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| Nobel peace prize honours OPCW's dangerous, dirty and unsung work | Nobel peace prize honours OPCW's dangerous, dirty and unsung work |
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| The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is neither a romantic nor a spectacular choice for the Nobel peace prize. It is known by the unwieldy initials OPCW. Few have ever heard of its understated Turkish director general, Ahmet Üzümcü. Moreover, the agency's inspectors are tiresome sticklers for the rules and decidedly low profile. Even the Nobel committee had trouble getting hold of anyone at The Hague headquarters to tell them the news. | |
| This year's prize is not a story of a heroic individual triumphing against the odds, but rather, a rare tale of an international institution doing what it is supposed to do,somewhat quietly and effectively, and making the world a significantly safer place in the process. | This year's prize is not a story of a heroic individual triumphing against the odds, but rather, a rare tale of an international institution doing what it is supposed to do,somewhat quietly and effectively, and making the world a significantly safer place in the process. |
| Since its founding in 1997, the OPCW has arguably carried out the most successful disarmament efforts of our times, ridding the earth of 80% of its chemical weapons – munitions capable of unleashing some of the greatest horrors of the past century: the blinding chlorine in the trenches of the first world war, Saddam Hussein's use of nerve gas against Iran, and the Kurds in Halabja 25 years ago, and the rows of lifeless, white-shrouded children after the attacks in August on Ghouta, in Syria. | Since its founding in 1997, the OPCW has arguably carried out the most successful disarmament efforts of our times, ridding the earth of 80% of its chemical weapons – munitions capable of unleashing some of the greatest horrors of the past century: the blinding chlorine in the trenches of the first world war, Saddam Hussein's use of nerve gas against Iran, and the Kurds in Halabja 25 years ago, and the rows of lifeless, white-shrouded children after the attacks in August on Ghouta, in Syria. |
| The OPCW's Syrian mission has just begun and the Nobel committee's decision was meant in part as a gesture of support for what will be the most dangerous mission in the agency's history – dismantling some of the world's most lethal non-nuclear weapons, while wearing full body armour and trying to avoid being shot in the middle of a war zone. | The OPCW's Syrian mission has just begun and the Nobel committee's decision was meant in part as a gesture of support for what will be the most dangerous mission in the agency's history – dismantling some of the world's most lethal non-nuclear weapons, while wearing full body armour and trying to avoid being shot in the middle of a war zone. |
| Üzümcü, a Turkish diplomat, said the Ghouta massacre was a "tragic reminder" of the necessity of the agency's work. But the Nobel award was quickly criticised on the grounds that Syria's chemical disarmament had barely begun and would, in any case, do little to directly alleviate the plight of Syrians. Only 1% of casualties have been caused by chemical munitions. | Üzümcü, a Turkish diplomat, said the Ghouta massacre was a "tragic reminder" of the necessity of the agency's work. But the Nobel award was quickly criticised on the grounds that Syria's chemical disarmament had barely begun and would, in any case, do little to directly alleviate the plight of Syrians. Only 1% of casualties have been caused by chemical munitions. |
| "If this prize gives the impression that the chemical weapons inspections in Syria will help foster peace, then it's a wrong perception," said Louay Safi, a senior figure in Syria's main opposition. | "If this prize gives the impression that the chemical weapons inspections in Syria will help foster peace, then it's a wrong perception," said Louay Safi, a senior figure in Syria's main opposition. |
| There has been no progress towards peace in Syria that would warrant the world's most famous peace prize. The chemical disarmament plan agreed by the OPCW governing body last month and endorsed by a UN security council resolution is much more a breakthrough for long-term goals of non-proliferation than for the urgent needs of Syria. The same is true of the Nobel prize. | There has been no progress towards peace in Syria that would warrant the world's most famous peace prize. The chemical disarmament plan agreed by the OPCW governing body last month and endorsed by a UN security council resolution is much more a breakthrough for long-term goals of non-proliferation than for the urgent needs of Syria. The same is true of the Nobel prize. |
| In the citation read out in Oslo yesterday, the committee made clear that it was also overdue recognition for more than 16 years of difficult, largely unsung work and for one of the greatest success stories in the long, patchy history of multilateral disarmament, on a relatively small budget of £60m a year. | In the citation read out in Oslo yesterday, the committee made clear that it was also overdue recognition for more than 16 years of difficult, largely unsung work and for one of the greatest success stories in the long, patchy history of multilateral disarmament, on a relatively small budget of £60m a year. |
| Before the Syrian conflict thrust the OPCW into the spotlight, it had largely laboured in the shadows. Its circular modernist headquarters, a few metres from The Hague war crimes tribunal, has a spartan and businesslike interior. It is a far cry from the skyscraper inhabited by its better-known nuclear cousin in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency. | |
