Cuba was chosen this Monday to represent the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries in the vice-presidency of the Ninth Review Conference of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Biological and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction, according to official media reports on the island.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex) of Cuba reported that the event will last until December 16, and that the Cuban delegation is chaired by Rodolfo Benítez Verson, general director of Multilateral Affairs and International Law of the organization, according to a office of the Cuban News Agency (ACN).
elected #Cuba ?? as Vice President of the Biological Weapons Convention Review Conference.
? https://t.co/pYg0BlL1jT pic.twitter.com/6BkmI1cGyc
— Cuban Foreign Ministry (@CubaMINREX) November 28, 2022
The Cuban delegation has presented several working documents as a contribution to this event, in whose inaugural session messages were received from the Secretary General of the United Nations Organization (UN)António Guterres, and the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitzu, added the information.
Among its priorities, the Cuban delegation will denounce the multiple effects caused by the economic and financial sanctions imposed by the United States government, “which flagrantly violates the provisions of the Convention on international assistance and cooperation,” the outlet highlights.
In addition, it will promote the adoption of a legally binding protocol that comprehensively strengthens the Convention and includes provisions for its verification.
The ACN highlights that Cuba supports the total prohibition and elimination of weapons of mass destruction and has been a State party to the Biological Weapons Convention since 1976. It also has a robust national implementation system that guarantees the strict application of that instrument.
The Review Conference is the most important meeting in the context of efforts to prohibit and control the use of biological weapons. It is carried out every five years to assess compliance with the Convention, which currently has 184 States parties, the publication notes.
Speaking this Tuesday at the forum sessions, Benitez Verson warned that it is unjustifiable that 50 years after it was approved, this instrument continues to lack a mechanism to verify compliance.
The representative reiterated Cuba’s willingness to share its modest experience in the application of the Convention with other interested States.
