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TITLE: NATO Faces Inquiry Into Uranium 'War Crimes' |
AUTHOR: Kim Sengupta |
PUB: The Independent |
DATE: January 15, 2001 |
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NATO could face a criminal investigation into the use by its forces of depleted uranium ammunition, the chief prosecutor of the UN war crimes tribunal said yesterday. Carla Del Ponte said her tribunal was awaiting the results of several inquiries being made into the issue by Nato governments. "If coherent results emerge directly linking the use of depleted uranium ammunition with health problems suffered by soldiers and civilians, we will proceed immediately. If we have sufficient elements we will be obliged to investigate." The tribunal had already carried out an initial inquiry into the use of DU ammunition in 1999, Ms Del Ponte said. "But we did not have enough elements to proceed at the time. There are new facts which could lead us to investigate the issue again." The Secretary of State for Defence, Geoff Hoon, admitted there was a "limited risk" in the use of DU ammunition, but ruled out a ban on the rounds. The refusal came as the Royal Navy announced it was phasing out DU ammunition on some of its warships. The House of Lords will address the health of Gulf War veterans today in a debate sponsored by Lord Morris of Manchester, a Labour peer. "It is the compelling duty of any country to act justly towards those prepared to lay down their lives in its service and the dependents of those who do so," he said. "Now the Gulf veterans feel provoked to say it is shameful that Britain can stand by and watch other countries taking the lead in this issue, when we were among the first to use depleted uranium." But Mr Hoon said that banning the "astonishingly effective" missiles would put the lives of British soldiers at risk during a conflict. No scientific evidence suggesting a link between the weaponry and illness had been seen by the Government, making a ban "inappropriate," he said. A "limited" risk had always been recognised, which the armed forces had always been made aware of. DU ammunition is used in the American-designed Phalanx anti-missile system fitted to the Navy's Type 42 destroyers and three other ships - the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, HMS Ocean, a new helicopter carrier, and HMS Fearless, an amphibious assault ship. However, with health concerns surrounding DU, the American manufacturer has stopped production and the US Navy has been phasing out stocks for a decade, replacing the projectiles with tungsten-tipped ammunition, which is not radioactive and is far less toxic. A history of the American Naval Sea Systems Command, written in 1989, concluded that "the tungsten penetrator provides improved round effectiveness while eliminating safety and environmental problems associated with DU". The Ministry of Defence said the tungsten alternative had been demonstrated to be as effective as the DU munitions. The Royal Navy's stocks of DU ammunition will be exhausted by 2003, although the shells may be withdrawn before then. The MoD said it had always known that there were dangers associated with DU ammunition, although it maintained its line that there was still no evidence of a link between DU and a higher risk of cancer. Iain Duncan Smith, shadow Defence Secretary, said: "It is necessary now for the Government to make a clear statement about the position of depleted uranium, given all the evidence that has been coming out in dribs and drabs." The Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, Menzies Campbell, said: "These reports raise yet more questions about what the Ministry of Defence knew and when it knew it." END |