UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — France is calling on the United Nations to renew the joint investigative mechanism (JIM) through which reports of chemical-weapons use in Syria have been pursued, French UN Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters before a Security Council meeting Tuesday.
“We call for the renewal of JIM before its mandate expires on October 31st,” Delattre said at UN headquarters in New York. “We also call for a resolution of the [Security] Council to sanction the authors of those crimes.”
Delattre also decried the worsened security conditions in the Syrian city of Aleppo, saying France intends to “maximize political pressure” on the government of President Bashar Assad as well as Syria’s allies.
The JIM, which is scheduled to run out next Monday, allows for the investigation and prosecution of alleged war crimes involving chemical weapons in Syria.
