BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
ADVOCACY
Moving the Debate Forward
This is a crucial period for the Biological Weapons (BW) debate.
Over the coming few months the shape of the future BW prohibition
regime will be decided. Bearing in mind the recent anthrax attacks,
the growing threat of global terrorism and the rapid advances of
biotechnology, it is vital the international community now adopts
the most effective and balanced measures against the BW threat.
With this in mind, it is crucial that public voices are heard
advocating the need for an innovative solution that retains strong
multilateral and legally binding elements.
BASIC encourages you to write to your local Representative and
Senator
(US) or Member of
Parliament (UK) stressing the following points:
-
The acrimonious suspension of the Fifth Review Conference
(RevCon) of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in 2001 was a
crucial missed opportunity to strengthen the BW prohibition regime.
The international community must redouble its efforts to find a
common way forward when the RevCon resumes on 11 November 2002 -
another suspension would be a serious blow.
-
Multilateral action remains central to any long-term response to
the BW threat. While tightened domestic legislation against state
and non-state bioterrorism is crucial, such controls must be
enforced as part of a unified global approach to combating this
transnational menace. Disease knows no borders and only the
development of an effective international prohibition regime will
ensure effective universal BW control.
- Illicit government programs still represent the most serious
biological weapons threat. With this in mind, mandatory
international inspections into those national biotechnology
programs that could potentially facilitate BW production, and the
creation of an international agency with enforcement powers, remain
essential to an effective solution of the problem.
-
At present under international law only States can be held
accountable for violations of the BWC. It is vital that breaches of
the Convention by individuals or groups should also be treated as
international crimes. For this to happen, an international legal
framework needs to be developed so that there are no safe havens in
which BW offenders can seek sanctuary.
-
Innovative thinking on this issue is crucial. The BW prohibition
process should not be limited to countries that have signed the BWC
but should also involve other interested organizations and groups.
The United Nations, regional inter-governmental organizations such
as the European Union, health professionals, the pharmaceutical and
biotechnology industries should all be consulted and included. It
is in the interest of all that effective measures against the
complex and dangerous BW threat are devised.
We also encourage you to write directly to the US President and
the UK
Prime Minister highlighting the above points and
encouraging them to invest the necessary political and diplomatic
will to find an effective, and international, solution to the
threat.
BASIC would greatly appreciate copies of replies received to
your letters. These would help us both to foster a more informed
debate and to more directly address the concerns of
policy-makers.
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