Assistance Response under
Chemical Weapons Convention
Presented by Mr Muhammad Kazi,
Senior Coordination and Planning Officer,
to the Biological Weapons Convention:
Meeting of States Parties 2010
Palais des Nations, Geneva 6-10 December 2010
This presentation contains !
3 Fundamental Provisions & Participation
3 History of Chemical Weapons
3 CBRN Threats Classification
3 Overview of Assistance and Protection under Article X of the CWC
3 OPCW Preparedness, Capacity-building, & Challenges Ahead
Steps towards chemical
disarmament
On 13 January 1993 the Chemical Weapons Convention was opened for
signature in Paris. The signatory states approved a resolution to set up a
“Preparatory Commission” for the future Organisation for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons. The inaugural session of the Preparatory Commission was
held on 8 February 1993, in The Hague, the Netherlands, the seat of the future
Organisation.
The Preparatory Commission immediately established a Provisional Technical
Secretariat to assist its work, and to prepare for the eventual Secretariat of the
OPCW. The Preparatory Commission stayed in existence from 1993 until shortly
after the Convention entered into force on 29 April 1997.
CONFERENCE OF THE
STATES PARTIES
The OPCW
The implementing body of
the Chemical Weapons
Convention (CWC)
established pursuant to
Article VIII of the CWC.
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
TECHNICAL SECRETARIAT
Chemical Weapons Convention features
First disarmament and non-proliferation
agreement with global application, banning an
entire category of weapons of mass destruction
under strict international control
Comprehensive verification system
A complex exercise:
ƒ Arms Control & Disarmament - CW issues
ƒ Non-proliferation / Confidence Building
Measures - Chemical Industry issues
ƒ Assistance and Protection
ƒ Economic and Technological Development
States Parties undertake to
ƒ
declare and destroy all their chemical weapons
(CW) and CW production facilities under strict
international verification
ƒ
ensure that toxic chemicals and their precursors
are only used for legitimate purposes (national
implementation measures, declarations and
international verification)
ƒ
provide assistance and protection through the
OPCW in case of use of CW against a State
Party
ƒ
facilitate international cooperation in the peaceful
application of chemistry for permitted purposes
CWC prohibitions
ƒ
developing, producing, otherwise acquiring,
stockpiling or retaining CW, or transferring
directly or indirectly CW to anyone
ƒ
using CW
ƒ
engaging in any military preparations to use
CW
ƒ
assisting, encouraging or inducing anyone, in
any way, in any activity prohibited to a State
Party under the Convention
ƒ
use of riot control agents as a method of
warfare
Status of participation in the CWC
188 States Parties
2 Signatory States
ƒ about 95% of the global
population and landmass
ƒ 98% of the worldwide
chemical industry
ƒ all 5 permanent members
of the UN Security Council,
and vast majority of states
with CWC declarable
activities and facilities
ƒ 7 chemical weapons
Only 7 States Not Party possessors
ƒ 12 possessors of former
CWPFs
ƒ 10 OCW and 3 ACW
possessors
5 Non-signatory States
As at 3 December 2010
History of chemical weapons
431-404 BC
Use of arsenic smoke during the Peloponnesian war.
673 AD
First use of "Greek Fire" at the siege of Constantinople.
Although chemicals had been used as tools of war for thousands of years—e.g.
poisoned arrows, boiling tar, arsenic smoke and noxious fumes, etc.—modern
chemical warfare has its genesis on the battlefields of World War I.
World War I, 1915
Gas attack, Western
Front (World War I).
World War I
The first large-scale attack
with chlorine gas occurred
22 April 1915 at Ypres, or
Ieper, in Belgium. The use
of several different types of
chemical weapons,
including mustard gas
(yperite), resulted in
90,000 deaths and over
one million casualties
during the war. By the end
of World War I, 124,000
tonnes of chemical agent
had been expended.
Iran-Iraq War (1980-88)
chemical weapons used during the war in the
1980.
Around 100,000 soldiers and civilians were
affected by chemical weapons during the 198088 war
Eighteen-month-old child
suffering from respiratory
problems
chemical weapon victim
Bhopal disaster 1984
The Bhopal disaster (also referred to
as the Bhopal gas tragedy) is the
world's worst industrial catastrophe. It
occurred on the night of December 2–3,
1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited
(UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal,
Madhya Pradesh, India.
A leak of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas
and other chemicals from the plant
resulted in the exposure of several
thousands of people.
Deaths confirmed related to the gas
release
Chemical terrorism in Japan
The two most recent examples of the use of
chemical weapons were the sarin poisoning
incident in Matsumoto, a Japanese residential
community, in 1994, and the sarin attack on the
Tokyo subway in 1995, both perpetrated by the
Aum Shinrikyu doomsday cult.
The OPCW did not yet exist in 1995. If the
Organisation had existed, Japan could have
requested its assistance. After the OPCW was
established in 1997, the Organisation was able to
verify that the building and the equipment used
by the terrorists to produce those chemical
weapons were completely destroyed.
