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

Assistance Response under Chemical Weapons Convention

This presentation contains !

Fundamental Provisions & Participation

History of Chemical Weapons

CBRN Threats Classification

Overview of Assistance and Protection under Article X of the CWC

OPCW Preparedness, Capacity-building, & Challenges Ahead

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.

Steps towards chemical disarmament

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.

The implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) established pursuant to Article VIII of the CWC.

The OPCW CONFERENCE OF THE STATES PARTIES

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:Arms Control & Disarmament - CW issuesNon-proliferation / Confidence Building

Measures - Chemical Industry issuesAssistance and Protection Economic and Technological Development

States Parties undertake to

declare and destroy all their chemical weapons (CW) and CW production facilities under strict international verification

ensure that toxic chemicals and their precursors are only used for legitimate purposes (national implementation measures, declarations and international verification)

provide assistance and protection through the OPCW in case of use of CW against a State Party

facilitate international cooperation in the peaceful application of chemistry for permitted purposes

CWC prohibitions

developing, producing, otherwise acquiring, stockpiling or retaining CW, or transferring directly or indirectly CW to anyone

using CW

engaging in any military preparations to use CW

assisting, encouraging or inducing anyone, in any way, in any activity prohibited to a State Party under the Convention

use of riot control agents as a method of warfare

Status of participation in the CWC about 95% of the global population and landmass

98% of the worldwide chemical industry

all 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council, and vast majority of states with CWC declarable activities and facilities

7 chemical weapons possessors

12 possessors of former CWPFs

10 OCW and 3 ACW possessors

As at 3 December 2010

188 States Parties

2 Signatory States

5 Non-signatory States

Only 7 States Not Party

History of chemical weapons

431-404 BCUse of arsenic smoke during the Peloponnesian war.673 ADFirst 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, 1915Gas attack, Western Front (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.

World War I

chemical weapons used during the war in the 1980.

Around 100,000 soldiers and civilians were affected by chemical weapons during the 1980-88 war

Iran-Iraq War (1980-88)

chemical weapon victim Eighteen-month-old child suffering from respiratory

problems

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.

Deaths confirmed related to the gas release

Bhopal disaster 1984

A leak of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals from the plant resulted in the exposure of several thousands of people.

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.

Chemical terrorism in Japan

CBRN THREATS

WMD TERRORISM

WMD PROLIFERATION

CHEMICAL

BILOGICAL

RADIOLOGICAL

NUCLEAR

WAR ACTIONS

CBRN RELEASE OTHER THAN ATTACK

WMDUSAGE

CLASSIC WEAPONS ON

CHEMICAL INDUSTRY FACILITIES

DANGEROUS GOODS STORAGE FACILITIES

NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

MILITARY NON-MILITARY

TOXINS

INC

IDEN

TAL

AC

CID

ENTA

LCBRN THREATS CLASSIFICATION

• Possibility• Intensity• Exposure time

Indirectly

Directly • Individuals• Groups• Organizations

•Ideological•Military•Political•Religious

CHEMICALTHREATS

CHEMICAL WEAPONS

USAGE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY FACILITIES

DANGEROUS GOODS STORAGE FACILITIES

CW TERRORISM

CW PROLIFERATION

CHEMICAL

ChemicalWeaponsChemicalWeapons

ChemicalIndustrialAccidents

ChemicalIndustrialAccidents

ChemicalTerrorismChemicalTerrorism

Overview of Assistance and Protection

Capacity building for Member States in the area of protection

Protection network, data bank

Investigations of alleged use

Emergency assistance

Coordination and delivery of assistance pledged by Member States

Voluntary fund

18

Definition of Assistance

Coordination Delivery

Protection against

Chemical Weapons

19

Assistance Response System (ARS)

Director-General

OPCW

Assistance Coordination

Group

Investigation of Alleged Use &

Assistance Coordination and Assessment Team

Assistance and Protection Branch

Support Staff:- Operation & Planning Branch

- Media and Public Affairs

- Health & Safety

- Administration

- Policy Making Organs

-- International Cooperation & Assistance

Support Staff:- Divisions liaisons Officer

- Field operations Officer

- State Party liaison Officer

- OPCW Rijswijk equipment storeProtection

NetworkQualified Experts

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 Fund44 States Parties contributed € 1,399,775.00

Bilateral Agreements1 State Party signed Agreement with the OPCW

Unilateral Offers of Assistance44 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

NATO/EADRCC

EU

UNODA

WFP

CTBTO

BWC/ISU

Regional Arms Control Verification and Implementation Assistance Centre

UN Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament & Development in Latin America & the Caribbean

- National Capacity-building Programmes

- Regional/sub-regional Capacity-building Programmes

- International Assistance & Protection Programmes

Capacity-building against Chemical Weapons

Since 2004, over 1500 First Responders are Trained from Member States

- 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)

Capacity-building against Chemical Weapons

Challenges Ahead !!!

Timely delivery of assistance

To avoid duplication of efforts & resources cooperation /coordination with relevant organisations

Geographic distribution of offers of assistance

Strategic airlifting capacities

Compatibility of assistance offers related to protection

Voluntary fund requirements for emergency???

Selected bibliography

Basic Facts on Chemical Disarmament, OPCW, 2010

Chemical Weapons Ban: Facts and Figures, OPCW, 2010

“The OPCW” in International Encyclopaedia of Law: Intergovernmental Organisations, Kluwer Law International, 2000

Website: www.opcw.org

Produced by OPCW©2010 OPCW. All rights reserved

Thank you for your attention !