pardon Presidents' Portraits President.' Task Force on Low Income Housing see Housing--President'• Taak Force on Low Income Housing "Presidio 27" see also Armed Service• Press Comments see a/so Interviews News Releaaes --Radio Preas and News Reporters Sullivan, Leonor K.--Press Releases Sullivan, Leonor K.-- Reaction to Presidenti al Statements Press and News Reporters see a/ SO Interviews Price Freeze News Releases--Radio Press Comments Sullivan, Leonor K.-- Press Releases Sullivan, Leonor K.--Reaction to Presidental Statements see also Wage and Price Controls Prisoners of War See Foreign Affaire --Vietnam Prisons ee also Crime- - General Juvenile Deliquency Privacy See a/so Right to Financial Privacy Act Private Schools See Education--Aid to Private Schools Productivity See Banking and Currency Committee-­National Commission on Productivity Protection of Independent Service Station Operators see also Energy entries Pruitt - Igoe See Housing--Public Housing-- Pruitt - lgoe Public Buildings see alSO Federal Buildings Public Health Service Hospitals see also Hospitals --Closing Public Housing See Housing--Public Housing Public Relations See also FDA--Cranberries Public Works see a/ 0 Local Public Works Capital Development and lnveatment Act Publications--Consumer Product Info See al 0 Consumer Product Information Bulletin Publications-- Family Fare Publications-- Packet for the Bride see a/so Consumer Interest --Miscellaneous Publications Request Publications Request for Seal Plaques Pueblo Affair see Foreign Affairs--Pueblo Puerto Rico see a/so Foreign Affaire--Puerto Rico Pulitzer, Joseph see also Newspapere Quality Education Study see also Education--Miscellaneous Queen Isabella Questionable Organizations see also Miscellaneous Organizations REA see Postal Rates--REA ROTC see Reserve Officere Training Program Radiation Treatment see Medical Insurance for Radiation Treatment Radio see a/ SO Communications Equal Time Federal Communications Commission Freedom of the Press News Releases- -Radio Sullivan, Leonor K.--Publicity Radio and Television--Clippings Radio and Television Correspondence Radio and Television Editorials see a/so Housing--KMOX Editorials Radio and Television--Harry Flannery Radio and Television--Press Releases and Interviews see also Sullivan, Leonor K.--Press Releases News Releases--Radio Radio and Television--Broadcasts which Demean Radio Station KWK Radioactive Fallout see Nuclear Weapons-- Radioactive Fallout Rail pax Railpax--Material and Information Railroad Brotherhoods and Organizations see a/ SO Railroad Strikes Railroads--Shopcraft Unions Strikes Unions Railroad Legislation see also Banking and Currency Committee-­Penn Central Missouri-Kansas and Texas RR Railroad Passenger Service ee a/so Railroads--Discontinuance of Passenger Trains Railroads-- Rail fax/ Amtrak Railroad Retirement Legislation Railroad Safety Railroad Strikes see a/so Railroad Brotherhoods and Organizations Railroads- -Strikes Strikes Railroads see Miuouri-Kanau Texas RR see also Bankinc and Currency CommiLLee-­Penn Central Rock Island Railroad Railroads--Discontinuance of Paasanger Tram Serv1ce see also Railroad P aaaencer Service Railroad•-- Rail pax/ Amtrak Railroads--Emercency Rail T ransportation Improvement and Employment Act Railroada--Railpax/ Amtrak see also Railpax Railroad P aaaenger Service Railroada--Discontinuance of Passenger T rain Service Railroads- - Strikea see also Railroad Brotherhoods and Organir.ations Railroad Strikes Strikes Unions Railroads - -Sbopcraft Unions see also Labor Rat Cont rol R ilroad Brotherhoods and Organir.ations Uniona Strike• see a/ 0 St. Louis Rat Control Raymond, David see Panama Canal - - Correspondence -­Raymond, David Recipes Recreat ion ee a/ SO Boating Recycling Waste ee also Conservation --Misc. Red China Energy Conservation Solid Wute Pollution See Foreicn Affai re -- Red China Redistricting See a/so Missouri --Redist ricting Redwood National Parka