BioWeapons Prevention Project Releases First Edition of Its BioWeapons Report
by Alan Pearson [contact information]
News from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
For immediate release - Thursday, December 9, 2004
Contact: Alan Pearson, (202) 546-0795, ext. 107
The BioWeapons Prevention Project (BWPP), an international non-governmental organization that works to strengthen the norm against using disease as a weapon, released the First Edition of its BioWeapons Report today at the 2004 Meeting of States Parties to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) in Geneva, Switzerland. The report is available on the BWPP website.
The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation is among the more than 30 partners participating in the BWPP, which is supporting and expanding a global network of civil society organizations deeply concerned about the biological weapons threat and committed to developing ideas and advocating for local, national and global efforts to reduce this threat.
“The report clearly explains the dangers posed by both traditional and potentially new biological weapons, and describes some of the many steps governments can and should take to reduce the threat,” said Alan Pearson, Director of the Biological and Chemical Weapons Control Program at the Center. “It makes clear that governments must undertake serious efforts now to prevent the proliferation of these weapons.”
Among its activities, the BWPP monitors political, societal, scientific and technological developments with possible implications for the use of disease as a weapon. It also monitors threat reduction efforts undertaken by governments and other entities, including the implementation of the legal and political obligations of States under the BTWC and other relevant international agreements.
The BWPP also aims to raise awareness among civil society organizations, the media and the public about the bioweapons threat and about efforts they can take to reduce the threat by making complex issues accessible to non-specialized audiences through its publications.
The first edition of the BioWeapons Report serves these purposes. It includes chapters, written for a lay audience by partner organizations themselves, on the following topics:
by Alan Pearson [contact information]
- Civil society and the norm against the weaponization of disease: meeting the challenge
- National implementation legislation for the BTWC
- The contribution of “confidence building measures” to transparency
- Investigations of alleged non-compliance with the BTWC
- Advances in science and technology: present and future threats
- Anti-animal threats
- Anti-plant threats
- The threat from incapacitating biochemical agents
- Science and technology considerations for 7th BTWC review conference in 2011
- Chronology of BW relevant events from July 2002 – July 2004
Alan Pearson 202-546-0795 ext. 2107 apearson@armscontrolcenter.org
Dr. Alan Pearson is the Director of the Biological and Chemical Weapons Control Program at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation where his work focuses on biological weapons, chemical weapons, and WMD proliferation. Pearson's work has been published and cited in numerous publications, including Nonproliferation Review, Nature, and Science. He is editor of the book Incapacitating Biochemical Weapons: Promise or Peril? (November 2007).
For more information on the BWPP or the Biological and Chemical Weapons Control Program of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, contact Alan Pearson at 202-546-0795, Ext. 107 or apearson@armscontrolcenter.org.
Alan Pearson 202-546-0795 ext. 2107 apearson@armscontrolcenter.org
Dr. Alan Pearson is the Director of the Biological and Chemical Weapons Control Program at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation where his work focuses on biological weapons, chemical weapons, and WMD proliferation. Pearson's work has been published and cited in numerous publications, including Nonproliferation Review, Nature, and Science. He is editor of the book Incapacitating Biochemical Weapons: Promise or Peril? (November 2007).