Pakistan:  OPCW Approves Pakistani Fertilizer Plant

Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention, approved a Pakistani fertilizer plant yesterday after completing an inspection of the site, according to the Business Recorder (see GSN, April 30).

The OPCW team declared the Fauji Jordan Fertilizer plant to be “below weapon capability,” said Mohammed Ibad Khan, general manager of the plant.  He added that the OPCW team was satisfied with the plant’s facilities (Business Recorder, May 1).

Indian Army Claims Kashmir Militants Possess Chemical Weapons

Meanwhile, the Indian Army yesterday alleged that militant groups in the disputed region of Kashmir possess chemical weapons.

The Indian Army has received information during the past two to three months that militant groups in the region possess suspicious containers, a public relations officer for the Indian Northern Command said in a statement.  In addition, recent intelligence reports indicate that the militant groups have been discussing the use of chemical weapons  (The Statesman, May 1).

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CWC:  Red Cross Says It Was Muzzled Over Stand on Incapacitating Weapons

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

THE HAGUE — The International Committee of the Red Cross says it was excluded from addressing the first review conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention because of its view that the conference should formally address the issue of chemical incapacitants, such as riot control agents.  The treaty bans the use of such chemicals as a “method of warfare,” but it does allow their use for law enforcement purposes.

This review conference is the first opportunity for parties to formally examine the 1993 treaty’s effectiveness and to consider possible changes (see GSN, April 29).  Treaty parties met for the third day today in a two-week general debate session, and states also began meeting yesterday in closed sessions.  Adoption of final documents is scheduled for May 9.

The ICRC says it was originally told it could address the conference as an international organization, as it has at other formal treaty meetings, but then had that permission rescinded.

The ICRC is a unique organization responsible for monitoring international humanitarian law as established by the Geneva Conventions.  Differing from traditional nongovernmental organizations, the ICRC generally is accorded “international organization status” akin to the World Health Organization and since 1990 has had “observer status” at the United Nations. 

Other nongovernmental organizations were also prohibited from presenting directly to the conference, but several, including the ICRC, are scheduled to make presentations tomorrow afternoon at an off-site “open forum” organized by the conference.  That forum, however, is scheduled at the same time as a formal treaty meeting, making it more difficult for nongovernmental views to reach conference delegates, some groups said.

ICRC Legal Division Adviser Robin Coupland said he did not know which countries had opposed his organization’s participation but was certain the reason was over the chemical incapacitants issue addressed in an organizational statement.

“The ICRC knows that the content of our statement was the reason the delivery of it was blocked.  We are not aware of the country or countries responsible for the blocking,” he said.

“We have international organization status at many other disarmament conferences and we understood that we had the same here,” he said.

A U.S. official here told Global Security Newswire the United States and a few other unidentified countries had opposed ICRC participation, but only because of a rules issue.  U.S. officials said allowing the ICRC to address the conference would open questions on where to draw the line barring other special organizations such as the World Health Organization.

A British delegate said London did not oppose ICRC participation and that the United States was the principal opponent.

Ambassador Wilhelm Schmid, Switzerland’s permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons criticized the decision.

“I am very surprised as the head of the Swiss delegation that the ICRC is not being allowed to speak,” he said.

The ICRC presentation, copies of which were made available outside the conference room, expressed concern about increasing interest in incapacitating chemicals among police and military forces, but did not mention countries by name.  It also criticized the conference for insufficient attention to the issue.

“We are concerned about the interest being shown in such agents as a means of warfare; we are concerned therefore by lack of attention being given to the implications of the development of such agents for law enforcement,” it said.

Some delegates here say they are concerned the treaty, in allowing development of incapacitants for law enforcement purposes, provides a loophole for states to develop them for military use.  In an incident last year, Russian security forces used a chemical incapacitant to rescue hostages last year (see GSN, Oct. 30, 2002), and the U.S. Marine Corps has sponsored research into the agents (see GSN, Nov. 4, 2002).