CBRN THREATS CLASSIFICATION
CHEMICALTHREATS
CBRN THREATS
MILITARY
WAR
ACTIONS
Indirectly
CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
FACILITIES
DANGEROUS GOODS
STORAGE FACILITIES
NUCLEAR POWER
PLANTS
WMD
CW
PROLIFERATION
• Individuals
• Groups
• Organizations
•Ideological
•Military
•Political
•Religious
CBRN RELEASE OTHER
THAN ATTACK
CHEMICAL
BILOGICAL
RADIOLOGICAL
NUCLEAR
TOXINS
ACCIDENTAL
CLASSIC
WEAPONS ON
Directly
NON-MILITARY
INCIDENTAL
CHEMICAL
WMD
WEAPONS
USAGE
USAGE
WMD
CW
TERRORISM
• Possibility
• Intensity
• Exposure time
Chemical
Weapons
Chemical
Industrial
Accidents
Chemical
Terrorism
Overview of Assistance and Protection
ƒ Capacity building for Member States in the area of
protection
ƒ Protection network, data bank
ƒ Investigations of alleged use
ƒ Emergency assistance
ƒ Coordination and delivery of assistance
pledged by Member States
ƒ Voluntary fund
Definition of Assistance
Coordination
Delivery
Protection
against
Chemical Weapons
18
Assistance Response System (ARS)
Director-General
Support Staff:
OPCW
- Operation & Planning Branch
Assistance Coordination
- Media and Public Affairs
- Health & Safety
Group
- Administration
- Policy Making Organs
Investigation of Alleged
Use &
-- International Cooperation &
Assistance
Assistance Coordination
and Assessment Team
Assistance and Protection
Branch
Support Staff:
- Divisions liaisons Officer
- Field operations Officer
- State Party liaison Officer
Qualified
Experts
Protection
Network
- OPCW Rijswijk equipment
store
19
Assistance Response System
‹ ARS provides 24 hours coverage
‹ Role & functions of the ARS:
- Asses & evaluate request of assistance
- Dispatch team to conduct an Investigation of
Alleged Use
- Dispatch delivery of assistance in case of use of
chemical weapons
- Coordination of delivery of assistance at
Headquarters level
Assistance Response System
‹
Preparation for worst case scenario
‹ Gradual response on different scenarios in case of serious
threat of use or use of Chemical Weapons
Assistance Response System
‹ OPCW Headquarters Resources
- limited stockpile
- ACAT + IAU
- Qualified Experts
‹ States Parties stockpiles and resources
Assistance Response System
Assistance Coordination & Assessment Team
(ACAT) Tasks:
‹ Conduct on-site assessment of CW related
assistance needs
‹ Support the requested SP in the coordination and
management of the receipt of assistance
‹ Provide expert advice to Local Emergency
Management Authorities (LEMA) and agencies on-site
on consequence management measures related to CW
‹ Cooperation with other international organisations
UN OCHA, BWC/ISU, WHO, etc.
Assistance Response System
Investigation of Alleged Use Main Task:
‹ Collecting evidence to provide foundation for further
action
Assistance Response System
‹ Modular approach in
mobilisation of resources
‹ 21 pallets, packed, labelled and
ready for delivery
‹ Total: 1158 masks, 1280 gloves,
30 protection covers, 2058
canisters, decontamination
powder, detection paper, drinking
bottles, carry cases and backpacks
Assistance Response System
Offers of Assistance
‹ Voluntary Fund
44 States Parties contributed € 1,399,775.00
‹ Bilateral Agreements
1 State Party signed Agreement with the OPCW
‹ Unilateral Offers of Assistance
44 States Parties made Unilateral Offers such as:
- Protective, detection, decontamination equipments
- Medical antidotes and treatments
- Technical expert advice on protective measures
Assistance Response System
‹ Emergency assistance
‹ Humanitarian assistance
‹ Supplementary assistance
Response to a request for assistance in case of use or
serious threat of use of CW
11 National Assistance Teams
1 International Organization
4 Regional Teams
69 Observers from MS
5 International Organisations,
as Observers
More than 500 participants
Assistance Response System
Cooperation with other International Organizations
UN-OCHA
BWC/ISU
CTBTO
NATO/EADRCC
EU
Regional Arms
Control Verification
and Implementation
Assistance Centre
UNODA
WFP
UN Regional Centre for
Peace, Disarmament &
Development in Latin
America & the Caribbean
Capacity-building against Chemical Weapons
- National Capacity-building Programmes
- Regional/sub-regional Capacity-building Programmes
- International Assistance & Protection Programmes
Since 2004, over 1500 First
Responders are Trained from
Member States
Capacity-building against Chemical Weapons
- Every year, the OPCW provides training courses,
seminars, and workshops to train Experts to respond to
attacks with chemical weapons, and to save lives.
- These courses also show Experts how to detect chemical
weapons, and practical training to learn knowledge in other
means of protection against chemical weapons
Capacity-building against Chemical Weapons
- Olympics games, Greece (2003-2004)
- Asian Games, Qatar (2004-2008)
- Cricket World Cup, Trinidad & Tobago (2007)
- APEC / EU- Latin America Summit, Peru (2008)
- Pan - American Games, Mexico (2010-2011)
Challenges Ahead !!!
ƒ Timely delivery of assistance
ƒ To avoid duplication of efforts & resources
cooperation /coordination with relevant organisations
ƒ Geographic distribution of offers of assistance
ƒ Strategic airlifting capacities
ƒ Compatibility of assistance offers related to
protection
ƒ Voluntary fund requirements for emergency???
Selected bibliography
ƒ Basic Facts on Chemical Disarmament, OPCW, 2010
ƒ Chemical Weapons Ban: Facts and Figures, OPCW,
2010
ƒ “The OPCW” in International Encyclopaedia of Law:
Intergovernmental Organisations, Kluwer Law
International, 2000
ƒ Website: www.opcw.org
Produced by OPCW
©2010 OPCW. All rights reserved
Thank you
for your attention !