see Conservation Redwood Nat ional P ark Referrals Regulat ion Q see Banking and Currency Commission -­Citicorp Rehabilit ation See Housing- - Rehabilitation See a/so Housinc- -Operation Rehab Housing- - Rock Springs Rehabilitation Association Religion Religion -- Prayer in School Renegotiation Act of 1951 Rent Strikes see Housing--P ublic Housing--Rent Strike Rent Supplements See Housing--Rent Supplements Reorganir.ation P rogram Re-- Pricing Commodities ee a/so Commodity Exchange Act Commodity Futures Republic of China See For ign Affairs-- Republic of China Republican National Convention Reserve Officers Training Program Resignations Retirement :;ee Military Retirement see a/so Railroad Retirement Legislation Revenue Sharing see a/so Urban Affairs Revenue Sharing Information Rhodesia see Foreign Affairs- - Rhodesia Richards- -Gebaur Air Force Base see a/ SO Air Force Re.location to Scott AFB Rice see Agriculture--Rice Bill Right to Food Resolut ion see a/so Food Crisis Hunger and Malnutrition Right to Financial Privacy Act see a/so Consumer Credit Financial Disclosure Privacy Right to Work ee a/ ·o Labor Legislation Riots see Crime- -Riots ee a/so Housing--Insurance --Riots Rivers ee Floods Missouri--Flood National Flood Insurance Program Robinson- -Patman Act see a/ 0 Anti--Trust Laws Rock Island Railroad Rock Spring Rehabilitation Association see Housing--Rock Springs Rehabilitation Association Roth Study see Grants- -Roth Study Rural Development Act Rural Electr ification Administration Russia ·ee Foreign Affairs- - Soviet Union SALT Safe Drinking Water Act Safety - -Highway see Highway Safety Safety- -Railroad see Rai lroad Safety Sailors see Harry Lundeberg School see a/so Maritime Academies Saint Elizabeth Seton see National Saint Elir.abeth Seton Day St . Joesph 's Hospital St . Louis A-Me St . Louis My-Z Saint Louis St . Louis - -Airport see a/ 0 Airports St . Louis - -Arch see J effe rson National Expansion Memorial St. Louis- -Aldermanic Affairs St. Louis Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women see Council of Catholic Women St. Louis Area Council of Governments St . Louis--Banking see Banking and Currency--St. Louia Banking St . Louis Beautification Commia1ion St. Louis Bicentennial St. Louis--Bi-State Development Agency St. Louis--Bi-State Re(ional Medical Program St. Louis Board of Aldermen St. Louis Board of Education St. Louis- -Board of Education- -Property at 4100 Forest Park Ave St. Louis- -Board of Election Commiasioners St. Louis--Boards of Directors of Local St. Louis Bridges St. Louis Cardinal• Companies St. Louis - -Challenge of the 70's St. Louis - -City- County Consolidation St. Louis- -City Employees St. Louia--Civil Defenae St. Louis- - Clippings St. Louis--Comptroller's Report St. Louis- -Consumer Affairs Board see also Conaumer St. Louis Consumer Federation St . Louis Convention Center St. Louis Convention Piasa Land St. Louis - - Coroner St . Louis County St. Louis County- - Clippings St. Louis Courthouse St. Louis Day Care ee a/ 0 Poverty Program- -Day Care Centers Poverty Program- -Head Start Center Poverty Program--St. Louis Day Care St. Louis - -Dea Perea Project St. Louis--Downtown St . Louis - -East - West Gateway Coordinating Council see East - West Gateway Coordinating Council St. Louis--Federal Building St. Louis-- Federal Building- -Clippings St . Louis --Gateway Army Ammunition St. Louis--Grants see Grants- - Entries Plant St. Louis--Health & Welfare Council see Health & Welfare Council of Greater St. Louia St. Louis--Highwaya See a/so Highway through St. Louis Martin Luther King Bridge St . Louis Housing see Housing- - St . Louis entries St. Louis Housing and Land Clearance Authroity ·ee Housing-- St. Louis and Land Clearance Authority St . Lou1s Housing Code Enforcement See Housing--St . Louis Code Enforcement St . Louis Housing Plan see Housing- -St . Louis Housing Plan St. Louis Human Development Corporation see Poverty