Treaty 'Loophole' Allows World Governments to Develop Deadly Bioweapons and Corresponding Vaccines
Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) treaty allows governments to produce
"the most dangerous pathogens" for alleged "peaceful uses," like vaccine development.
The ‘Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and On Their Destruction,’ known as the ‘Biological Weapons Convention’ (BWC), was opened for signature in April 1972 and took effect in March 1975.
With nearly 200 countries joining the group so far, the BWC serves as the cornerstone of the international framework for regulating biological arms.
A bioweapon, or biological weapon, is a disease-causing organism or toxin intended to harm or kill humans, animals, or plants.
These weapons, which include viruses, bacteria, fungi, and toxic substances, are intended to spread diseases and cause extensive harm.
Deadly and devastating, bioweapons are generally prohibited under international law.
The BWC treaty was “designed to ban biological weapons by prohibiting the development, production, and stockpiling of biological agents as well as related equipment and delivery systems that are intended for hostile use,” according to a 2003 report from the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), an international nonprofit security organization focused on reducing nuclear and biological threats.
NTI summarizes how the BWC:
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forbids States Parties from developing, producing, stockpiling, or otherwise acquiring biological agents or toxins that have no justification for peaceful or defensive purposes;
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forbids States Parties from developing, producing, stockpiling, or otherwise acquiring equipment to deliver biological agents or toxins for hostile purposes;
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obligates States Parties to destroy or divert to peaceful purposes their existing stocks of prohibited items;
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forbids States Parties from transferring prohibited items to anyone or otherwise helping in the manufacture or acquisition of biological weapons;
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protects the rights of States Parties to exchange equipment, materials, and scientific and technological information for peaceful purposes in order to avoid hampering their economic and technological development;
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commits States Parties to cooperate in solving any problems through consultation and in carrying out any investigation initiated by the UN Security Council; and
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commits States Parties to provide assistance to others that have been attacked using biological weapons.
However, the BWC does not ban the use of biological weapons outright.
Whether a bioweapon is prohibited or allowed to be developed is a matter of “purpose.”
The BWC distinguishes between developing bioweapons for “peaceful” or “hostile” purposes.
Article I of the treaty gives countries the “right” to maintain biological weapons for alleged “prophylactic, protective, or other peaceful” purposes, like vaccine development.
“Countries are allowed to develop medicines and vaccines to combat naturally occurring outbreaks of diseases as well as defensive measure[s] to combat the effects of biological weapons,” NTI explains.
This gives governments all over the world the ability to experiment with “the most dangerous pathogens and toxins” known to man.
“Even the most dangerous pathogens and toxins cannot be banned outright because of their dual-use nature, including the development of vaccines as well as other peaceful uses such as the employment of botulinum toxin for cosmetic and medical therapy,” according to NTI.
That governments are allowed to develop both the problem, a dangerous virus, and the solution, a vaccine for that virus, simultaneously, raises the possibility of a conflict of interest.
This is because the same entities responsible for addressing the crisis also have a vested interest in its continuation for the sake of vaccine development, distribution, and sale.
Questions are raised about world governments’ potentially nefarious intentions behind bioweapons and corresponding vaccine development.
