The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an
intergovernmental organisation
An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states a ...
and the implementing body for the
Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force on 29 April 1997. The OPCW, with its 193 member states, has its seat in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
,
Netherlands
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; it oversees the global endeavour for the permanent and verifiable
elimination of chemical weapons.
The organisation promotes and verifies the adherence to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits the use of
chemical weapons
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...
and requires their destruction. Verification consists both of evaluation of declarations by member states and onsite inspections.
The organisation was awarded the
2013 Nobel Peace Prize "for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons". Nobel Committee chairman
Thorbjørn Jagland
Thorbjørn Jagland (born Thorbjørn Johansen; , 5 November 1950) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. He served as the secretary general of the Council of Europe from 2009 to 2019. He served as the 32nd prime minister of Norway from ...
said, "The conventions and the work of the OPCW have defined the use of chemical weapons as a
taboo
A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
under
international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
".
History
![HQ of OPCW in The Hague](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/HQ_of_OPCW_in_The_Hague.jpg)
The Hague was chosen as the location for the seat of the organisation after a successful lobby of the Dutch government, competing against
Vienna
en, Viennese
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and
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
. The organisation has its headquarters next to the
World Forum Convention Centre (where it holds its yearly Conference of States Parties) and an equipment store and laboratory facility in
Rijswijk
Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water.
The municipality also includes t ...
. The headquarters were officially opened by
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013.
Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husba ...
on 20 May 1998. and consist of an eight-story building built in a semi-circle. A ''permanent memorial to all victims'' is present at the back of the building and is open to the public.
The OPCW headquarters building was designed by American architect
Gerhard Kallmann
Gerhard Michael Kallmann (February 13, 1915 – June 19, 2012) was a German-born American architect and academic. Together with Michael McKinnell, Kallman is best known as the lead designer of Boston City Hall, which was constructed in 1968 b ...
of
Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Kallmann McKinnell & Wood is an architectural design firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1962 as Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles by Gerhard Kallmann (1915-2012), Michael McKinnell (1935–2020), and Edward Knowles.
Histo ...
.
The first Director-General only served about one year of his second term, after which, in April 2002, he was removed from office on grounds of lack of confidence by the member states. It was argued by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''s columnist
George Monbiot
George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and is the author of a number of books.
Monbiot grew up in Oxfordsh ...
that Director-General
José Bustani
José Maurício de Figueiredo Bustani (born June 5, 1945) is a Brazilian diplomat who was the first director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons until he was ousted after pressure from the US government in April 2 ...
was being forced out by the U.S. government, despite the convention insisting the OPCW "shall not seek or receive instructions from any government"; the US had tried to persuade Brazil to recall Bustani. Monbiot wrote that the U.S. had tried other measures, although the convention also indicates that states should "not seek to influence" staff. In line with his mandate, Bustani wanted Iraq to sign the convention thus allowing international chemical weapons monitors into Iraq and thus potentially impeding the U.S. push for
war against Iraq. The U.S. gave three main arguments for the removal of Bustani's from his position: "polarising and confrontational conduct", "mismanagement issues" and "advocacy of inappropriate roles for the OPCW". The removal was subsequently determined to be improper by an Administrative Tribunal of the
International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
and consequently Bustani was awarded €50,000 in moral damages, his pay for the remainder of his second term, and his legal costs.
On 11 October 2013, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that the OPCW had been awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...
for "extensive work to eliminate chemical weapons".
[ The committee further indicated how " Recent events in Syria, where chemical weapons have again been put to use, have underlined the need to enhance the efforts to do away with such weapons."] In the year ending September 2014, the OPCW had overseen the destruction of some 97 percent of Syria's declared chemical weapons.
In 2014, The OPCW–The Hague Award was established to honour select individuals and institutions by highlighting their exceptional contributions towards the goal of a world permanently free of chemical weapons. The award was created as a legacy of the OPCW winning the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. The OPCW—The Hague Award fund was created using the approximately €900,000 monetary prize which accompanied the Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...
, and is also supported financially by the City of The Hague, where the OPCW is based.
In June 2018, the OPCW voted to expand its own powers, allowing itself to assign blame for a contravention of its regulations.