Program--St . Louis Human Development Corp. ee a/ 0 Poverty Program- -Human Development Corp. St. Louis Independent Packing Company see Meat Inspection--St . Louis Independent Packing Company St. Louis- - Indian Cultural Center St. Louis--Jefferson National Expansion Memorial see Jefferson National Expansion Memorial St. Louis Jobs Corps Center see also Job Training Program Labor--Manpower Development and Training Poverty Program--St. Louis Jobs Corps Center St. Louis--Labor Relations--St. Louis Plan St. Louis Layoffs St. Louis Levee St. Louis- -Mansion House see Mansion House St. Louis--Mayor see also Poelker, John H St. Louis- -Mayor- -Clippings St. Louis--Mayor's Council on Youth St. Louis --Municipal Opera St . Louis--National Museum St. Louis--National Park System St . Louis- -Old Post Office Building see a/so St. Louis Federal Building St. Louis Ordinance Plant see a/so St. Louis--Gateway Army Ammunition St. Louis--Parks St . Louis--Police St . Louis--Politics see a/so Missouri- -State Politics Women in Politics St . Louis --Port St. Louis--Port--Clippings St. Louis - -Port--Correspondence St. Louis Post- -Dispatch see Pulitr;er, Joseph Newspaper St . Louis Post Office--Curtailment of Service St . Louis--Post Office Discontinuance of Railway Post Office Service St . Louis Post Office--Operations see also Grants--Post Office--St. Louis St. Louis Post Office--Postal Data Center St . Louis --Poverty Program see Poverty Program--St. Louis entries St. Louis Public Service Employment St . Louis Rat Control see also Rat Control St. Louis Regional Industrial Development Corp. St . Louis Residential Manpower Center St . Louis--Revenue Sharing ee a/so Reven'ue Sharing St. Louis- -Savings and Loan Associations ee a/ so Banking and Currency Committee-­Savings and Loan St. Louis School Lists St. Louis School Tax St . Louis Senior Citizens see also Elderly St . Louis -- Small Business Administration see a/so Banking and Currency--Small Business Administration Poverty Program--St. Louis Small Business Development Center Small Business Administr:oL1on St. Louis--Solomon Rooks St. Louis--Symphony St. Louis- - Union Station St. Louis--U.S. Army St. Louis--U.S. Army--Automates Logistics Management Agency St. Louis--U.S. Army Aviation Research Center St. Louis--U.S. Army Aviation Systems Command St. Louis--U.S. Army Corps of Engineers see also Flood Control Flood Protection Project St. Louis U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-­Correspondence St. Louis U.S. Army Corps of Engineers- ­Newsletters St. Louis--U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-­North St. Louis Harbor St. Louis--U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-­Installations St. Louis--U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-­Material Command St. Louis- - U.S. Army Mobility Equipment Center St. Louis--U.S. Army Publications Center St. Louis--U.S. Army Reserve St. Louis- - U.S. Army Support Center St. Louis- - U.S. Department of Agriculture Laboratory St. Louis--U.S. Medical Laboratory St. Louis--U.S. Military Installations St. Louis--U.S. Military Personnel Record Center St. Louis Records Center St. Louis University St. Louis University--Agency for International Development St. Louis University--Commemorative Stamp St. Louis University--Fordyce Conference St. Louis University--Grants see Grants- -HEW- - St. Louis University see al 0 Grants--Many Sources--St. Louis University St. Louis University Medical School St. Louis University--One Hundred Fiftieth Anniverary of Its Founding- -Resolution St. Louis University - - Scott Shipe Case St. Louis Witholding Tax Sales Representative Protection Act Salk Vaccine see Health--Polio--Vaccine Savings and Loan Companies see Banking and Currency Committee-­Savings and Loan ee a/so Housing--Savings and Loan Scholarships and Fellowships School Lunch Program see also Education--Food and Nutrition Program School Milk Program see a/so Education--Food and