[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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