[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 15, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 15, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       RUSSIA'S SECRET NERVE GAS

  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Madam President, on March 11, good news was heard from 
Moscow. All charges were dropped against a courageous Russian 
scientist, Dr. Vil Marzayanov who, 2 years ago in a Moscow News 
article, revealed to the world that the Soviet Union had secretly 
developed a powerful binary nerve gas. For this, Dr. Mirzayanov was 
jailed twice, and placed on trial.
  David Wise, who brought this case to my attention, is a noted and 
respected author who has written extensively about the dangers of 
excessive secrecy and about the operations of intelligence agencies. 
Mr. Wise spoke at great length with Dr. Mirzayanov in Moscow last 
November. Upon his return he contacted me. I was proud to add my voice 
to that of the many scientific and human rights organizations that have 
worked to free Dr. Mirzayanov. In particular, I would like to commend 
the efforts of two individuals, Gale M. Colby and Irene Goldman.
  As Mr. Wise points out, although Dr. Mirzayanov no longer faces 
criminal charges, important questions remain about Russia's intentions 
in the field of nerve gas production. This case is particularly 
disturbing because agreement was reached on the chemical weapons 
convention in Geneva less than 2 weeks before Dr. Mirzayanov published 
his article.
  In his article, David Wise wrote that it was a moral realization that 
gave Dr. Mirzayanov the courage to speak out. We can do no less. I 
trust that these questions will continue to be carefully pursued by our 
Government and the Senate as ratification of the chemical weapons 
convention is considered.
  Madam President, at this time I ask that David Wise's article from 
the March 12, 1994, New York Times be placed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the New York Times, Mar. 12, 1994]

                           Novichok on Trial

                            (By David Wise)

       Washington.--Yesterday in Moscow, Russia's chief prosecutor 
     dropped all charges against Vil Mirzayanov, a chemist who was 
     jailed for revealing that the Soviets had secretly developed 
     a binary nerve gas, code-named Novichok, that is 8 to 10 
     times as powerful as anything in America's arsenal.
       For speaking out, Mr. Mirzayanov was imprisoned twice and 
     put on trial for supposedly disclosing state secrets. His 
     vindication, due in large part to Western pressure, is a 
     promising event, but it leaves unaddressed the larger issues 
     of Russia's intentions in the field of chemical warfare.
       He was first arrested on Oct. 22, 1992, by the successor to 
     the K.G.B.'s internal security arm, for describing the 
     development of Novichok in an article in The Moscow News. 
     Although he was released after 11 days, Mr. Mirzayanov had 
     been dismissed and he and his wife and their two young 
     children had to subsist on small grants from human rights 
     organizations. When his closed trial began in January, he was 
     jailed again for refusing to participate in what he regarded 
     as an unconstitutional procedure. The Constitution bars the 
     prosecution of anyone for violating secret laws--precisely 
     the charge against Mr. Mirzayanov.
       Every country has a right to protect its military secrets. 
     But at the time of Mr. Mirzayanov's arrest, chemical weapons 
     were not on the list of ``state secrets,'' presumably because 
     the Government did not want to advertist that it had them. 
     The Prime Minister, Viktor S. Chernomyrdin, remedied this 
     oversight last March when he added chemical weapons to the 
     list, retroactively.
       In November, I spent more than 10 hours with Mr. 
     Mirzayanov, a mild-mannered, gray-haired man who turned 59 
     this week. It was clear from our conversations that his case, 
     a throwback to Soviet-style justice, involved much more than 
     human rights issues. Mr. Mirzayanov lifted the curtain on a 
     matter of great strategic importance: The lives of millions 
     of people are at risk.
       Nerve gases, first developed by the Nazis during World War 
     II, are horrifying. A tiny drop on the skin, or inhaled, 
     brings death within a minute or two. The gases--a misnomer 
     since they are actually liquids delivered in a fine mist--
     inhibit the enzymes that control the nerve receptors in the 
     brain. Victims, as one American expert explained, ``forget to 
     breath.''
       In September 1992, the Geneva chemical weapons convention 
     was drafted. It has been signed by 156 countries, including 
     the United States and Russia, although neither has ratified 
     it. The convention outlaws the development, production and 
     stockpiling of chemical weapons. The signatories agreed to 
     list the chemical weapons they possess and to destroy them.
       Until Mr. Mirzayanov spoke out, no one knew that the 
     Soviets had developed Novichok (which translates as 
     ``newcomer''). Referring to the Mirzayanov trial, Ambassador 
     Thomas Pickering said in Moscow that it seemed strange to us 
     * * * that someone could either be prosecuted or persecuted 
     for telling the truth about an activity which is contrary to 
     a treaty obligation of a foreign government.''
       Mr. Mirzayanov told me that the Russian stockpile of 
     chemical weapons, some 60,000 tons, ``would be enough to kill 
     tens of millions.'' Since Novichok was not developed in large 
     quantities, he said, the Russians may have only enough of it 
     to kill several hundred thousand people. Although this would 
     be ample to wipe out a medium-sized city, he said, there 
     would be hidden costs as well: ``mutations in the next 
     generation or future generations.''
       He is also concerned about another Soviet-developed nerve 
     gas that the Russians call Agent 33. As with Novichok, he 
     doubts that the Russians intend to disclose its existence or 
     its formula, despite the Geneva convention.
       Near the end of our talks, I asked Mr. Mirzayanov why he 
     had decided to go public and risk prison. ``It occurred to me 
     that I was engaged in a criminal enterprise,'' he said. That 
     moral realization, he added, gave him the courage to speak 
     out. The U.S. can do no less; it should continue to press 
     Moscow to disclose and destroy its nerve gas arsenal.

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