UNDCP Letter of 2 November to the Sunshine Project (inquiry below)
Dear [Sunshine Project], I promised a response to your letter of 31 October 2000, once I had a chance to discuss its content with with Mr. Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director, UN Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP). He has asked me to confirm to you that UNDCP is not in the game of developing and promoting biological weapons for use in eradicating coca in Colombia or anywhere else in South America. Any letter, press report or verbal comment suggesting the contrary are either wrong, or (most probably) based on old facts which have been overtaken by events since July 2000, when the Colombian authorities decided not to continue consultations on a possible biocontrol project with UNDCP and UNEP. Mr. Arlacchi specifically asked me to tell you that UNDCP's position was clarified in the September UNDCP press releases, and also during the press conference on 15 September in La Paz, Bolivia. To sum, UNDCP is neither implementing, nor planning to implement, nor discussing the possibility of implementing a biocontrol project in Colombia or anywhere else in the Andes. Equally important, UNDCP has not been approached by the Colombian Government for either comments or support in connection with any new biocontrol/biodiversity programme developed by the Colombian Government. Very recent press statements by Environment Minister Mayr, indirectly, offer further evidence to all of the foregoing. We hope this clarifies any remaining doubts. Under the leadership of Jan Egeland, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Colombia, we are now working hard to concentrate on our core business in Colombia, which is alternative development, thus contributing in a small but meaningful measure to a peaceful and negotiated settlement of Colombia´s conflicts through development-oriented action in illicit crop areas. With best regards. Aldo Lale-Demoz
In response to Sunshine Project'e letter of 31 October
Dear Mr. Lale-Demoz, I am writing you for urgent clarification regarding UNDCP's position and role in the identification, testing, and use of biological agents in the Andes. I need not inform you about the controversy this issue has generated. Despite the considerable media criticism, UNDCP apparently remains in the game of developing and promoting biological weapons for use in eradicating coca in Colombia and the Andes. I am forced to draw this conclusion despite the press release UNDCP issued on September 1st (or 2, 4, or 5, depending on the version) and despite Mr. Arlacci's comments to the media during his recent visit to Bolivia. As you may be aware, the US Department of State's Phillip Chicola told El Tiempo, in an article published on October 20th, that UNDCP is currently involved not only in work on identifying new biological agents to eradicate Colombian coca; but also in the development and testing of Fusarium oxysporum in Colombia. In a letter from the US Department of Agriculture dated October 24th, the Sunshine Project was told that UNDCP is "in the process of negotiating a biocontrol evaluation and field trial program in Colombia." We were further advised last week by US Government officials that they have allocated US $13 million in new appropriations (to the US State Department) from the FY 1999(*) Emergency Supplemental bill for a UNDCP program to develop biological agents for the eradication of narcotic crops, including coca. In short, the US government is insistent and is providing details of a continued UNDCP role in biological eradication in Colombia and the Andes. UNDCP, on the other hand, has failed to clarify its position and currently risks its own credibility by allowing the US government to be its apparent mouthpiece and master. I have already been in touch with Simonetta Grassi in the UNDCP Bogot‡ office on this matter. She has indicated to me that you or Mr. Arlacci are the appropriate people to reply to our questions. It is important that you understand that from the perspective of the Sunshine Project and the numerous civil society organizations with which we work, another confusing statement from UNDCP that only refers to Fusarium oxysporum (EN-4 or any other strain) will not be useful. UNDCP must address the US government statements and clarify its current and future roles in any type of biological eradication of narcotic crops in the Andes. It is important that UNDCP clarify that it is out of the business of "biological control" of narcotic crops in the Andes entirely, whether it is Foxy, Eloria butterflies, or any other biological means of forced crop eradication. If UNDCP does not do this immediately, in the absense of any attempt at clarification from Vienna, we will be forced to conclude that the statements of US officials are the truth. It is critical that clarification statement come in writing and directly from UNDCP, perhaps in the form of a press release. Part of the urgency of this request, from the Sunshine Project's position, is that two important activities are drawing near. We are currently preparing a briefing on biological weapons for government delegates to the World Health Assembly and we are preparing to attend upcoming meetings of the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention. We would greatly appreciate your very prompt reply in the matter (this week), which we will share with our partner organizations here in the Americas and other parts of the world. Sincerely, Edward Hammond Edward Hammond The Sunshine Project 5402 B Brompton Circle Austin TX 78745 USA Tel: +1 512 689-5369 Tel/Fax: +1 512 707-6894 hammond@sunshine-project.org http://www.sunshine-project.org* Comment/Correction: This should actually refer to year 2000, as discussed in the 13 November press release.