Taking stock of the chemical weapon ban
On 20–21 March the University of Rome III hosted a roundtable discussion to reflect on the current status of the prohibition on chemical weapons (CW) and the future challenges to that ban. Although convened by the Law Department, the speakers represented an eclectic group of experts with backgrounds in international law, political sciences, chemistry and biology, as well as practitioners. Notwithstanding, the meeting yielded considerable coherence in arguments, with questions, challenges and supplementary insights contributing further to an already rich multi-disciplinary texture. The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is at the heart of today’s prohibition on CW and their use in …
Public Outreach in Destruction of Syrian CW
Open letter to Secretaries John Kerry and Chuck Hagel February 3, 2014 Secretary of State John Kerry US Department of State 2201 C Street, NW Washington DC 20520 Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel US Department of Defense 1400 Defense Pentagon Washington DC 20301-1400 RE: Public Outreach and Stakeholder Involvement in Destruction of Syrian Chemical Weapons Dear Secretary Kerry and Secretary Hagel: We the undersigned environmental, public health, nonproliferation, and arms control experts have been closely following all aspects of the Syrian chemical disarmament process. We believe that the most urgent issue today is to make sure that …
Italy to the rescue
Reuters reported two days ago that Italy has agreed to provide a port to enable the safe transfer of Syria’s priority 1 chemicals from the Danish and Norwegian ships arriving from the Syrian port of Latakia to the US vessel Cape Ray for hydrolysis and neutralisation, most likely in international waters. Speculation about the proposed port arises now. Italian officials have thus far refused to identify it. According to the daily Corriere della Sera, as cited by The Voice of Russia, the chemicals will be kept in one of the Italian ports until the transfer to the Cape Ray. It …
A Nobel Peace Prize for Disarmament
Today Syria becomes the 190th party to the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). In the 16 years since entry into force on 29 April 1997, CWC universality now equals that of the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (which entered into force on 5 March 1970). The convention extends the 1925 Geneva Protocol’s ban on chemical (and biological) warfare by also comprehensively prohibiting the development, acquisition, transfer and possession of chemical weapons (CW). Indeed, the norm against CW has become so overpowering that a relatively small chemical attack by historical standards in Ghouta (Damascus) on 21 August brought allies and foes of …
CW disarmament and constructive engagement on Syria
Hearing before the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Strasbourg, 30 September 2013 …
Draft UN resolution on Syria chemical weapons
(26 September 2013) The Security Council, PP1. Recalling the Statements of its President of 3 August 2011, 21 March 2012, 5 April 2012, and its resolutions 1540 (2004), 2042 (2012) and 2043 (2012), PP2. Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, PP3. Reaffirming that the proliferation of chemical weapons, as well as their means of delivery, constitutes a threat to international peace and security, PP4. Recalling that the Syrian Arab Republic on 22 November 1968 acceded to the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or …
The Military Implications of the Syrian Crisis: The Chemical Weapons Dimension
Joint Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Security and Defence (SEDE) Committee of the European Parliament Brussels, 26 September 2013 Statement (PDF) by Dr Jean Pascal Zanders 1. Mister Chairman, Members of the Foreign Affairs and Security and Defence Committees, I am honoured to address you today on the question of chemical weapons (CW) and disarmament in Syria. I understand that several of my recent writings on the subject have been made available to you as background information, and I will therefore limit myself to highlighting some key issues. 2. On 21 August, the world woke up …
Internationalisation of Syria’s chemical weapon stockpile?
The idea of internationalising Syria’s stockpile is doable, but what would it take? Some first thoughts to launch an international and constructive discussion by Jean Pascal Zanders and Ralf Trapp Yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov launched an idea—in the meantime accepted by Syria—based on an offhand remark by US Secretary of State that Syria might avoid punitive military strikes if it were to ‘turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week’. He said: We are calling on the Syrian authorities not only agree on putting chemical weapons storages under international …
We All Fall Down Part 1: The national intelligence assessments
This is the first of a four-part series analysing the international reactions to the chemical attacks in Damascus on 21 August. Part 2 addresses how the public intelligence assessments have been used to try and justify military interventions against Syrian forces and military installations. Part 3 attempts to construct a counter-factual argument in order to determine whether insurgent forces can be held responsible for the chemical attacks. Part 4 investigates the consequences of international reactions for the future of the norm against chemical weapons (CW). Over the past 10 days the French, UK and US governments published intelligence summaries …