For further information, see:

CWC Text

OPCW Main Page

CWC States Parties

Pentagon Executive Summary of CWC

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Pakistan:  OPCW Team Inspects Pakistani Fertilizer Plant

A team from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons yesterday inspected a Pakistani fertilizer plant, Reuters reported (see GSN, April 23).

The three-member team visited the Fauji Jordan Fertilizer facility, the largest in Pakistan.

“The inspection will benefit Pakistan in terms of its credibility as a member state of the Chemical Weapons Convention,” said Pakistani Foreign Ministry official Tipu Sultan.

Sultan said the inspectors were not searching for chemical weapons like U.N. inspectors did in Iraq, but rather were investigating general operating conditions at the plant (Agence France-Presse/The Nation, April 30).

“They have inspected the health and environmental standards … they have nothing to do with chemical weapons inspection or any revelation with U.N. arms inspectors as reported by the newspapers,” Sultan said.  “We briefed them on the measures taken by the fertilizer company on health and environment issues … they also inspected the main plant,” he added (Reuters/Planet Ark, April 30).

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Russia:  Germany to Help Fund Chemical Weapons Disposal Effort

Germany is set to provide more than $32 million to Russia to aid in its chemical weapons disposal efforts, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported yesterday (see GSN, April 28).  The funding will be used to help build a second destruction line at Russia’s sole chemical weapons disposal plant, located in Gorny, and to build an additional disposal facility in the city of Kambarka  (RFE/RL, April 29).

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United States:  Army Completes Johnston Atoll Chemical Cleanup

The U.S. Army has completed the final stages of chemical disposal on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Sept. 9, 2002).

Army officials have now disposed of all cleanup materials, including plastic, sludge, concrete, hoses and aluminum, which were generated by the destruction of 400,000 chemical munitions and 2,000 tons of chemical agents on the island, AP reported.

“This is a significant accomplishment toward the elimination of chemical weapons,” said site manager Gary McCloskey.  He said the Army has “completed the safe thermal processing of the stored secondary wastes that were generated from the destruction of the chemical agents and weapons.”

Johnston Atoll, an unincorporated U.S. territory, lies 825 southwest of Hawaii.  The chemical destruction took almost 10 years and was completed in 2000.  Officials plan to close the operation by the end of this year, and the island will then be transferred to the Interior Department, which will incorporate it into the Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (David Briscoe, Associated Press/Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 27).

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CWC:  Review Conference Unlikely to Address Incapacitating Chemicals

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

THE HAGUE — The first review conference of the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention will probably avoid seriously addressing emerging international concerns about the development and use of incapacitating chemicals and riot control agents, delegates said (see GSN, Nov. 6, 2002).

“It’s being discussed, but it’s not being actively pursued,” said a Western diplomat today, on the second day of public statements from the treaty parties.

Publicly and privately, some governments here have voiced concerns regarding the treaty’s legal boundaries for the development and military use of chemical incapacitants and riot control agents, together known as “nonlethal” or “less-than-lethal” weapons.

The treaty allows using such toxic chemical agents for law enforcement purposes, but explicitly bans using them as a “method of warfare,” because such use effectively makes them chemical weapons, experts say.  The United States has asserted that riot control agents can be used in military theaters of operation for certain purposes such as controlling rioting prisoners and hostage rescue.

Nongovernmental experts have argued the Russian use of an incapacitating agent to rescue hostages last October demonstrates that such weapons can be lethal (see GSN, Oct. 30, 2002).  Some critics have also raised concerns about the purposes and implications of U.S. military-sponsored research on incapacitants, which is considered legal by experts.

The International Committee of the Red Cross in a statement circulated here criticized parties for paying insufficient attention to the issue.  It expressed “alarm at the increasing interest among police, security and armed forces in the use of incapacitating chemicals and the lack of expressions of concern about the implications of such developments by states parties to this convention.”

The Red Cross asserted that when the treaty was negotiated, states intended to “only permit use of domestic riot control agents and the use of lethal chemicals for executions, where permitted by national law.”

