at the Insistence of the United States Marine Corps
On July 14th, three items were removed from the Sunshine Project online clearinghouse of US government "non-lethal" chemical and biological weapons documents. The documents were removed at the insistence of the United States Marine Corps, which claims that the papers presence on this website posed a threat to Department of Defense research programs and employees. Because the Marine Corps alleges that posting these materials may result in government employees being physically harmed, the Sunshine Project removed these items pending receipt of futher explanations from the Marines.
The records date from 1994 and describe US Army "non-lethal" chemical weapons programs and are titled Antipersonnel Chemical Immobilizers: Synthetic Opiods, Antipersonnel Calmative Agents, and Demonstration of Chemical Immobilizers.
Scroll down to read the correspondence, beginning with the US Marines Corps Systems Command July 14th letter and the Sunshine Project's reply. Two weeks later, on July 29th, the Sunshine Project wrote the Marines and again asked for its reply - or that it at least indicate when it planned to answer. It didn't answer at all. On August 5th, after not hearing from the Marine Corps for three weeks, the Sunshine Project sent a letter to the Marines explaining its decision to place the papers back online. The Marines have sent nothing further.
The Project's initial reply to the Marine Corps mentions two cases where the US Army has refused to provide information about other US projects to develop and test chemical and biological "non-lethal" weapons. The denial letters can be downloaded here:
1. Letter from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, dated 28 April 2004, denying release of information under FOIA because the final report of the project Front End Analysis of Non-Lethal Chemicals (an FY 2001 / 2002 program) was classified "secret" in December 2002.
2. Letter from Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, dated 23 June 2004, denying release of information under FOIA because the final report of the project Technical Assessment of Antimateriel Chemical and Biological Agents (a year 2000 project) is classified "secret" (no date of classification given).
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INITIAL: LETTER FROM THE MARINES
From: Stewart Mr Zachary J <StewartZJ@mcsc.usmc.mil>
To: "'hammond@sunshine-project.org'" <hammond@sunshine-project.org>
Subject: Sensitive Information on Your Website
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 14:29:37 -0400
Importance: high
X-Priority: 1
Dear Mr. Hammond:
As part of this office's response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request 084F-01, and in accordance with Department of Defense and Department
of the Navy regulations, 5 documents responsive to that request were
referred for review to the Department of Defense's Directorate for Freedom
of Information and Security Review (DFOISR) on 27 October 2003. A copy of
the referral letter was inadvertently forwarded to you, along with both
redacted and unredacted copies of the documents in question. Those
documents are:1. Anti-Personnel Calmative Agents
2. Anti-Personnel Chemical Immobilizers
3. Demonstration of Chemical Immobilizers
4. Biological Infared Sensor to Ascertain Human Targets and Determine their
Physical Characteristics
5. Controlled Lachrymating AgentsThese documents contain sensitive program information as well as personally
identifying information that may subject Department of Defense employees to
be targeted by hostile groups or organizations.Our office hereby requests that you cease to disseminate this sensitive
information, and remove the documents listed above from your website,
www.sunshine-project.org, until you are provided with written documentation
from DFOISR that the documents have been approved for public release.The documents listed above are considered unclassified technical
information, and must not be disclosed in unredacted form to the public
and/or posted on a public Web site.Sincerely,
Zachary J. Stewart
Assistant Counsel
Marine Corps Systems Command
2200 Lester Street
Quantico, VA 22134
SUNSHINE PROJECT'S FIRST REPLY
14 July 2004
Mr. Zachary J. Stewart
Assistant Counsel
Marine Corps Systems Command
2200 Lester Street
Quantico, VA 22134by electronic mail and fax
Dear Mr. Stewart:
I have reviewed the electronic mail you sent to me earlier today in which you assert that Department of Defense (DOD) documents on the Sunshine Project website that concern DOD "non-lethal" weapons programs are "sensitive program information... and must not be disclosed in unredacted form to the public and/or posted on a public Web site."
Initially, I note that only three of the five records that you cite have, in actuality, been placed on the Sunshine Project website. These are Anti-Personnel Calmative Agents, Anti-Personnel Chemical Immobilizers, and Demonstration of Chemical Immobilizers. The Sunshine Project obtained these records in October 2003, when the US Marine Corps sent them to us by US Mail. These records have been on our website for eight months, and in that time the page that contains links to them has been viewed more than seven thousand times.
