Monthly Archives: July 2021

BWC Declaration Concerns, 1993 Edition

This lengthy 1993 report by the Ad Hoc Group of Governmental Experts To Identify and Examine Potential Verification Measures From a Scientific and Technical Standpoint has a good deal of material with regard to a BWC verification regime, including a description of concerns with regard to declarations.

For example,

information provided… would need to be made available to all States Parties. Concern was expressed that this could create confidentiality problems for some of the categories of information already suggested as the subject for declarations.

That issue is familiar, but this one was new-ish to me:

…releasing the names of personnel employed in a declared facility may result in attacks by animal rights activists or terrorists. Industry may be unwilling to provide commercially sensitive information if it was to be made public. It may be possible to prevent such problems by careful definition of what information is required to be declared, and by ensuring the information is strictly controlled under the BWC.

Special Branch Report on 1983 CND Event

This article about CND links to this document which “records placards and slogans” seen at a 1983 CND demonstration and

painstakingly lists organisations spotted participating. The list includes hundreds of regional CND groups as well as trade unions, Labour groups, and all sorts of special interest groups ranging from Marxist Leninists to the Royal Court Theatre, West Oxford Woodcraft Folk, and Whores Against Wars: English Collective of Prostitutes, to name but a few.

DIA on KH-11 Leak

A while back, DIA posted this piece titled This Week in DIA History: DIA Identifies Leak of Classified KH-11 Capabilities.

Here’s an excerpt:

In 1978, analysts noted a sizeable increase in Soviet efforts to avoid satellite detection of their activities — even of weapon systems previously photographed. Although the Soviets knew the KH-11 satellite passed over the USSR, they had misclassified it as a non-photographic satellite. Suddenly, KH-11 collection on troop and equipment deployments, SS-20 mobile missiles and Backfire Bombers diminished. This provided clear indication that the Soviets obtained new, damaging information on the true capabilities of the KH-11.

Delhi Declaration, 1985

Here is the Delhi Declaration from the January 1985 Six-Nation Summit on Nuclear Disarmament. The six countries were Argentina, Greece, India, Mexico, Sweden, and Tanzania.

The full text is too long to paste, but here’s a sample:

We reiterate our appeal for an all-embracing halt to the testing,
production and deployment of nuclear weapons and their delivery
systems. Such a halt would greatly facilitate negotiations. Two
specific steps today require special attention: the prevention of
an arms race in outer space, and a comprehensive test ban treaty.

Plus ca change, etc.