It warned that developing chemical incapacitants for law enforcement could lead to their proliferation, and an “‘arms race’ of measures and countermeasures among security forces, criminals and those who commit acts of terror.”

At least two treaty parties so far, Switzerland and New Zealand, separately voiced concern about the issue in statements yesterday.

“I would ask that we pay some attention to … where is the line, if any, between chemical weapons and nonlethal law enforcement tools.  I believe there needs to be some clarification,” said the head of New Zealand’s delegation.

The head of the Swiss delegation said, “In light of recent experiences, it is appropriate to reiterate that chemical weapons are totally prohibited whether they are lethal or nonlethal and whether their precursors or components are listed in the schedules of the convention or not.”

The Swiss delegate proposed requiring treaty parties to “declare not only chemical products they hold for riot control purposes but for law enforcement purposes in general.”

“Certain chemical agents prohibited in war may be justified for domestic use, but that being the case, it is all the more important to assure other states parties that the production of these products poses no threat to their security,” she said.

No Action Expected

Despite these concerns, diplomats and experts here said they do not expect any significant action on the issue here in part because of U.S. resistance.

There is a concern that raising the issue could antagonize the U.S. delegation and risk the success of conference, according to one Western delegate who said the issue would better be addressed in consultations between experts from among a smaller number of states.

“It’s not really the right forum.  It’s too big,” the Western delegate said.

A senior U.S. official here said the United States does not believe the issue needs to be discussed by the conference.

“We do not think that there is much ambiguity in the convention” regarding nonlethal chemicals, the official said.  “The issue is not ripe for multilateral discussions,” the official added.

Trevor Findlay, executive director of the Verification Research, Training
and Information Center, agreed that the conference should not take up the subject, saying many delegations were not aware of the issue and it would be better dealt with by a body of technical experts.

The Red Cross urged the conference to begin to involve treaty parties and specialist bodies in discussions to clarify the treaty’s restrictions on nonlethal chemicals.

For further information, see:

CWC Text

OPCW Main Page

CWC States Parties

Pentagon Executive Summary of CWC

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United States I:  Pentagon Reorganization Follows GAO Criticism

The United States reorganized its chemical and biological defense efforts in response to repeated criticism from the General Accounting Office, Aerospace Daily reported today (see GSN, April 25).

The GAO has warned that the Defense Department has a “diffuse” management structure for its chemical and biological defense resources.

Since 1996, auditors have warned of a “serious gap between the priority given to chemical and biological defense and the actual implementation of the program,” according to a GAO report from last year.

Auditors’ reports also criticized inventory management for protective suits, Aerospace Daily reported.

GAO has faulted the existing structure for allowing senior leadership little visibility of the overall effort.  Under the new plan a clear line of authority will be established, according to Aerospace Daily (Stephen Trimble, Aerospace Daily, April 29).

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United States II:  Utah Incinerator Fires Up After Delays

The U.S. Army’s chemical weapons incinerator in Tooele County, Utah, began destroying VX nerve gas Friday after several delays in the past month (see GSN, Sept. 6, 2002).

Shortly after beginning to burn VX, the incinerator was halted March 28 because of a reaction inside a collection tank, the Associated Press reported.  The incinerator began operating again April 11, but was stopped April 20 because of problems with the storage of decontamination solution, according to facility spokesman Chris Sprague.

Operations resumed Friday at noon, Sprague said (Associated Press, April 28).

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CWC:  U.S., Iran Trade Accusations at Treaty Review Conference Opening

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

THE HAGUE — U.S. and Iranian officials traded sharp criticisms here today at the opening of the first review conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The treaty, which bans the possession and manufacture of chemical weapons, was opened for signature in 1993 and now has 151 members.  The treaty entered into force in 1997 and review conferences are scheduled for about every five years.

In a prepared statement to the conference, Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Stephen Rademaker said the United States believes “over a dozen” countries currently have or are actively seeking chemical weapons, and he identified five of them, including Iran and Sudan — both parties to the treaty — and nontreaty members Libya, North Korea and Syria (see GSN, April 11).