Your request for the Sunshine Project to remove this allegedly "sensitive" information from its website cites Marine Corps’ concerns related to both programs and personnel. The records in question describe US Army chemical weapons development proposals and programs. All are dated April 1994.
On 13 January 1993, the United States signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which outlaws such weapons. On 29 April 1997, the CWC entered into force. In view of the fact that the United States of America is a contracting party to the CWC, which prohibits development of chemical weapons, it is striking that the US Marine Corps asserts that these documents compromise programs. The assertion suggests that the United States is in breach of its treaty commitments. This is further suggested by the fact that, in recent weeks, the Sunshine Project has received two FOIA denials, citing classification, in requests for more recent Department of Defense records concerning testing and evaluation of both chemical and biological "non-lethal" weapons at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah and Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
Mr. Zachary Stewart, 14 July 2004, page 2
The second basis that you cite in your request is related to the first in that it seeks to protect programs, however, here you suggest that the presence of these records on the Sunshine Project website poses physical danger to Department of Defense employees associated with these programs. While I am not persuaded that this is actually the case, the Sunshine Project would not deliberately place any person in any plausible physical danger.
Therefore, to be abundantly cautious, the Sunshine Project will temporarily remove these three items from our website for a period of two weeks. In that time, I request that you please send further information and arguments that convincingly demonstrate that the Sunshine Project's distribution of these records poses a threat to Department of Defense programs and personnel, and that this threat, if any exists, outweighs the profound public interest in the maintenance and strengthening of the global bans on chemical and biological weapons.
Sincerely,
Edward Hammond
Director
SUNSHINE PROJECT'S SECOND REPLY
29 July 2004
Mr. Zachary J. Stewart
Assistant Counsel
Marine Corps Systems Command
2200 Lester Street
Quantico, VA 22134
Dear Mr. Stewart,
Two weeks ago I wrote you in reply to your e-mail concerning allegedly "sensititve" information on the Sunshine Project website. At your request, I removed three documents from our site. The documents had been provided to the Sunshine Project, some time before, by the US Marine Corps.
When I assented to remove these papers, I wrote that I would do so at least temporarily, pending receipt from you of a more adequate explanation of how public distribution of these records threatens US Department of Defense programs and personnel.
The Sunshine Project also publicly asked the Marine Corps and DOD to release documentation of a number of chemical and biological "non-lethal" weapons programs, programs that the Sunshine Project believes raise serious questions about US treaty compliance; but which the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate insists are legal. We said that it is time for DOD to "come clean" about its chemical and biological "non-lethal" weapons programs.
I have not heard from you about either issue. I note, however, that on the 16th, a Marine Corps spokesman told the Associated Press that the USMC was coordinating a response with "other DOD agencies".
Independently, the Sunshine Project has taken steps to ensure that no person might be harmed. I contacted one of the three people identified in the records you have asked me to remove from our website. This person, a medical doctor in Utah, is not, to my knowledge, a DOD employee. In fact, because I was in Utah last week, I offered to meet personally with the doctor in order to discuss any concerns that he may have. He did not reply to my offers, leading me to conclude that he does not believe that public knowledge of these records poses any personal threat to him.
On the 14th, I requested that you reply in two weeks' time. As I haven't heard from you, I ask that you please indicate the date upon which you intend to provide me with your reply.
Sincerely,
Edward Hammond
Director
The Sunshine Project
101 West 6th St, Suite 607
Austin TX 78701 USAhttp://www.sunshine-project.org
SUNSHINE PROJECT'S THIRD REPLY
5 August 2004
Mr. Zachary J. Stewart
Assistant Counsel
Marine Corps Systems Command
2200 Lester Street
Quantico, VA 22134
Dear Mr. Stewart,
Three weeks ago, on July 14th, you contacted me on behalf of the United States Marine Corps and requested that the Sunshine Project remove three US Army documents concerning "non-lethal" chemical weapons from our website. These are titled Anti-Personnel Calmative Agents, Anti-Personnel Chemical Immobilizers: Synthetic Opiods, and Demonstration of Chemical Immobilizers. You wrote that the Sunshine Project's public distribution of these documents, which we had requested under FOIA and which were sent to us by the Marine Corps, compromised US Department of Defense (DOD) programs and endangered its personnel.