| The absence of publicity has helped the OPCW go about its business with a quiet but striking efficiency. It started with the precarious task of dismantling a bunker full of leaky canisters of mustard gas and arsenic-based chemicals left behind by the communist regime in Albania. The entire stockpiles of India and South Korea have also been destroyed, as well as almost all of Muammar Gaddafi's stores in Libya, and well more than 90% of the vast US arsenal. | The absence of publicity has helped the OPCW go about its business with a quiet but striking efficiency. It started with the precarious task of dismantling a bunker full of leaky canisters of mustard gas and arsenic-based chemicals left behind by the communist regime in Albania. The entire stockpiles of India and South Korea have also been destroyed, as well as almost all of Muammar Gaddafi's stores in Libya, and well more than 90% of the vast US arsenal. |
| Russia's stockpile – at 40,000-tonnes, a relic of the cold war – is on the way to oblivion, and the OPCW is working on dismantling weapons left after Japan's wartime occupation of China. | Russia's stockpile – at 40,000-tonnes, a relic of the cold war – is on the way to oblivion, and the OPCW is working on dismantling weapons left after Japan's wartime occupation of China. |
| Each mission is fraught with danger. Chemical weapons often leak, and one tiny droplet of a nerve agent such as sarin is enough to kill. The juxtaposition of high explosive and poison gases in chemical weapons is particularly volatile and separating them takes nerve. | Each mission is fraught with danger. Chemical weapons often leak, and one tiny droplet of a nerve agent such as sarin is enough to kill. The juxtaposition of high explosive and poison gases in chemical weapons is particularly volatile and separating them takes nerve. |
| Even in the carefully controlled, unhurried environment of the US disarmament programme, accidents happen. On one occasion, the guillotine cutting up a missile missed its mark by millimetres and triggered a detonation that sent nerve gas spraying out. | Even in the carefully controlled, unhurried environment of the US disarmament programme, accidents happen. On one occasion, the guillotine cutting up a missile missed its mark by millimetres and triggered a detonation that sent nerve gas spraying out. |
| Inspectors have been hurt from time to time, but since the OPCW's creation, not one has been killed – a record the agency is now anxiously trying to keep in Syria. The 20-strong team that has flown there is made up of more than a dozen nationalities, a reflection of the OPCW's strong international tradition that seeks to put loyalty to the chemical weapons convention above national origins. | Inspectors have been hurt from time to time, but since the OPCW's creation, not one has been killed – a record the agency is now anxiously trying to keep in Syria. The 20-strong team that has flown there is made up of more than a dozen nationalities, a reflection of the OPCW's strong international tradition that seeks to put loyalty to the chemical weapons convention above national origins. |
| Partly for that reason, the OPCW has managed to stay largely out of global politics. The notable exception was in 2002, during the presidency of George Bush Sr, when US neoconservatives led by John Bolton conducted an extraordinary campaign to drive out the then director general, José Bustani. Bolton's claims of mismanagement were later dismissed by a tribunal. The real reason for the campaign appears to be that Bustani was getting close to persuading Saddam Hussein to join the convention and to allow OPCW inspectors into Iraq, which would have complicated plans for invasion. | Partly for that reason, the OPCW has managed to stay largely out of global politics. The notable exception was in 2002, during the presidency of George Bush Sr, when US neoconservatives led by John Bolton conducted an extraordinary campaign to drive out the then director general, José Bustani. Bolton's claims of mismanagement were later dismissed by a tribunal. The real reason for the campaign appears to be that Bustani was getting close to persuading Saddam Hussein to join the convention and to allow OPCW inspectors into Iraq, which would have complicated plans for invasion. |
| Bustani, now the Brazilian ambassador in Paris, told the Guardian the Nobel prize was a vindication for multilateralism and disarmament. "This is completely deserved and comes at long last after years of work," Bustani said. "My only regret was not to have done more sooner. If we had been allowed to persuade Iraq to join, we would have avoided a war and might have been able to persuade Egypt and Syria to join then. But this is an important moment for the international community." | Bustani, now the Brazilian ambassador in Paris, told the Guardian the Nobel prize was a vindication for multilateralism and disarmament. "This is completely deserved and comes at long last after years of work," Bustani said. "My only regret was not to have done more sooner. If we had been allowed to persuade Iraq to join, we would have avoided a war and might have been able to persuade Egypt and Syria to join then. But this is an important moment for the international community." |
| The Nobel award will now turn up the pressure on the half-dozen nations who are still not party to the chemical weapons convention: Israel, Egypt, North Korea, Burma, Angola and South Sudan. If it helps persuade any of them to join and to give up their chemical weapons, it would be all the more reason to argue that this was one of the Nobel committee's better decisions. | The Nobel award will now turn up the pressure on the half-dozen nations who are still not party to the chemical weapons convention: Israel, Egypt, North Korea, Burma, Angola and South Sudan. If it helps persuade any of them to join and to give up their chemical weapons, it would be all the more reason to argue that this was one of the Nobel committee's better decisions. |
| • This article was amended on 15 October 2013 to remove a reference to The Hague as the Dutch capital. | |
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