Nutrition School Students Schools Program see a/ o Education entries Schools--Chrisiian Brothers ROTC Program Schools--Clippings see also Education--Clippings Schools--College Debate Topic Schools--Exchange Students Schools- -Grants see Grants--HEW- -Public Schools--High School Debate Topic Schools- - Integration see Integration Schools--Junior College District School Prayer see Religion --Prayer in Schools Schoir Investigation Scullin Steel Sea Level Canal see P anama Canal--Sea Level Canal Study Commission Seals see Publications Request for Seal Plaques Secret Service Securities Securities and Exchange Commission Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act Security Contract Guards Select Committee on Aging see also National Institute on Aging Older Americana Act Select Committee on Intelligence Select Committee to Investigate Assaainations Select Committee to Investigate Missing in Action see also Foreign Affairs--Vietnam Select Committee to Reform Congress see also Congress Selective Service Separation of Presidential Powers Series E Bonds Sesquicentennial of Missouri see Missouri--Sesquicentennial Seaton, Elizabeth see National Saint Elizabeth Seton Day Seven Day War see Foreign Affairs--Israel-Arab War Sex Education see also Birth Control Family Planning Illegitimacy Population Growth Shoe Imports Shoe Workers Silver . see Banking and Currency Committee- ­Silver Situs Picketing Against Situs Picketing For "Slug" Law see a/so Banking and Currency Coins Small Boat Owners see a/ so Boats Small Business Administration . see also Banking and Currency ~ommlttee-­Small Buamess National Federation of Independent Business Poverty Program--St. Louis Small Business Devl. Center St. Louis- -Small Busm h Administration Smnll Businese Growth and Job Creation Act Smithsonian Snoapers Sonp see Food and Drug Admini1tration--Soap Soccer Team Social & Rehabilitation Services Social Security--ADC Social Security--Amendments Social Security--Benefits at Age 72 Social Security--Deduction for Education Social Security--Dis bility Social Security--Divorced Widows Social Security--Earning Limitations Social Security- - Equipment Rental & Purchase Social Security--General Social Security- - Health Insurance Social Security--Hospitallnaurance see also Social Security--Medicaid Social Security- - Include Qualified Drugs Social Security- - Increased Benefits Social Security-- Derr--Milla Social Security- -King/ Anderson Social Security- - Legislation Social Security Legislation--ADC Social Security-- Limitations on Earnings Social Security--Material and Reports Social Security--Medicaid see also Socinl Security- - Hospital Insurance Social Security--Medicare Social Security- - Medicare- -Clippings Social Security- -Medicare- -Coverage of Cancer Test Social Security- - Medicare for Physicians Social Security--Medicare-- Independent Laboratoriea Social Security- - Medicare- -Newaletter from HEW Social Security- - Medicare--Nursing Homes see a/so Nursing Homes Social Security--Medic re--Optometric and Medical Vision Care Soci al Security- -Medicare- -Profeseional Standards Review Organization Social Security- -Medicare- - Prescription Drugs Social Security--Medicare Reform Act Social Security- -Miniaters Social Security--Old Age Assistance Social Security--Old Age Insurance Social Security--Petitions Social Security Programs Social Security -- Proof of Age Social Security--Public As1istance see a/so Welfare Social Security --Reader'• Digest Soci al Security --Reducing Age Limit Social Security--Retirement at 62 Social Security--Supplementary Benefits Social Security--Widow'a Benefit• Social Service Regulations Soft Drink lnduatry Solar Energy Information Solar Heating Legislation Solid Waate Pollution see also Air Pollution Soula.rd Area Pollution Recycling Wute Water Pollution ee Housing-- Soulard Area South St. Louis see Housing--South Broadway see a/so Housing--South Side Soviet Jews--Foreign Affairs Soviet Union see Foreign Affairs--Soviet Union Space--Apollo 11 Space- - Apollo 13 Space Program see a/so Aeronautics and Space National Aeronautics and Space Act Space Program-- Russian Spanish Pavilion Special Prosecutor Spending Ceiling Sports Stamps ee Commemorative Stamps Postage lncreaae Postal Boutique Stamps, Food see Food Stamp Plan State, Dept. of ee also Kissinger, Henry State Department Authorization Bill State Dept.