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Sunshine Project: "non-lethal" weapons
Sunshine Project Germany
The Sunshine Project
News Release
17 June 2004
German Army to be equipped with "non-lethal" chemical weapons
Cabinet decision undermines Chemical Weapons Convention(Hamburg and Austin, 17 June 2004) - Last week, the German cabinet decided to equip the German Army, for the first time in recent history, with riot control agents for use in operations abroad. Previously, Germany has adhered to Article 1 of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which explicitly prohibits the use of "riot control agents as a method of warfare".
The German administration decided to alter its implementation law for the CWC. The change will permit the use of - so far undefined - riot control agents in equally undefined military operations outside Germany. The Parliament still must approve the law, which is unlikely to happen before summer break. The German government's new position comes in a fragile international situation in which the development and use of so called "non-lethal" chemical weapons such as tear gas or anaesthetic compounds is increasingly seen as a major danger to global chemical disarmament.
"With this move to put perceived - and questionable - military needs over international peace accords, the German defense minister has presented qualifications for a junior position in the disarmament treaty-dumping Bush administration in the US," says Jan van Aken from the Sunshine Project's German office.
While the CWC allows the use of tear gas by police in domestic riots, it prohibits any use of any chemical weapon in warfare. A major reason is the escalation risk: Historically, every instance of military use of lethal chemical weapons was preceded by the use of "non-lethal" agents.
Some governments have already adopted a dangerous interpretation of the CWC's Article 1 prohibitions and the term "warfare". Several armies are already equipped with tear gas for use in foreign operations - a practice that arguably violates the CWC. The US government has gone a step further and is trying to stretch the definition of "riot control agent" in its programs to develop psychoactive and anaesthetic compounds for weapons use. Worsening the deteriorating situation, the German cabinet did not even define clear limits on its decision to deploy riot control agents, for example, by restricting the permitted scenarios to police-like operations or by unambiguously defining riot control agents as tear gases.
"In the worsening international climate, the German decision is a big step backwards for chemical disarmament. Instead of defending the Chemical Weapons Convention, the German government appears to be lending its support to US-led efforts to weaken the treaty," says Edward Hammond from the Sunshine Project US.
Last week's decision was triggered by March 2004 riots in Kosovo, when German soldiers were unable to stop a violent mob burning down monasteries. After a criticism in the German weekly the Spiegel in early May, the Minister of Defense felt pressure to take political action. The quick decision to equip the Army with chemical agents, however, ignores the actual situation in Kosovo. The German Army itself acknowledges that their soldiers were equipped with non-lethal weapons such as rubber bullets, but decided not to use them in this particular situation in order not to harm women and children. And the Army acknowledges that they do not have any plan or scenario for the use of chemical agents.
"The government's rushed response to a newspaper article is frighteningly myopic. There is no real need and strategic thinking behind it. It is deeply disturbing to see how little prompting the German government needs before it gives up its arms control obligations," says van Aken.
The law the German administration wants to amend is the CWÜAG - Chemiewaffenübereinkommen-Ausführungsgesetz, §2, which currently restricts the use of riot control agents to police and to army personnel within German borders to protect military facilities. According to Sunshine Project research, the law will be introduced into the Bundestag (parliament) in early July.