DISARMAMENT: Chemical Weapon Chief’s Ouster Hurts Multilateralism

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr 24 2002 (IPS) - Multilateralism, the United Nations, and the disarmament effort in general have suffered a blow as a result of the U.S.-led removal of the director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Such is the assessment of the coordinator of the strategic studies programme at the State University of Campinas, Brazil, Geraldo Cavagnari, a retired army colonel.

The “mafia-like” manner in which Washington imposed its power in the OPCW undermines the credibility of that and other international organisations, and “has repercussions for the entire multilateral system,” said Cavagnari, reacting to the Monday dismissal of Bustani.

This puts all efforts at arms control in question, whether or not they involve chemical weapons, because it has become evident that the OPCW and other bodies will not be able to operate independently of U.S. interests, he said.

The former army officer commented, however, that it is not a permanent situation, because the removal of Bustani is due “to the style of the current government” of the United States, under conservative Republican George W. Bush.

The Bush administration is unlike its predecessor, although it, too, exercised its prerogatives as the world’s superpower, but did so through “more subtle” means, he said.

The OPCW was established in 1997 to oversee the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the manufacture, stockpiling and use of such weapons.

Bustani, who led the OPCW since its creation, was removed as the result of a vote during a special session of the organisation Monday at The Hague. The vote was 48 in favour, seven against, and 43 abstentions on a U.S. proposal for his dismissal.

The motion alleged he had been responsible for “poor management” and financial problems as head of the organisation. This came in spite of the fact that the administrative director of the OPCW is a U.S. national who was proposed for that position by the U.S. government.

According to diplomatic and news media circles, the U.S. government’s manoeuvres to get rid of Bustani are came in response to his independent attitude and his efforts to convince Iraq to allow the OPCW to conduct an inspection.

If he were successful, the Bush administration would lose its arguments in favour of new military attacks against Iraq and the removal of President Saddam Hussein.

Of the Latin American countries represented at the 145-member organisation, only Cuba and Mexico voted in favour of keeping the Brazilian leader at the helm. According to the Mexican delegation, they opposed a process that violated the OPCW’s rules.

In addition to Cuba, Mexico and, of course, Brazil, the other countries that voted against the U.S. proposal for Bustani’s dismissal were Belarus, China, Iran and Russia.

The abstention of Brazil’s Mercosur (Southern Common Market) partners Argentina and Uruguay, and of Venezuela, came as a surprise, causing speculation that Washington had strong-armed their delegates or that the Brazilian government had failed to defend its diplomat.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Lafer rejected insinuations that Brasilia opted to preserve relations with the United States over working in favour of Bustani.

But Lafer had acknowledged last week that the fate of Bustani – who served as an independent official as head of the OPCW, not as a Brazilian diplomat – was practically sealed, given that it would be very difficult to compete with Washington’s power.

The United States provides 22 percent of the OPCW’s 60-million- dollar annual budget.

The minister, though in more cautious terms than those expressed by Cavagnari or Bustani himself, also recognised that the OPCW would suffer a credibility crisis no matter how the dispute was resolved.

But this may be overcome in the future, as has occurred in other international organisations in similar contexts, he said.

Bustani said he has been the victim of “a lynching”, and pointed to the votes cast against him by small countries that had never before participated in an OPCW session and other manoeuvres he said were the work of the United States.

Bustani and Cavagnari agreed in almost identical terms that the decision represents “a blow to multilateralism and sets a dangerous precedent.” It is the first case of a dismissal of this level under such conditions, Bustani said.

Brazil’s President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and the Foreign Ministry expressed their regrets about the unfolding of the case, and announced that the official could return to the diplomatic functions he had left five years ago to lead the OPCW.

Bustani’s performance as director-general was recognised in May 2000 in a unanimous re-election to another four-year term, to end in 2005.

Just last year, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell congratulated Bustani for a job well done in overseeing the elimination of one-fifth of the world’s chemical weapons and more than 1,200 inspections in 50 countries.

Washington’s sudden change of attitude, manifest since January, indicates that political, not administrative reasons prompted the campaign to oust Bustani, says David Fleicher, professor of international relations at the University of Brasilia.

The OPCW decision will not affect bilateral relations, assured U.S. ambassador to Brazil, Donna Hrinak, who only presented her diplomatic credentials to President Cardoso on Tuesday.

But there are areas in which Brazil and the United States are of opposing opinions, such as their responses to the failed coup in Venezuela, and to the resolution critical of Cuba passed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, both occurred earlier this month.

Brazil also opposes the growing presence of the U.S. military in neighbouring Colombia.