OPCW GETS THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 2013: A WELL-TIMED DECISION

By means of the present award to the OPCW, the Committee is seeking to contribute to the elimination of chemical weapons.

Thorbjorn Jagland, Chairman, Norwegian Nobel Committee

Oslo, October 11, 2013

Okay, so a logical decision by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in deciding on the OPCW, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, an international watchdog entrusted with the arduous task of freeing the world from the chemical weapons.

Accorded sanctity and authority by the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international treaty that came into force in 1997, OPCW has been working to stop production and use of chemical weapons and to destroy the existing stockpile.

Organizations like OPCW or IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog and the recipient of 2005 Peace Nobel) are the silent warriors working tirelessly for global peace.

Though a well-deserved accolade for the body of work the organization represents, OPCW did not make for headlines as a major Peace Nobel contender. And so it was a pleasant surprise for anyone who knows about the work of the organization and its recent tough and dangerous mission in Syria. Their convoy in Syria has come under attack during inspection visit in September.

OPCW is in news for its collaborative work with the United Nations in destroying the chemical weapons stockpile of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

The world saw the horror of the use of chemical weapons in a Damascus suburb through the video footage released by the Syrian opposition. The validity of the video clips was authenticated by many intelligence agencies. The major ones held the Assad regime responsible. A tough military action could only be avoided because of the Russian ploy to save Assad. The dictator in Vladimir Putin went to the extra mile to defend the dictator in Bashar al-Assad.

The result is the compromise – Syria ratifying the Chemical Weapons Convention and agreeing to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile by the international experts from the OPCW and the UN.

Peace Nobel to OPCW is the recognition of the work done over the years but the decision is certainly influenced by the Syrian context.

It is the call to be on the process to restore the sanctity of ‘Humanity First’.

It is an endorsement to promote the policies of global peace. It is the appreciation to the commitment to make the world a better place. It is a message to the countries still sitting over their stockpiles. 

It is an encouragement to continue with the work, because the world is still facing the threat of thousands of tons of existing chemical weapons that like the nuclear weapons, can wipe out the humanity.

Though with Syria, the Chemical Weapons Convention now has 190 countries as its signatories, there are countries yet to destroy their chemical weapons including Russia and the Unites States. Then there are belligerent war-mongering nations like North Korea.

And no one can say there would not be another Adolf Hitler tomorrow armed with some Holocaust like ideology to threaten the mass extinction of civilizations. 

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/