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ASA's
thanks to Ake Bovallius and Ewen Buchanan for this special article on
the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission
(UNMOVIC). Dr. Bovallius was the former Director of the FOA NBC Defence
for many years and he will be participating in this 7th CBW Protection
Symposium.
UNMOVIC: An Update
Ake Bovallius and Ewen Buchanan
UNMOVIC,
set up by the UN Security Council in late 1999 to take over the work
of the defunct UNSCOM in cleaning up Iraq's WMD, has yet to set foot
there. It should have been let into Iraq a year ago. So what has the
inspectorate been doing in the meantime?
Those staff engaged
to date (some 45 professionals) have been occupied with a variety of
preparatory tasks. One task, the most demanding in terms of staff resources,
is the analysis of available documents and material in order to identify
"unresolved disarmament issues." UNMOVIC is to tackle these issues through
a system of reinforced ongoing monitoring and verification in Iraq.
The analysis of these issues will also aid UNMOVIC in the later identification
of so-called "key remaining disarmament tasks" as part of a work program
to be implemented in Iraq, once operations begin there. This latter
work cannot be finalized until the inspectors are back in Iraq to see
what has happened since UNSCOM withdrew from Iraq in late 1998. But,
a great deal can be done now.
Another major
activity of UNMOVIC has been the preparation of a handbook for inspectors.
The handbook, which is based mainly on resolutions and other directives
of the Security Council, aims at providing staff with practical guidance
on many inspection and operational issues. It sets out the procedures
to be used by the UNMOVIC staff in Iraq in with respect to of the various
weapons disciplines for which UNMOVIC is responsible. The handbook sets
out the rights of inspectors and the corresponding duties and obligations
of Iraq, including providing inspectors with basic texts of the Security
Council's decisions and other sources of the mandate of UNMOVIC.
The staff of
UNMOVIC has continued the work to revise and update the lists of "dual-use"
items and materials the export of which to Iraq must be notified to
the UN. These lists have not been revised since 1995 and the proposed
alterations try to take account of technological changes since that
time, as well as tidy up the definitions of some goods covered by the
scheme. Some items are to be removed from the lists based on the practical
experience gained in the operation of the monitoring mechanism, where
it is believed that more energy should be focussed on more easily monitored
choke points in WMD production.
UNMOVIC took
over an archive of more than one million pages of material from the
former Special Commission. UNMOVIC has endeavored to make this material
better organized and more accessible while balancing the need for security.
The new system will also integrate information held by the IAEA and
UNMOVIC on sites and facilities subject to inspection in Iraq. UNMOVIC
(The Commission?) has made progress towards its aim of developing an
integrated data management system, optimizing current technologies that
will facilitate data retrieval, analysis, interprtation and reporting.
Experts at UNMOVIC
have also been evaluating new sensor technologies and equipment, which
could be used in the field in Iraq. UNMOVIC has continued to explore
the potential use of overhead imagery for its work and has been discussing
its requirements with some UN members and commercial providers. With
the advances in the commercial satellite arena, their product is of
increasing interest to UNMOVIC and will make it less dependent on governments
for this source of information. While imagery cannot be a substitute
for onsite inspection, it can be provide a valuable complement to inspection.
UNMOVIC's experts
have completed their review of the criteria for the classification of
inspection sites and facilities throughout Iraq. They have also prepared
common layouts and formats for the reporting of site inspections to
enable greater consistency and thus a clearer basis for analysis. Studies
have been undertaken to determine the priority of sites to be inspected.
Other studies have aimed at the identification of sites in Iraq at which
dual-use items may have been installed or used since December 1998.
The formats for declarations by Iraq have also been reviewed and revised
with a view to standardizing them across the weapons disciplines and
making them more user-friendly for Iraq, and more useful for UNMOVIC.
In the current
circumstances, UNMOVIC has not wanted to have a large cadre of inspectors
sitting and waiting to go to Iraq. Instead, it aims at creating a roster
of trained and qualified individuals upon which it can later draw for
its work in Iraq. UNMOVIC has conducted a series of both month-long
general training courses for potential inspectors, as well as more specialized,
shorter-term courses focussing on specific weapons disciplines and skills.
Three courses of the former category have been held to date (in the
US, France and Austria). A fourth opened in Canada on 28 May. These
training courses have covered general lectures on the mandate of UNMOVIC,
its rights and obligations, the proscribed weapons programmes of Iraq
and discipline-specific training. In addition, participants in the courses
were provided with training regarding the history, religion and culture
of Iraq. With the completion of the fourth training course in late June
2001, UNMOVIC will have a roster of about 180 persons trained for work
in Iraq. Specialized training courses have been held covering sampling
for missile, chemical and biological weapons and advanced missile inspection
training course. Further training courses, both general and specific,
are envisaged.
The downside
of not having inspectors on the ground is clear. But, like most clouds,
it has a silver lining. Waiting for the green light from Baghdad has
enabled UNMOVIC to become as well prepared as it can for its task.
More information on UNMOVIC can be found at www.unmovic.org
01-3, issue no. 84
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