In November 2019, a unanimous agreement of OPCW member states allowed the addition of the Novichok agents
Novichok (russian: Новичо́к, lit=newcomer, novice, newbie) is a group of nerve agents, some of which are binary chemical weapons. The agents were developed at the GosNIIOKhT state chemical research institute by the Soviet Union and Ru ...
to "list of controlled substances" of the CWC "in one of the first major changes to the treaty since it was agreed in the 1990s" in response to the 2018 poisonings in the UK.[
]
Organisational structure
The activities of the OPCW and its core organisational structure are described in the Chemical Weapons Convention (whose members are all in OPCW). The principal body is the Conference of the States Parties (CSP), which normally is convened yearly, and in which all countries can participate, with equal voting rights. Countries are generally represented in the conference by a permanent representative
A permanent representative is a diplomat who is the head of a country’s diplomatic mission to an international organisation.
Organizations that receive permanent representatives from their member states include the United Nations, the World Tr ...
to the organisation, which in most cases is also the ambassador to the Netherlands. The conference decides on all main topics regarding the organisation (for example, taking retaliation measures) and the convention (approving guidelines, imposing retaliating measures against members).
The Executive Council (EC) is the executive organ of the organisation and consists of 41 states parties, which are appointed by the conference on a two-year term. The council amongst others oversees the budget and cooperates with the General Secretariat on all matters related to the convention.[
The Technical Secretariat (TS) applies most of the activities mandated by the council and is the body where most of the employees of the organisation work. The main activities of the OPCW are performed by the inspection and the verification divisions.
All states parties make contributions to the OPCW budget, based on a modified UN scale of assessments. The OPCW budget for 2020 is €70,958,760
]
Powers
The OPCW has the power to report on whether chemical weapons were used in an attack it has investigated.[
"The OPCW has the power to send inspectors to any signatory country to search for evidence of production of banned chemicals. It also can send experts to help countries to investigate crime scenes where chemical agents may have been used."]
In June 2018 following the Skripal poisoning
On 4 March 2018, Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer and double agent for the British intelligence agencies, and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, were poisoned in the city of Salisbury, England. According to UK sources and the Organis ...
the UK convinced other members despite the Russian opposition that the OPCW needed to grant itself new powers to assign blame for attacks. The vote was won by a margin of 82 to 24, which exceeded the two-thirds majority needed for the motion to pass.[
]
Inspections
Chemical weapons destruction facilities
At all operational chemical weapons destruction facilities, 24/7 inspections by the OPCW take place on site to verify the success of the destruction as well as the amounts of weapons being destroyed. In light of the hazardous environment in which the inspections take place, they are generally performed by evaluation via CCTV-systems.
Industry inspections
Inspections are designed to verify compliance of States Parties with the requirements imposed on production and use of scheduled chemicals and to verify that industrial activities of member states have been correctly declared according to the obligation set by the CWC. The intensity and frequency of the inspections is dependent on the type of chemical produced (in descending order: Schedule 1 Schedule 1 may refer to:
* Schedule I Controlled Substances within the US Controlled Substances Act
* Schedule I Controlled Drugs and Substances within the Canadian Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
* Schedule I Psychotropic Substances within t ...
, Schedule 2, Schedule 3 or DOC, see Scheduled Chemicals), but is regardless of the standing of the member state.
For Schedule 1 and 2 facilities, a mass balance is prepared to identify whether all produced chemicals can be accounted for and whether the amounts are consistent with the declarations made by member states.[Verification Annex, part VI,VII, VIII and IX of th]
Chemical Weapons Convention
. OPCW Furthermore, at Schedule 2 and 3 facilities clues are investigated whether, contrary to the declaration and to the rules in the convention, Schedule 1 chemicals are produced. At Schedule 3 and DOC, the main aim is to check the declaration and to verify the absence of Schedule 2 and Schedule 1 production units.[ The time limit Schedule 2 inspections is 96 hours while Schedule 3 and DOC inspections can take a maximum of 24 hours. There is no time limit on Schedule 1 inspections.
]
Challenge inspections and investigations of alleged use
In case of allegation of use of chemical weapons or the prohibited production, a fact-finding inspection can be employed according to the convention. None of those activities have taken place, although the OPCW contributed to investigations of alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria as part of a United Nations mission. The OPCW only undertakes these inspections on request of another member state, after verification of the presented proof. To avoid misuse, a majority of three-quarters can block a challenge inspection request.
