-Caveat Lector- Via http://www.fas.org/news/serbia/bmd970328j.htm Voice of America 3/27/97 YUGOSLAVIA / CHEMICAL WEAPONS BYLINE=RITA COLORITO DATELINE=NEW YORK CONTENT= VOICED AT: (VOICED BY MAX RUSTON) /// EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:30 PM EST /// INTRO: AN AMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP, IN A REPORT RELEASED TODAY (THURSDAY), SAYS CHEMICAL WEAPONS PRODUCTION CAPABILITIES IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA POSE A THREAT TO THE REGION'S FRAGILE PEACE. V-O-A'S RITA COLORITO REPORTS FROM NEW YORK. TEXT: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH SAYS IT HAS UNCOVERED EVIDENCE THAT THE YUGOSLAV NATIONAL ARMY HAD AN EXTENSIVE CHEMICAL WEAPONS PROGRAM PRIOR TO THE BREAKUP OF YUGOSLAVIA IN 1991. JOOST (YOST) HILTERMANN, DIRECTOR OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ARMS PROJECT, SAYS THE ARMY OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA INHERITED MUCH OF THIS PROGRAM. /// HILTERMANN ACTUALITY /// AT THE MOMENT WE ARE AWARE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS CAPABILITY IN THE FEDERATION OF YUGOSLAVIA, WHICH IS BASICALLY THE REPUBLICS OF SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO. AND THIS IS A GOVERNMENT THAT HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY ABUSIVE IN THE CONFLICT IN THE BALKANS IN THE PAST, THAT HAS INSTIGATED TO A LARGE EXTENT THE CONFLICT IN THE BALKANS. AND THE EXISTENCE OF THIS CAPABILITY THERE, THIS EXPERTISE, THIS EQUIPMENT, ALL MEAN THAT ONCE A FUTURE CONFLICT BREAKS OUT, OR IF FURTHER CONFLICT THREATENS, THE NEIGHBORING STATES MAY WELL CHOOSE TO DEVELOP SIMILAR CAPABILITIES IN ORDER TO COUNTERACT ANY ATTACK FROM THE SERBIAN SIDE. THIS MAY LEAD TO AN ARMS RACE IN CHEMICAL WEAPONS. AND THAT, IN ITSELF, MAY FURTHER INCREASE THE TENSIONS THAT ALREADY EXIST. /// END ACTUALITY /// A SPOKESMAN FOR THE YUGOSLAV MISSION TO THE UNITED NATIONS CATEGORICALLY DENIES ALL ALLEGATIONS REGARDING THE USE AND PRODUCTION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN HIS COUNTRY, SUGGESTING THAT THE INFORMATION IN THE HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT CAME FROM OTHER FORMER REPUBLICS TRYING TO PRESENT A FALSE PICTURE ABOUT THE YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC'S ROLE IN THE CRISIS. MR. HILTERMANN OF HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH SAYS SOME OF THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS EXPERTS FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAV ARMY ARE LIVING IN BOSNIA AND CROATIA, ADDING THAT THE POTENTIAL FOR THOSE COUNTRIES TO DEVELOP CHEMICAL WEAPONS CAPABILITIES IS THEREFORE A REAL ISSUE. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH SAYS IT CANNOT CONFIRM ALLEGATIONS THAT CHEMICAL WEAPONS ARE CURRENTLY BEING PRODUCED. THE GROUP'S REPORT ALSO CHARGES THAT THE UNITED STATES HAS KNOWN ABOUT CHEMICAL WEAPONS PRODUCTION CAPABILITY IN THE BALKANS SINCE 1993, BUT HAS BEEN RELUCTANT TO RELEASE THE INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC. THE U-S STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS IT HAS NO COMMENT ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ALLEGATIONS. /// REST OPT /// THE REPORT -- CALLED "CLOUDS OF WAR: CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA" -- IS BASED ON A YEAR OF RESEARCH, INCLUDING INTERVIEWS WITH PERSONS INVOLVED IN WHAT HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH DESCRIBES AS THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS PROGRAM OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAV ARMY. THE REPORT SAYS THE YUGOSLAV ARMY CONDUCTED RESEARCH DURING THE WAR IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA ON A VARIETY OF CHEMICAL AGENTS, INCLUDING THE NERVE AGENT SARIN. THE USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN WARFARE HAS BEEN PROHIBITED SINCE THE 1925 