--Danny the Red's . . . Stockpile Strikes see also Housing-- Public Housing- - Rent Stip Mining Strontium 90 Strikes Labor Entries Postal Strike Railroad Brotherhoods and Organizations Railroads- -Strikes Taft-Hartley Billa see Drugs, Strontium 90 Student Loans see Education -- College Loan Program see a/ so Education- -Student Aid Bill Student Militants see Militants Subsidy Programs Sugar Act Sullivan, Leonor K.--Appointmenta Sullivan, Leonor K.--Billa Sullivan, Leonor K.--Conferee Appointments Sullivan, Leonor K.--Congressional Record Items Sullivan, Leonor K.- -Dura Letter Sullivan, Leonor K.--Election Material Sullivan, Leonor K.--House Subcommittees Sullivan, Leonor K.--lnterviews Sullivan, Leonor K.--lnvitations see Invitations Sullivan, Leonor K. - -Letters Sent in Multiple Copies Sullivan, Leonor K. --Letters to Other Members of Congress Sullivan, Leonor K.-- &en Sullivan, Leonor K.--Oftlce AdmiaiHra&ioa Sulliv n, Leonor K.--P Req t SullivM, Leonor K - -Por&raU Sullivan, Leonor K.- -P ~ Jg(IU see also Praa and • lleponen PreMCommeau Radio aad Televiaion --P . a.~a . aad lntervie a Sulliv n, Leonor K.--P.- Rele UNil-66 Sullivan, Leonor K.--P.- lUI•- Ul67-72 Sullivan, Leonor K -- P.- 1•- UI73- Sullivan, Leonor K.--PubllcitJ see also e • Rele --Radio Radio Sullivan, Leonor K.--Qu.UOnn.U. Sullivan, Leonor K.--R.edpee see Recipea Sulliv n, Leonor K.--Rerernb see Referrala Sullivan, Leonor K.--Scholanhip A arcl Sullivan, Leonor K.--Reaction ~ Presidential St tementa see a/ 0 Praa Commenta Preu and e 1 Reporters Sulhv n, Leonor K --Speech Inform tion R.equ . t Sullivan, Leonor K --Speech., Sulliv n, Leonor K --Speech., on the Floor ol the House Sullivan, Leonor K.--Speech., to Outaide Groupa Sullivan, Leonor K.--Tatimony Before Commiu­SuJUvan, Leonor K.--Tributa Upon Retirement Sullivan, Leonor K.--Votinc Record See a/ 0 Foreicn Afrain--Vietnam- -Mn. Sullivan'• Voting Record Sullivllll, Leonor K.--Workinc Woman of the Year Award Summer Youth Employment and Recre tton see a/ 0 Poverty Program--National Summer Sun T n Lotion Youth Procram ee Food and Drug Adminiatration--Sun Sunshine Bill Tan Lotion See a/so Freedom of Information Act Superaonic Tranaport Supplemental Security Income Supreme Court see a/ o Impeachment (J uatice Douglu) Judiciary Surplua Property Swiss B nk Account. .see Banking and Currency- -Swiu Bank Account• Synthettc Fuela Loan Guarantee Bill Tart-Hartly Ad Taft -Hartly Billa see Strikea Tariffa Tariffa -- Canadian Tar~ffa -- Koken Comp niea, Inc. Tanff•--Reciprocal Trade Tariffa- -Shoe Import. Tariffa- -Shoe lmporta Congreaaion I Record lnHrtl and Background M teriala Tax IUbate ee a/ o Internal Revenue Service Tax a.duction Ad Tax Reform T:.x nerorm Correapondence Tax IUform- -Material Tax Study Legialation Taxa- -Airline Taxa--Airport Taxa--City Eaminp Tax Taxa- -Clippinp Taxa--Deduction for Dependent. Taxa--Deduction of Education of Dependents .)ee a/so Education--Tax Deduction for Education Taxea--Dividenda Taxea--Eatate Taxea--Exciae Taxea--Excise Can Taxes-- Excise Handbap Taxea- -Exise- -Truckl Taxe•·-Gu Taxea--Gu and Oil Depletion TI\Xet--Home Owners Tax Deductions Taxn-- lncome Taxa- -Single Persons Taxes-- Income Taxa Taxes-- Inspection of Tax Returns Taxes- - lnve•tment Tax Credit Taxn- -Mi•cellaneou• Taxes- -Municipal Bonds Taxes--Prnidential Election Campaign Taxn- -Self-Employed Person Taxe1--State Taxation of Interstate Commerce Taxes- -Surtax Taxes--Transportation of Household Goods Teachera Corps ee Education--Teacher'• Corps Teacher '• Ret irement Teamsters Teamsters- -Monitorship Teamsters - -Strike• Technology Asseament Office see a/ SO Office of Technology Aueasment Telecommunication• ee a/ o Communication• Telephone Rates Television ee a/ so Communications Equal Time Federal Communications Commi1sion Freedom of the Preas Televiaion and Radio Programa Television--CBS-- Selling of the Pentagon Televi1ion-- Education Television --Educational Television--KTVI Ten Park• Improvement Auociation see Housing--Ten Park Improvement Aaaociation Tennants' Organization see Hou•ing-- National Tennenta' Organization Thailidomide see Drugs, Thalidomide Thanks Youa Thomas J efreraon Day Till, Emmet Timber Supply see a/ o Lumber Lumber PreaervaLion Le(ialalion Total Boy Project see Poverty Program--Total Boy Program Tourism-- Legislation Town House Project see Housing- -T own Houae Project-­Clipping Toxic Substances Control Act Trade--Imports and Exports ee a/ 0 Fair Trade Trade Bill International Trade Commiuion Oillmporta Trade- - Import/Export Clippinp Trade--Import/Export Rhodnian Chrome Trade Reform Act Trade--Shoe Import Trading Stamps Transit- - Bi- State ee a/ SO Bus Services Transit- - Bi-State Meeting Transit --Mass Transit- -Maaa- - St. Louis Transition Allowance for Rich rd Nixon see Nixon, Rich rd M.--Transition Allowance Transportation see a/so Grants-- Dept. of Transportation-­St. Louis Transportation, Dept. of-- Proposed Regulations see a/ 0 Har;ardous Material Transportation Trust Fund Transportation- -Miscellaneous Treasury Treasury Bonds Troublemakers Truck Bill Trout See Food and Drug Administration--Trout Truman , Harry S.--Medal of Honor Truman, Harry S.--Memorial Scholarship Fund Turkey See Foreign Affai rs--T urkey Turnkey Projects see Housing--Cabanne T urnkey Project see also Housing--Forest Park Blvd Turnkey Project Housing--Turnkey Projects Twelfth and Park Area see Housing--Twel fth and P ark Unemployment 1.'1! also Employment Health Insurance for the Unemployed Learning Business Centers • Unemployment Compenaation see a[ 0 Emerg ncy Unemployment Compenaation Aesistance Unemployment Compensation Form Letter and Material Unidentified Flyinc Objecta Union Electric Company See a/ 0 Lifeline Rate Act Union - Sarah Area see Housing- - Union- Sarah Unions ~l'e a/so Labor Entriee United Nations Poetal Union Recognition Railroad Brotherhoods and Organisations Railroads- -Strikes Railroads--Shopcrart Unions see Foreign Affairs- - United Nations United Nations--Reception United States- - Dept. of Agriculture U.S. Forces Oversea& United States Information Agency United Steel Workers of America University of Missouri see Missouri- - University Upper Missippi River Baain Commission see a/so Conservation--Upper Missisaippi River National Recreation Area Flood Control Upward Bound see Education-- Upward Bound Urban Affairs see a/ 0 City Planning Revenue Sharing Urban Coalition Urban League Training Program Urban Renewal ee Housing- -Urban Renewal see also Housing--Rehabilitation USS Pueblo see Foreign Affairs--Pueblo Utility Regulation ee Lifeline Rate Act Utility Loans see Emergency Utility Loans VISTA see Poverty Program--VISTA Vaporir;ers see Food and Drug Administration-- Vaporir;ers Varnish see Food and Drug Administration--Varnish Vaughn Area see Housing--Vaughn Area Veteran 's Administration see also Jewish War Vetrans Veterans ' Administration- - St. Louis Regional Office Veterans ' Benefits--Miscellaneous Veterans' Day Veterans' Employment Legislation Veterans--GI Bill Veterans --General Veterans Hospitals Veterans Hospitals --Closing Veterans Hospital-- Cochran Veterans Hospital- - Cochran--Admissions Waiting List Veterans Hospitals- - Consolidation of Outpatient Clinic Veterans of Foreign Wars see Veterans ' Organisations Veterans Hospitala--Harry S. Truman Memorial Hospital Veterans Hospitals--Jefferson Barracks Veterans Hospitala--Jeffenon Barracks- ­Admissions Waiting List Ve ~erana Hoapitala- -Miacellaneoua