Relations with the United Nations
While the OPCW is not a specialised agency of the United Nations, it cooperates both on policy and practical issues as a related organisation. On 7 September 2000 the OPCW and the United Nations signed a cooperation agreement outlining how they were to coordinate their activities. The inspectors furthermore travel on the United Nations Laissez-Passer
A United Nations laissez-passer (UNLP or LP) is a diplomatic travel document issued by the United Nations under the provisions of Article VII of the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations in its offices in New Y ...
in which a sticker is placed explaining their position, and privileges and immunities. The United Nations Regional Groups
The United Nations Regional Groups are the geopolitical regional groups of member states of the United Nations. Originally, the UN member states were unofficially organized into five groups as an informal means of sharing the distribution of post ...
also operate at the OPCW to govern the rotations on the Executive Council and provide informal discussion platform.[
]
Membership
All 193 parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention are automatically members of the OPCW. Other states which are eligible to become members are UN member states
The United Nations member states are the sovereign states that are members of the United Nations (UN) and have equal representation in the UN General Assembly. The UN is the world's largest intergovernmental organization.
The criteria ...
: Israel is a signatory state that has not ratified the Convention; and Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan, which have neither signed nor acceded to the Convention. Palestine was the most recent state to submit its instrument of accession to the Convention. On 21 April 2021, Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
was stripped of its voting rights at the OPCW after Syrian forces were found to have repeatedly used poison gas during the Syrian civil war. A two-thirds majority of members voted to immediately revoke Syria's privileges at the agency.
Leadership
The Organisation is currently led by Director-General Ambassador Fernando Arias of Spain.
The Director-General is directly appointed by the Conference for a maximum of two four-year terms. A historical list of Directors-General is shown below.
The appointment of Ambassador Arias followed a consensus recommendation by the OPCW Executive Council in October 2017.
Ambassador Arias is a career diplomat with extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy. Previously, he served as Ambassador of Spain to the Netherlands and the Permanent Representative of Spain to the OPCW. He also has served as Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations in New York and Ambassador of Spain to Mali, Mauritania, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Bulgaria.
Conviction by the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization
In 2002, the United States convened an extraordinary session of the Conference of the States Parties of the OPCW to request the dismissal of José Bustani
José Maurício de Figueiredo Bustani (born June 5, 1945) is a Brazilian diplomat who was the first director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons until he was ousted after pressure from the US government in April 2 ...
, then Director General of the OPCW.[Marlise Simons]
To Ousted Boss, Arms Watchdog Was Seen as an Obstacle in Iraq
'' The New York Times, '' 13 October 2013. Bustani was dismissed following the vote, held on 22 April 2002, with 48 states voting in favor, 7 against and 43 abstaining. Subsequently, Bustani accused the United States of having provoked his impeachment because he had succeeded in convincing Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention, which implied inspection of the Iraqi arsenal by OPCW investigators and would have thwarted the American plan of an invasion of Iraq. He also lodged a complaint before the , which, by a judgment of 16 July 2003, quashed the dismissal and condemned the OPCW to compensation for material and moral damage.[Site of the International Labor Organization]
judgment 2232
Bustani did not seek to be reinstated in office.
See also
* 1990 Chemical Weapons Accord
*Australia Group
The Australia Group is a multilateral export control regime (MECR) and an informal group of countries (now joined by the European Commission) established in 1985 (after the use of chemical weapons by Iraq in 1984) to help member countries to i ...
*Day of Remembrance for All Victims of Chemical Warfare
The Day of Remembrance for All Victims of Chemical Warfare is an annual event held November 30 as a "tribute to the victims of chemical warfare, as well as to reaffirm the commitment of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (O ...
*International Dialogue on Underwater Munitions (IDUM)
International Dialogues on Underwater Munitions (IDUM) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in Canada in 2004, and established as a Netherlands, Dutch Foundation in The Hague, The Netherlands in 2014. The IDUM was founded by Terrance ...
*Chemical bombing of Sardasht
On 28 June 1987, Iraq dropped mustard gas bombs on Sardasht, West Azerbaijan, Iran. In two separate bombing runs on four residential areas, the attack killed 130 people and injured 8,000. The gas attacks occurred during the Iran–Iraq War whe ...
*Halabja poison gas attack
The Halabja massacre ( ku, Kêmyabarana Helebce کیمیابارانی ھەڵەبجە), also known as the Halabja chemical attack, was a massacre of Kurdish people that took place on 16 March 1988, during the closing days of the Iran–Iraq War ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Organization For The Prohibition Of Chemical Weapons
20th century in law
21st century in law
Chemical weapons demilitarization
Intergovernmental organizations established by treaty
Organizations established in 1997
1997 establishments in the Netherlands
Organisations based in The Hague
Organizations awarded Nobel Peace Prizes
Netherlands and the United Nations