Pakistan needs contingency plan to deal with chemical-biological weapon threats

These were the concluding remarks of Ambassador (Retd) Qazi Humayun who was chairing a session on 18 October 2012 at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS)

“Despite international conventions prohibiting the development and use of chemical-biological weapons, Pakistan needs to develop a contingency plan, especially considering the vulnerable civilian population, so that it is not taken by surprise in case of a CBW attack.”

These were the concluding remarks of Ambassador (Retd) Qazi Humayun who was chairing a session on 18 October 2012 at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) on “Chemical-Biological Weapons and Pakistan”, which featured a presentation by Dr. Tughral Yamin from National Defence University.

A number of technical aspects related to the definition of chemical and biological weapons, international enforcement regimes as well as domestic security and safety mechanisms came under discussion. A select gathering of scientists, security experts, academics, government officials, diplomats and students of defence studies and nuclear sciences attended the session, which was moderated by Air Commodore (Retd) Khalid Iqbal, member IPS-National Academic Council and was also addressed by DG-IPS Khalid Rahman.

Humayun said there were weaknesses in the international conventions on chemical and biological weapons as they cannot stop a country if it starts making such weapons without declaring them.

He said though Pakistan strictly abides by international conventions on elimination of chemical and biological weapons, the safety measures and mechanisms against such threats need to be enhanced. The Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) could only monitor those facilities and stockpiles that are declared by a State as having chemical weapons while any secret facility if run covertly by a State cannot be monitored by this specialized international agency, he added.

“Such and other discrepancies and lapses in the international regime have to be tackled with”, he urged.

Discussing the level of preparedness and nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) warfare defence capabilities of Pakistan, the main speaker, Dr Tughral Yamin underlined that all conventional and strategic units of armed forces of Pakistan were equipped with NBC equipment with regular training programs and adequate training facilities. The decontamination capability was however limited and needs to be further developed. But since these weapons cause massive deaths to the civilians and long term damage to living things and the environment, it was important to protect the civilian population from NBC hazards.

He suggested certain measures for safeguarding civilian population against chemical biological threats; awareness, training and provision of necessary infrastructure being the top priorities. He suggested that the National Disaster Management Agency should develop contingency plans and capabilities at all levels.

“The first respondents like civil defence, police, fire brigade and medics must have proper understanding of the threat and training to react properly”, he stressed.

The speaker informed the audience that the Chemical Weapons Convention and Biological Weapons Convention aimed at elimination of entire category of the weapons of mass destruction, including the chemical and biological weapons, yet these weapons were so simple in design and cheap in manufacturing, assembling and delivering that many countries were tempted into continuing some sort of production and retention of these weapons, at least on small scale.

Dr. Yamin said that the chemical and biological weapons fall under the definition of weapons of mass destruction, not merely because of the immediate and direct damage caused but also because of severe damage to the environment and ecology which persists for years and at times for generations.

He narrated a number of historic incidents in which chemical and biological weapons were used and maintained that despite international conventions banning the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of  these weapons with an active enforcement mechanism, the threat of chemical and biological weapons was always imminent. In the modern history, gas attacks were used by Germans against Allied Forces while US had used 20 million gallons of herbicides in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam in 1961. The effects of this US attack were so drastic and prolonged that recently US has committed 43 million dollars for environmental remediation in Vietnam.

The presentation of the speaker stimulated an intellectual discussion on various aspects of the issue. It was highlighted that there were evidences that the heavy bombardment by the United States in Afghanistan carried radioactive chemicals which were not merely killing persons but were also inflicting severe damage to health, soil, water and plantation in the area.

“The number of skin diseases in areas adjoining Afghanistan is increasing due to use of depleted uranium in bombs and artillery being used by the US and NATO forces,” one participant observed. “The food items being imported or smuggled from Afghanistan too need to be screened for radioactive materials”, another cautioned.

A participant mentioned the unethical practices of pharmaceutical giants and GM food corporations employing biotechnology and genetic engineering for commercial gains, which if not regulated properly by the governments may cause irreversible damage to public health, indigenous crops and arable lands.

Another participant explained the Islamic viewpoint on the issue mentioning that among the explicit directives given by the Prophet Muhammad to the commanders of various military expeditions he sent was not to poison wells and water reservoirs.