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Toxic Weapons, Epidemiology, and Human Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

Howard Hu
Howard Hu*
Affiliation:
Harvard University, USA
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Extract

In June of 1991, a team of experts from the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) inspected an Iraqi facility at Samarra, known as the “Muthanna State Enterprise for Pesticide Production.” Its inspection revealed a chemical weapons factory (United Nations, 1991). Inspectors found mustard gas and organophosphorus nerve agents, types GB and GF, as well as tabun—agent GA (CBW News, 1991). They estimated that the facility had the capacity to produce 2.5 tons of sarin and 5 tons of mustard gas per day. According to media reports, “dozens” of companies were implicated in the construction and production processes of the facility, including companies originating from Austria, France, Germany, India, Switzerland, the United States, and seven other countries (CBW News, 1991; Independent, July 17, 1991).

Type
Roundtable Commentaries
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , February 1992 , pp. 24 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

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References

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