Debate is raging on the internet about what sort of tear gas is being used by Egyptian police against the new wave of demonstrators in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. It’s being claimed that it’s nerve gas or another virulent chemical.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons based in The Hague says a much stronger tear gas than normal has been used - alongside the less powerful conventional tear gas. The OPCW’s Michael Luhan:
“The agent that has reportedly been used in Egypt is CR. CR gas has much greater irritating properties than the older and more commonly used CS tear gas while at the same time being actually less toxic. ”
CR gas was developed by the British defence ministry in the late 1950s and is said to be ten times stronger than conventional tear gas. Egyptian protesters have complained on Twitter and to journalists about the “strange effects” of the gas.
CR gas can cause fever, (temporary) blindness, facial paralysis and, in the worst cases, suffocation. Unlike conventional tear gas, its effects cannot be alleviated by rinsing with water. It is, however, less poisonous than conventional tear gas.
Chemical Weapons Convention
The OPCW says that it can do nothing because Egypt is one of the five countries which have not signed the UN’s Chemical Weapons Convention. The army can therefore do what it likes. If Egypt had signed the convention, the OPCw would still allow the use of tear gas against rioters, as long as the operation does not have a military character.
Human Rights Watch has slammed the regime’s “unjust and totally arbitrary use of tear gas”. It is calling on Egypt’s military leadership to stop its “excessive violence towards demonstrators” immediately.
Shocking images
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has joined the chorus of disapproval. She has denounced the “apparent improper use of tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition”. She also describes as “shocking” the images from Tahrir Square showing the serious assault of demonstrators who have already given themselves up. She says the same goes for “unarmed protesters who have been shot through the head”.
Ms Pillay says the Egyptian regime shouldn’t just immediately stop the violence but must also instigate an impartial and independent investigation. This will have to make clear who bears responsibility for the violence. She also insists the Egyptians have the right to vote in peace in their first free elections since the departure of president Mubarak.
There were no further clashes between demonstrators and riot police on Wednesday night and in the early hours of Thursday. Egypt’s military council has apologised for the deaths of the past few days and relative peace has returned to Cairo. It remains to be seen how long this will last. The protests against the military regime continue unabated.
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This certainly seems like CR Gas. In 2010, research was carried out in Belfast into the use of CR gas by the British Army on Republican prisoners in 1974. Many of those interviewed described the occurrance of convulsions and spasms which can be attributed to the nerve agent in CR. Like the fighters in Tahrir Square, the Republican prisoners were only to aware of the effects of CS gas and could immediately tell that on one occassion, a different type of gas was used. Unfortunately a large proportion of those affected by the gas in Belfast(compared to those prisoners who weren`t exposed to it) have gone on to develop serious lung problems and uncommon cancers.
One method of testing whether or not the gas being used in Egypt is CR is by trying to wash it off. Unlike CS, with CR adding water will make it worse.
What difference does it make whether Egypt has signed whatever. Who is selling this virulent gas? Who is laughing all the way to the bank? Take the gas away and then let us see what kind of 'heroes' these people are. Attacking defenseless people is an act of cowardice.
The quotation and information that you attribute in this article to the OPCW on the issue of tear gas in Egypt is inaccurate and misleading, despite the fact I provided it to Radio Netherlands Worldwide, at your request, in writing. My actual response was follows, and I quote my email to your correspondent Uhro van der Pluijm in its entirety:
"Dear Uhro,
Egypt is one of only 5 countries in the world that have not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, along with Angola, North Korea, Somalia and Syria, This means that Egypt has chosen to retain the legal option of producing and using chemical weapons.
Be that as it may, the Chemical Weapons Convention only prohibits the use of riot control agents as a method of warfare. It allows their use for law enforcement purposes like domestic riot control.
The agent that has reportedly been used in Egypt is CR, or dibenzoxazepine, a tear gas that was developed in the early 1960s. CR has much greater irritating properties than the older and more commonly used CS tear gas while at the same time being actually less toxic.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is the implementing body for the Convention and based in The Hague.
Michael Luhan
OPCW Spokesman"
Please be so kind as to publish this clarification. Thank you
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