Board Investigating Events in North-West Syria to Begin Work 30 September, Secretary-General Says, Calling for Cooperation among Parties

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

As announced on 1 August, the Secretary-General has established an internal United Nations Headquarters Board of Inquiry to investigate a series of incidents that have occurred in north-west Syria since the signing of the Memorandum on Stabilization of the Situation in the Idlib De-escalation Area between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey on 17 September 2018.

The Board will be led by Lieutenant General Chikadibia Obiakor (Nigeria) and will also include as its other members Janet Lim (Singapore) and Marta Santos Pais (Portugal).  The Board will review and investigate a number of specific incidents in which there was destruction of, or damage to, facilities on the United Nations deconfliction list and United Nations-supported facilities in the area.  The work of the Board will be supported by two senior experts — Major General Fernando Ordóñez (Peru) and Pierre Ryter, former International Committee of the Red Cross — Head of Regional Delegation (Switzerland).

The Board will commence its work on 30 September.  It will ascertain the facts of the specific incidents concerned and report to the Secretary-General once it completes its work.

The Secretary-General urges all parties concerned to extend their full cooperation to the Board.