The Bush administration has previously pinpointed the five countries in other forums as well, but the statement at the opening of the conference, which is intended to review the treaty for possible changes, has generated some controversy.

“We owe it to you in this room to be candid about what [U.S.] concerns are,” he said.

“The United States believes it is dangerous to acquiesce quietly in violations of the fundamental obligations arising under this convention,” he said.

Rademaker said the United States was “most troubled by the activities of Iran, which we believe continues to seek chemicals, production technology, training and expertise from abroad.” 

He said the United States believes Iran has stockpiled blister, blood, and choking agents and has some nerve agents.

He said North Korea is believed to have the capability to produce bulk quantities of nerve, blister, choking and blood agent and has a variety of means to deliver the weapons.

Iranian Criticisms

An Iranian delegate called the U.S. charge against his country “baseless” and said the public accusation could undermine the cooperative environment of the conference.

“These kinds of comments and allegations by a state party against another state party would definitely put the expected constructive and cooperative atmosphere of the 1st review conference in jeopardy,” he said.

He said “one could conclude” the accusation was an attempt at “weakening this successful treaty.”

The official accused the United States of transferring “huge amounts of scheduled chemicals” to Israel, not a treaty party, and said Washington was partially responsible for 100,000 Iranian chemical weapons victims during the Iran-Iraq war.

“The U.S. and some other industrial countries which equipped and helped Saddam’s regime have to be blamed for it,” he said in a printed copy of the speech.

Intelligence Information

Rademaker was asked at a subsequent press conference why the United States had not requested a challenge inspection permitted by the treaty to try to ascertain evidence of alleged chemical weapons activities.

He said challenge inspections could prove ineffective against countries determined to hide illicit weapons, citing in particular U.N. efforts to uncover alleged Iraqi weapons and Germany’s post-World War I evasion of its disarmament requirements.

“The United States supports the inspection and declaration provisions of the CWC, but we have no illusions about the effectiveness of such measures against determined cheaters,” Rademaker said in his prepared statement.

He said U.S. intelligence agencies had developed the information, and added, “We’re quite confident in our information.”

“The information we have is quite disturbing,” he said.

Some critics of the U.S. statement faulted it for naming only some of the countries Washington believes to possess or seek chemical weapons.

Rademaker’s speech was “pretty hard-hitting, but of course it didn’t include Israel and Egypt,” said Trevor Findlay, director of the nongovernmental organization Verification, Research, Training and Information Center.

Rademaker said his focus was on identifying those countries suspected of having chemical weapons and relationships to terrorists.

“The greatest risk of all is from those countries that have weapons of mass destruction and support international terrorism,” he said during the press conference.

In his speech, he also faulted more than half of the treaty parties for not yet indicating that they are adopting national legislation to implement the treaty.  He urged all parties to report on their implementing measures by October, when the next regular meeting of parties is scheduled, and said the United States would assist any states that needed help establishing such measures.

For further information, see:

CWC Text

OPCW Main Page

CWC States Parties

Pentagon Executive Summary of CWC

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Russia:  Moscow Destroys 400 Tons of Mustard Gas

Russia has completed the destruction of 400 tons of mustard gas, a Russian official said Saturday (see GSN, April 23).

“We have nothing to hide,” said Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the commission for disposing chemical weapons in Russia’s Volga region.

Officials in Volga are scheduled to destroy 1,200 tons of chemical weapons by 2005.

“With the amount destroyed thus far, one could have annihilated a medium-sized European city,” Kiriyenko said (Deutsche Presse-Agentur/Pakistan Dawn, April 27).

The destruction meets an international deadline to destroy 1 percent of the Russian chemical weapons stockpile by the end of April, he added.

Kiriyenko, who is also President Vladimir Putin’s representative in the Volga district, said the destruction “shows that our country is firmly fulfilling its obligations and testifies to the fact that Russian scientists can create technology not just on the world standard, but surpassing it” (Associated Press/Moscow Times, April 28).

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