the rollback of south africa's biological warfare program

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public hearings and issued an application to have section 33 (c) invoked, which would require that the hearing be held behind closed doors. Thabo Mbeki’s legal adviser and Abdul Minty, Chairperson of the Council for the Non- Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, formally presented the request for a closed hearing. 191 After extensive discussions, the TRC went ahead with open hearings with the understanding that a government representative would monitor the proceedings to ensure that no proliferation or diplomatically embarrassing information was released. This agreement meant that the hearings were bogged down with legal motions and delays from the first day. On the first day of the hearing Dr. Knobel, accompanied by his lawyer, passed out several documents marked “top secret” to the media. These documents were subsequently recalled on the ground that they had not yet been cleared through the proper declassification channels. Months later, an unlucky Swiss journalist was detained at the South African airport and thrown in jail overnight when he was found leaving the country with classified documents from the first days of the TRC hearings. Dr. Folb, TRC senior expert technical adviser, was no longer allowed access to these materials, including his own memos, written for the TRC. 192 Legal wrangling delayed Basson’s appearance before the TRC until the last day of the hearings. However, scientists in charge of Project Coast projects did appear. Basson only testified after he was declared in contempt of a TRC citation and his lawyers had exhausted a lengthy appeals process. His Supreme Court application that he not be forced to testify before the TRC, due to his constitutional right not to incriminate himself, was turned down on 27 July 1998. The TRC’s final closing date for non-amnesty hearings was 31 July, and legal wrangling meant that Basson did not take the stand until the last day. He did not reveal any new information and sidestepped most questions. The hearings ended with many questions unanswered. Although Basson used legal delaying tactics, the threat of criminal 74
penalties did finally force him to testify before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Even though his TRC testimony was of little value, several individuals who had worked for Basson started to reveal many more details about the covert programs in their testimony in an effort to obtain TRC amnesty and immunity in future legal proceedings. The scientists began to talk to authorities about what CBW weapons and knowledge were developed, how the knowledge and weapons were used, and even some details about what was sold after the 1994 elections. 193 Other individuals, such as Dr. Johan Koekemoer, former research manager of Delta-G, was arrested for being in possession of the designer drug Ecstasy and agreed to testify against Basson. The public also heard about the extensive misappropriation of public funds. Disclosures from the TRC had international ramifications. In response to testimony at the TRC hearings in June 1998, the British Military Intelligence (MI5) and police reopened files on six people who had died in Britain during the 1980s and 1990s of apparent strokes or heart attacks. The re-opened investigations were initiated to explore which of these deaths might have been murders related to South Africa’s secret germ warfare program. These investigations required unprecedented amounts of cooperation between South African and British intelligence services. The dead individuals had all worked in Britain against the apartheid regime, or had knowledge of Pretoria’s secret operation in the 1980s to acquire and develop chemical and biological weapons, at the time of their death in Great Britain. 194 Despite the limited knowledge obtained from Basson at the TRC, these hearings played a critical role in opening up secret government activities. The TRC hearings on Project Coast opened "a window on the house of horrors" to public scrutiny and let public know much more about what went on during apartheid era. These disclosures in turn, helped to stimulate a national dialogue that was designed to allow the nation to start to heal. 195 These disclosures also established an important precedent ensured that South Africa’s 75
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THE ROLLBACK OF SOUTH AFRICA’S BI
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword vii Exec
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FOREWORD We are pleased to publish
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The profile of So
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The Rollback of the South African B
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During WWII, South African Prime Mi
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dollars) estimate to build a CBW pr
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learn first-hand how the Portuguese
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use of chemical and biological agen
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incidents underscored the variable
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Convention (BWC). According to form
Page 25 and 26:
Project Coast, which would countera
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internal suppression of political d
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Malan, and the Minister of Finance,
Page 31 and 32:
The chain of command demonstrates t
Page 33 and 34: omb could be used to wipe out or in
Page 35 and 36: tear gas and to incapacitate withou
Page 37 and 38: In the aftermath of Cuito Cuanavale
Page 39 and 40: confirmed, there is evidence that s
Page 41 and 42: the SSC. At this time, the security
Page 43 and 44: Given the breadth and depth of coop
Page 45 and 46: instruct scientists working with a
Page 47 and 48: the South African President’s off
Page 49 and 50: Mandrax and Ecstasy that were produ
Page 51 and 52: overseas business deals. 114 In Aug
Page 53 and 54: South Africa negotiated the withdra
Page 55 and 56: political party or organization. Pr
Page 57 and 58: nuclear weapons program and Project
Page 59 and 60: TRC, the men who tried to kill Chik
Page 61 and 62: In 1991, Basson began to build Mert
Page 63 and 64: Military personnel from several cou
Page 65 and 66: Meyer, the Acting Defense Secretary
Page 67 and 68: leave the SADF at the end of March
Page 69 and 70: Knobel’s testimony to the TRC, SA
Page 71 and 72: objected to the South African CBM a
Page 73 and 74: Basson and his trips to Libya were
Page 75 and 76: experiences for the military leader
Page 77 and 78: was submitted in 1994). This time U
Page 79 and 80: as the U.S., Great Britain, and oth
Page 81 and 82: investigation phase ended. Initiall
Page 83: June 1998. However, several weeks b
Page 87 and 88: public. The State was operating on
Page 89 and 90: The limited news coverage of the Ba
Page 91 and 92: South African court for crimes comm
Page 93 and 94: ulings excluding evidence, his timi
Page 95 and 96: had asked him to set up a facility
Page 97 and 98: cover illegal personal gains from t
Page 99 and 100: who had detailed knowledge of many
Page 101 and 102: 9. What specifically and when did t
Page 103 and 104: e delivered through food and water,
Page 105 and 106: Reconciliation Commission of South
Page 107 and 108: 41 Interview with Dr. G. Scharf, fo
Page 109 and 110: 56 Mangold, Plague Wars, 243. 57 In
Page 111 and 112: weaponization took place. Donald Ma
Page 113 and 114: home of Jerry Nilsson, who was ques
Page 115 and 116: he still need to raise cash in Sout
Page 117 and 118: military bases and was familiar to
Page 119 and 120: 162 According to Dr. Ian Phillips,
Page 121 and 122: Basson’s arrest was the result of
Page 123 and 124: 200 By the seventh week of the tria
Page 125: 115
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