Disarmament Diplomacy

Issue No. 67, October - November 2002

News Review

Red Cross Launches Biotechnology Appeal

On September, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva launched a powerful 'Appeal on Biotechnology, Weapons and Humanity'. The Appeal reads:

"Alarmed by the potential hostile uses of biotechnology, the International Committee of the Red Cross appeals to:

all political and military authorities to strengthen their commitment to the international humanitarian law norms which prohibit the hostile uses of biological agents, and to work together to subject potentially dangerous biotechnology to effective controls.
the scientific and medical communities, industry and civil society in general to ensure that potentially dangerous biological knowledge and agents be subject to effective controls.

The ICRC appeals in particular:

To All Political and Military Authorities

To become parties to the 1925 Geneva Protocol and the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, if they have not already done so, to encourage States which are not parties to become parties, and to lift reservations on use to the 1925 Geneva Protocol [banning the use of chemical and biological weapons],
To resume with determination efforts to ensure faithful implementation of these treaties and develop appropriate mechanisms to maintain their relevance in the face of scientific developments,
To adopt stringent national legislation, where it does not yet exist, for implementation of the 1925 Geneva Protocol and the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, and to enact effective controls on biological agents with potential for abuse,
To ensure that any person who commits acts prohibited by the above instruments is prosecuted,
To undertake actions to ensure that the legal norms prohibiting biological warfare are known and respected by members of armed forces,
To encourage the development of effective codes of conduct by scientific and medical associations and by industry to govern activities and biological agents with potential for abuse, and
To enhance international cooperation, including through the development of greater international capacity to monitor and respond to outbreaks of infectious disease.

To the Scientific and Medical Communities and to the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries

To scrutinize all research with potentially dangerous consequences and to ensure it is submitted to rigorous and independent peer review,
To adopt professional and industrial codes of conduct aimed at preventing the abuse of biological agents,
To ensure effective regulation of research programs, facilities and biological agents which may lend themselves to misuse, and supervision of individuals with access to sensitive technologies, and
To support enhanced national and international programs to prevent and respond to the spread of infectious disease.

The ICRC calls on all those addressed here to assume their responsibilities as members of a species whose future may be gravely threatened by abuse of biological knowledge. The ICRC appeals to you to make your contribution to the age-old effort to protect humanity from disease. We urge you to consider the threshold at which we all stand and to remember our common humanity.

The ICRC urges States to adopt at a high political level an International Declaration on 'Biotechnology, Weapons and Humanity' containing a renewed commitment to existing norms and specific commitments to future preventive action."

The document was issued at the close of a two-day ICRC conference in Montreux, Switzerland, addressing options for preventing the misapplication of biotechnology for mass-destructive and terroristic purposes. According to a September 25 press release: "The ICRC is concerned that the many and rapid developments in biotechnology could be out to hostile use. At the Montreux meeting emphasis was placed on threats that could potentially arise from new scientific developments rather than on existing dangers. Alarm about such possibilities comes at a time when states parties to the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention are facing grave difficulties in achieving progress at the Review Conference for this Convention which will resume in November. The ICRC hopes that the Montreux conference and its Appeal will serve to encourage states to reaffirm, fully implement and strengthen existing prohibitions on biological warfare in light of rapid scientific advances."

The same day, ICRC media adviser Dr. Robin Coupland told reporters: "The world is on the verge of a revolution in biotechnology. Expected advances have enormous potential to benefit humanity, but these same technologies have great potential for abuse." Coupland added that the international political declaration called for in the Appeal "could be adopted in a year or so - 2003 or shortly thereafter", and expressed confidence that such a declaration would act as a "catalyst" to re-energise efforts to strengthen the biological weapons non-proliferation regime.

Writing in the International Herald Tribune on September 27, ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger outlined the chilling risks involved in failing to respond to the Appeal: "Recent developments have revealed the capacity to create viruses from synthetic materials available by mail order, and to make existing pathogens much more virulent. In the not too distant future other disturbing possibilities may be witnessed. These include biological agents which distinguish between racial and ethnic groups; the means to covertly spread biological agents which interfere with normal bodily functions such as consciousness, behaviour, temperature and fertility; and biological agents which attack agricultural or industrial infrastructure. History has shown that important and positive advances in science and technology are almost always weaponised. Developments in chemistry, aviation, electronics and nuclear physics are just a few examples. Many weapons experts say the capacities and products of the biotechnology revolution will facilitate development and use of biological weapons and make the deliberate spread of disease and changes to body chemistry easier, deadlier, cheaper and harder to detect. The abuse of such capabilities could have alarming and uncontrollable consequences for the human species and the natural environment."

Related material on Acronym website:

ICRC Biotechnology Appeal, September 25

Reports: Appeal of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Biotechnology, Weapons and Humanity, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC - http://www.icrc.org), September 25; Biotechnology and weapons - ICRC makes solemn appeal, ICRC Press Release 02/53, September 25; Red Cross cites fear of germ warfare, urges new controls, Associated Press, September 25; Red Cross urges action on germ weapons, biotech, Reuters, September 25; An appeal to governments and scientists, by Jakob Kellenberger, International Herald Tribune, September 27.

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