The Sunshine Project immediately complied with your request. I replied that same day and removed these papers from our website. I wrote that we had done so for two weeks, pending receipt from you of a more adequate explanation of how public distribution of these records threatens DOD programs and personnel.
The Sunshine Project also asked the Marine Corps and DOD to release the records of a number of chemical and biological "non-lethal" weapons programs, activities that the Sunshine Project believes raise serious questions about US treaty compliance; but which the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate insists are legal. We said that it is time for DOD to "come clean" about its chemical and biological "non-lethal" weapons programs.
You did not reply.
One week ago, on July 29th, I wrote to you again and requested your reply or, at least, that you tell me when you intend to reply. In that letter, I noted that a Marine Corps spokesman told the Associated Press, on July 16th, that it was coordinating a response with other DOD agencies.
You did not answer my second letter either.
When I wrote to you on July 29th, I said that the Sunshine Project had independently taken steps to ensure that no person was endangered as a result of our distribution of these documents. We contacted Dr. Ted Stanley, a medical doctor in Utah, and one of three persons identified in the records. Dr. Stanley is widely known as an expert in the effects of the drugs that the US Army proposes weaponizing in the documents at issue, and has granted interviews on the subject of such weapons. I offered to meet with Dr. Stanley to discuss any concerns that he may have. He did not reply, leading me to conclude that he does not feel a personal threat at the public release of these documents.
There are two other people are mentioned in the records. These are Mr. C. Parker Ferguson and Mr. Horace Pearce, both of whom were, at the time the documents were created, employees of the US Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) in Maryland.
Mr. Ferguson is now retired from the Army and voluntarily associates himself with "non-lethal" chemical weapons, for example, in articles in the Washington Post, New York Times, and very recently, an interview published by University of Bradford (U.K.) arms control researchers. He also received a federal contract, a matter of public record, to further studies on these chemical weapons. He is also mentioned in another paper, Antipersonnel Chemical Immobilizers: Sedatives, another paper in the same series, which we obtained from the FACA-mandated public access records file of the National Academies of Science; but which you did not ask us to remove from our website.
With respect to Mr. Pearce, he is identified in a variety of public government documents as a research director at US Army RDECOM (formerly SBCCOM) at ECBC. For example, Mr. Peace was recently cited in the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center Annual Report (2003), because he was given an award.
In sum, Dr. Stanley did not act on the opportunity to discuss any concern he may have about release of these records, and both Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Pearce are publicly associated with this type of weapons research. Therefore, the Sunshine Project cannot discern any threat posed to these individuals by our distribution of these particular records.
The second reason you cite in requesting removal of these documents from our website is that distribution of them threatens Department of Defense programs. Here, the Sunshine Project and the Marine Corps will simply have to disagree about what is in the public interest.
It bears repeating that these documents concern US DOD development of "non-lethal" chemical weapons, similar to those used to devastating effect by Russian Special Forces in the Moscow theater in 2002. More than 120 innocent hostages died from the effects of these "non-lethal" chemical weapons.
Chemical warfare, as the Marine Corps knows, is prohibited by the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which the United States is a contracting party. When you write that distribution of these records threatens DOD programs, the US Marine Corps is essentially stating that the United States is not in compliance with its treaty commitments. This disturbing assertion is especially striking in the aftermath of the recent invasion of Iraq, considering the reasons for war cited by the government prior to the conflict.
While I can understand why the Marine Corps would like to shield programs that are not treaty compliant from the public's view, the Sunshine Project is dedicated to shining light on such noncompliance. We believe that maintaining and strengthening the global bans on chemical and biological weapons is a profound public interest. We work to try to ensure that programs that threaten and/or violate these treaties are terminated.
Thus, we no only have no sympathy for your request that we assist you in shielding these chemical weapons programs from public view, we believe that it is our obligation to expose them.
The Sunshine Project has therefore decided to return these records to our website.
I remain available to correspond with you in this matter, and am willing to reconsider our decision if, as we requested three weeks ago, you produce further information that makes a compelling case that distribution of these records could lead to anyone being harmed and, as I wrote to you on the 14th, that this alleged potential harm outweighs that public interest in the prohibition of chemical and biological weapons.
Sincerely,
Edward Hammond
Director
The Sunshine Project
101 West 6th St, Suite 607
Austin TX 78701 USAhttp://www.sunshine-project.org