GENEVA PROTOCOL. THE POSSESSION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS IS PROHIBITED UNDER THE 1993 CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION, WHICH IS SCHEDULED TO COME INTO FORCE FOR RATIFYING COUNTRIES ON APRIL 29, 1997. MR. HILTERMANN SAYS RATIFICATION OF THE CONVENTION BY ALL PARTIES IS NEEDED TO ENSURE A LASTING PEACE IN THE BALKANS. /// HILTERMANN ACTUALITY /// CROATIA HAS RATIFIED. BOSNIA HAS SIGNED BUT NOT YET RATIFIED, AND THE FEDERATION OF YUGOSLAVIA HAS NEITHER SIGNED NOR RATIFIED, AND THIS IS RATHER ALARMING GIVEN THE CAPABILITY THAT EXISTS. /// END ACTUALITY /// THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION HAS BACKED THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION. (SIGNED) NEB/NY/RC/LSF/KL 27-Mar-97 4:05 PM EST (2105 UTC) NNNN >From http://www.fas.org/asmp/library/publications/revealed.htm The Arms Trade Revealed A Guide for Investigators and Activists by Lora Lumpe and Jeff Donarski ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Contents (Click here for the online version) * About this Book 1) Ways and Means 2) Point/Counterpoint 3) Arms Pushing in the Executive Branch 4) Congress' Role 5) The "K Street" Crowd 6) Citizen Activism and the Public Interest Lobby 7) For More Information ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- This 120 pp. guide for researchers and activists includes chapters on US arms export and military training programs; the roles and methods of the various players (in the executive branch, Congress, industry, and public interest groups); rebuttals to the most commonly heard rationales in support of the lethal trade; grassroots tactics; profiles of successful anti-arms trade campaigns; and tips for obtaining governmental and other documents. "The Arms Trade Revealed is a single-volume education in the least understood, but arguably most important way that America interacts with the rest of the world. Lumpe and Donarski have written a clear, readable, and fascinating guide to the vast business of manufacturing and exporting armaments, concentrating on the high price that US citizens pay and the many things we can do to influence our lawmakers to stop the arms free-for-all." -- Neil Gordon, author of The Gunrunner's Daughter (Random House, 1998) and The Sacrifice of Isaac (Random House, 1996). "This lively, well-organized analysis provides the most detailed accounting available of how the US government has become the world's #1 arms merchant. Whether you are a peace activist, a journalist, or a policymaker, you must read this book." -- Bill Hartung, Senior Fellow at the World Policy Institute and author of And Weapons for All (HarpersCollins, 1996). "At last, the book I've always dreamed of: a comprehensive guide to the U.S. arms trade establishment with all of the vital particulars-names, agencies, laws, loopholes, addresses, documents, phone numbers, and all the rest. It will prove indispensable for anyone who works on arms trade issues." -Michael Klare, Director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College and co-author of A Scourge of Guns (FAS, 1996) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Ordering The Arms Trade Revealed (ISBN number pending) Price: $12 per copy $10 per copy for low income/students or orders of 5 copies or more. Send shipping address, number of books requested, and a check payable to "Federation of American Scientists Fund" to: Federation of American Scientists Arms Sales Monitoring Project 307 Massachusetts Ave., NE Washington, D.C. 20002 Or contact Anna Rich at: Tel: (202) 675-1009 Fax: (202) 675-1010 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visa and MasterCard also accepted. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority. -Thomas Huxley + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. 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