Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989
Long title | An Act to implement the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and Their Destruction, by prohibiting certain conduct relating to biological weapons, and for other purposes. |
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Acronyms (colloquial) | BWATA |
Enacted by | the 101st United States Congress |
Effective | May 22, 1990 |
Citations | |
Public law | 101-298 |
Statutes at Large | 104 Stat. 201 |
Codification | |
Titles amended | 18 U.S.C.: Crimes and Criminal Procedure |
U.S.C. sections amended | 18 U.S.C. ch. 10 § 175 et seq. |
Legislative history | |
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The Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989 (BWATA),
History
The Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989 (BWATA) was drafted by
The
BWATA has been expanded two separate times through the implementation of new laws. The first expansion closed certain loopholes that critics complained made prosecution difficult.
Act
Definitions
The act broadly defined several terms related to
any micro-organism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology, or any naturally occurring or bioengineered component of any such microorganism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product, capable of causing death, disease, or other biological malfunction in a human, an animal, a plant, or another living organism; deterioration of food, water, equipment, supplies, or material of any kind or deleterious alteration of the environment
Previous U.S. interpretation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) ban on biological agents was in line with the BWATA definition.[10] The U.S. now maintains that the Article I of the BWC, which explicitly bans bio-weapons, does not apply to "non-lethal" biological agents.[11] According to the Federation of American Scientists, current U.S. work on non-lethal agents greatly exceeds limitations set forth in the BWC.[11]
The other three terms were defined in the act as follows:
- Toxin: "whatever its origin or method of production -- any poisonous substance produced by a living organism; or any poisonous isomer, homolog, or derivative of such a substance".[4]
- Delivery system: "any apparatus, equipment, device, or means of delivery specifically designed to deliver or disseminate a biological agent, toxin, or vector".[4]
- Vector: "a living organism capable of carrying a biological agent or toxin to a host".[4]
Provisions
The Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989 (BWATA) extended the scope of bio-warfare materials regulation to include private individuals and non-state organizations.[12] The act made it illegal to buy, sell or manufacture biological agents for use as a weapon.[12] To that end, the law implemented the 1975 ratification of the Biological Weapons Convention.[6][13] BWATA, which became known as Public Law 101-298 upon its passage and signing, provided criminal penalties for those who violated its provisions.[13] The act specifically exempted peaceful, often characterized as "defensive", biological weapons research.[9]
BWATA, as passed, imposed no sentencing guidelines; this gave judges in the earliest prosecutions under the law wide latitude to impose sentences based on the provisions in the act.[14] The specific section of the law that dictated sentencing for violators stated:[14]
Whoever knowingly develops, produces, stockpiles, transfers, acquires, retains, or possesses any biological agent, toxin, or delivery system for use as a weapon, or knowingly assists a foreign state or any organization to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both.
The act also provided that if a quantity of biological agent, or toxin appeared to have no peaceful purpose, it could be seized and subsequently destroyed.
Results
Prosecution difficulties
One of the initial results of the law was the difficulty it presented in obtaining successful criminal prosecutions.
Prosecutions under the law
In April 1993
The first convictions under BWATA came in 1994 and 1995 and stemmed from a 1991 case in Minnesota.[17] An American anti-government group headquartered in Minneapolis known as the Minnesota Patriot's Council mail-ordered castor beans and managed to extract about 0.7 grams of 5% ricin, despite having no specific expertise in biological warfare.[17][18] The group planned to use the ricin to assassinate a deputy U.S. marshal and a local sheriff.[18] In the end, four members of the Patriot's Council were convicted in the case under the BWATA law. It was reported that the amount of ricin was enough to kill about 100 people.[19]
Since the first convictions under BWATA others have faced prosecution stemming from the provisions in the law, some were successful, others were not. A man indicted under the provisions of the act for possessing ricin and
See also
- Anti-terrorism legislation
- Geneva Protocol
- Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs
- United States biological weapons program
- USA PATRIOT Act
- Thomas Lavy
References
- ^ "Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction" (PDF). United Nations. United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). April 10, 1972.
- ISBN 1604860359).
- ^ ISBN 0888666357).
- ^ THOMAS.gov, accessed January 10, 2009.
- ^ THOMAS.gov, accessed January 10, 2009.
- ^ ISBN 1590332849).
- ^ ISBN 0275967565).
- ISBN 1595550704).
- ^ ISBN 3540887423).
- ^ a b "Original U.S. Interpretation of the BWC", (PDF),Federation of American Scientists, official site, accessed January 10, 2009.
- ^ a b "Introduction to Biological Weapons", Federation of American Scientists, official site, accessed January 10, 2009.
- ^ ISBN 0815781490).
- ^ ISBN 1590335597).
- ^ ISBN 0262700719).
- ISBN 9041111301).
- ISBN 1860648258).
- ^ ISBN 1851094903).
- ^ ISBN 0826102506).
- ISBN 0763724254).
- ISBN 0275974278).
External links
- "Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 Archived November 18, 2004, at the THOMAS.gov, accessed January 10, 2009.
- Boyle, Francis A. "Faculty Lecture on Bio/Warfare/Terrorism/Weapons", April 18, 2002, University of Illinois, accessed January 10, 2008.