Veterana' Hoapitali- - Nunin& Horne Care for V eteran• Veterans--St. Louia Conaolidation Veterana' - - Houainc Ve ~erans '-- Lecialation Veteran• - -Military Retirement Veterans-- National Cemeteriea see also Jefferaon Barraclu Veterans-- National Life lnauranee Service Veterans Orcanir.ationa Veterana Penaiona Veterans P naiona- - Miacellaneoua Veterans Pensiona- -Spaniah American War Widowa Veterans Penaiona--War Widowa Veterans Pensiona- -World War I Vice President see a/ SO Agnew, Spiro Nixon, Richard M. Vietnam see Foreign Affain- -Vietnam Vietnam--Miaaing in Action Vietnam--Prisionen of War see also Foreign Mfain Villa de Ville see Houaing-- Villa de Ville Vitamin Supplement• see Food and Drug Adminiatration -- Vitamin Supplement• Vocational Education see also Education--Residential Vocational Education Education- - Vocational Education Vocational Rehabilitation Voter Registration see also Election Reform--Post Card Voters Registration Federal Voting Assistance Program See also League of Women Voters Voting Age Voting Rights Act see also Election Reform Wage and Price Controls see also Minimun Wage Price Freer:e War Claims War Claims--Foreign War Insurance War Powers War Protest see Foreign Mfain--Vietnam see a/so F oreign Affaira--Cambodia Washington D.C. see District of Columbia Washington University see also Grants--HEW--Washington D.C. Grants--Many Sources-­Washington University Washington University Medical Center see Housing--Washington University Medical Center Water see also Food and Drug Administration -­Water Water Diveraion of the Misaiuippi River to Texas Water Flouridation :,ee Flouridation of Water Water Pollution see a/so Air Pollution Pollution Solid Waste Pollution Water Pollution Laboratory Water Resources Planning Act see Conservation--Water Resources Water,ate ee at so Nixon, Richard M Waterway User Changes see a/so Lock and Dam 26 Weapons see Arms Control see also Disarmament Nerve Gas Nuclear Weapons Nuclear Weapons--Testing Weather Weatherir.ation Assistance Act Welfare see also F amily Assistance Health and Welfare Council of Greater St . Louis Welfare-- Clippings ee also Family Assistance Material and Clippings Welfare--Family Support see also Family Assistance Act Wellston, MO see Housing--Wellston West End see Housing- -West End West Pine Apartments see Housing--West Pine Apartments Wheat Research and Promotion White House Conference on Aging White House Conference on Children White House Releases by President Wild Rivers Bill see Conservation--Wild Riven Wilderness see Conservation-- Wilderness Wire T apping and Bugging see also Internal Security Women see also Advisory Council on Women's Educational Programs Anthony, Susan B. Insurance Coverage for Women League of Women Voters Minority Groups National Center for Women Women--Clippings Women- - Commissions on the Status of Women Women- -Employment Opportunities see also Equal Employment Equal Pay for Equal Work Women--Equal Rights Amendment see also Civil Rights--Equality for Women Women--Equal Rights--Clippings Women- - Equal Rights- - Congressional Material Women- - Equal Rights--Correspondence Women - - Equal Rights--Material Women--Higher Education Women in Military Academies Women in Politics see also Campaign Conference for Democn&ic Women Miaouri- -Sta&e Poli\ica St. Louia--Politica Women in Politica--Requ.ta for Jnfonnation Women in Public Service Women--Jnaurance see Jnaurance Covenc• for Women Women--International Women'• Year Women--Media Editorall and Repli• Women--Neweletten Women--Orcaniaatione see also Bueineu and Prof-ional Women'• Club Council of Catholic Women Workmen'• Compeneation Lawa see Labor- - Workmen'• Compeneation Lawa World Affaire Council World Federation Y oun1 Adult Coneervation Corpe Youn, American• for Freedom Youn& Democrat. of St. Louia Youth Affain see a/so Metropolitan Youth Commiuion Youth Appreciation Week Youth Camp Safety Act Youth Opportunity Unlimited 220-002738559 sro