Georgian police used chemical weapons from World War I against protesters.

An investigation by BBC journalists Max Hudson, Oana Marochico and Sarah Buckley revealed that a year ago, During the suppression of anti-government protests in Tbilisi, the authorities used "kamit" - a chemical warfare agent from the First World War.

"It felt like the water was burning," one protester said of the water cannons used against him and others on the streets of the Georgian capital during demonstrations in late 2024. Even washing his face didn't help, he said.

Demonstrators protesting Georgia's suspension of EU accession talks also complained of other symptoms—shortness of breath, coughing, and vomiting—that lasted for weeks.

BBC journalists, based on data from chemical weapons experts, doctors and testimony from sources in the Georgian police special forces, concluded that police used bromobenzyl cyanide, known as camite.

Georgian authorities called the investigation's findings "absurd" and said police had acted lawfully in response to "illegal actions by violent criminals."

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"Kamit" was used by the French army against Germany on the Western Front during World War I. Documented evidence of its subsequent use is scant; it is believed to have been withdrawn from use in the 1930s due to concerns about its long-term effects. CS gas, commonly referred to as "tear gas," was used in its place.

Konstantin Chakhunashvili was among the protesters outside the Georgian parliament building in Tbilisi during the first week of protests that began on November 28, 2024.

The demonstrators were outraged by the ruling Georgian Dream party's announcement that it would suspend negotiations on the country's accession to the EU. Georgia's commitment to European integration is enshrined in the Constitution.

Tbilisi police used various means to disperse demonstrators, including water cannons, pepper spray, and tear gas.

Pediatrician Konstantin Chakhunashvili, who has participated in numerous protests and was hit by water cannons, said his skin "burned" for several days, and the sensation couldn't be relieved by water. Furthermore, he said, "trying to wash my face made it even worse."

Chakhunashvili wanted to know if anyone else had experienced similar symptoms. So he asked those who had also been exposed to the dispersal agents to fill out a survey on his social media. About 350 people responded, and almost half of them reported experiencing one or more side effects for more than thirty days.

These symptoms included headache, fatigue, cough, shortness of breath and vomiting.

The peer-reviewed study was then published in the international journal Toxicology Reports.

Chakhunashvili examined 69 of the people surveyed and found that they had a "significantly higher prevalence of abnormalities" in the heart's electrical signals.

Dr. Chakhunashvili's report confirmed the conclusion reached by local journalists, doctors, and human rights organizations: the water cannons were likely laced with some kind of chemical substance. They called on the government to determine what exactly the special forces used, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to which they report, refused to do so.

Several high-ranking sources connected to the Interior Ministry's special forces unit helped the Air Force identify the chemical agent used.

Lasha Shergelashvili, who was previously responsible for arming these units, believes that this is the same compound that he was tasked with testing for use in water cannons in 2009.

According to Lash, the effect of this substance was unlike anything he had previously encountered. Shergelashvili had difficulty breathing after standing near the spray site. He and the 15-20 colleagues who tested the substance with him admitted that, despite their best efforts, they were unable to completely wash it off.

"We noticed that the effect didn't wear off, as it did with regular tear gas. Even after we washed ourselves first with water and then with a specially prepared solution of baking soda and water, we still couldn't breathe freely."

 

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Based on his test results, Shergelashvili recommended against using this chemical. However, he asserted that it was still added to water cannons—at least as of 2022, when he left the service and left the country.

Lasha now lives in Ukraine and told the BBC that when he saw reports from last year's protests, he immediately suspected that the demonstrators had been exposed to the toxic substance.

As Lasha noted, colleagues with whom he maintains contact and who still hold their positions confirmed this.

Another former high-ranking police officer confirmed that the chemical compound used in water cannons under Shergelashvili was precisely what was used to disperse protests in November-December 2024.

When BBC journalists asked Shergelashvili whether the product he was testing could have been tear gas (CS), which temporarily irritates the eyes, skin and respiratory system, he replied that it was a different substance, much stronger.

"I can't give an example or compare it to anything," Lasha replied, specifying that it is "probably ten times" stronger than traditional riot control equipment.

"For example, if this chemical spills on the ground, you can't be near it for the next two to three days, even if you wash the area with water."

Shergelashvili doesn't know the name of the chemical he was tasked with testing, but the BBC obtained a copy of a special forces unit inventory dated December 2019.

Journalists found two unnamed chemicals in it. They were listed simply as "Chemical Liquid UN1710" and "Chemical Powder UN3439," along with mixing instructions.

A high-ranking special forces officer, shown the list, confirmed that the document appeared authentic. He identified two unnamed chemicals as those likely added to the water cannons.

Now it was necessary to find out what these chemicals were.

UN1710 was easy to identify because it stands for trichloroethylene (TCE), a solvent that allows other chemical compounds to dissolve in water.

The next step is to determine what specific chemical trichloroethylene was helping to dissolve.

Identifying UN3439 proved much more difficult because it is a generic code for a number of industrial chemicals, all of which are hazardous.

The only one of these that BBC journalists were able to discover was ever used for riot control was bromobenzyl cyanide. Known as "kamit," it was developed by the Entente (the military-political alliance of Great Britain, France, and Russia) for use in World War I.

Based on Dr. Chakhunashvili's research, victim testimonies, the special forces inventory list, and Shergelashvili's account of the tests, Christopher Holstig, the world's leading expert in toxicology and chemical weapons, concluded that it was indeed kamit.

"Based on the available data, the clinical symptoms reported by both victims and other witnesses are consistent with exposure to bromobenzyl cyanide," he noted.

The expert ruled out the possibility that the symptoms could have been caused by more common special weapons, such as tear gas, which was also used by Georgian special forces last year.

"The duration of the symptoms doesn't match the effects of typical demonstrator dispersal agents, such as tear gas," he assured. "I've never seen kamit used in modern society. Kamit is a severe irritant, and its irritant effects persist for a long time."

The expert suggested that bromobenzyl cyanide could have been used, as it acts as a strong deterrent.

"This substance is capable of keeping people at bay for a long time. Then, unable to overcome the symptoms on their own, they will be forced to seek medical attention, meaning they will have to leave the protest site. If the use of this substance has indeed resumed, it is truly extremely dangerous."

Camite was briefly used by American police after World War I as a riot control agent, but was abandoned when safer alternatives such as tear gas were invented.

International law allows police to use chemical agents to disperse riots when their use is proportionate and the substances have only a short-term effect.

Given the availability of safer conventional crowd-dispersal weapons, the older and more powerful substance could be classified as a chemical weapon, weapons experts say.

The investigation's findings are disturbing, said UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Alice Edwards. She previously wrote to the Georgian government regarding allegations of police violence and torture during the protests.

Edwards believes that the lack of strict regulation of the use of chemicals in water cannons makes it a problem that requires immediate action: "This makes me view this practice as an experimental weapon. And experimenting on the population is unacceptable. It's absolutely a violation of human rights."

Edwards stressed that, under international law, the effects of any riot control measures must be short-term, and the symptoms described "go beyond what can be considered temporary and acceptable."

“Therefore, all these cases must be investigated, including under the category of torture or other forms of ill-treatment,” she concluded.

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Protests on Tbilisi's Rustaveli Avenue, although they have largely subsided after the government increased fines and prison sentences, still continue.

For the past year, protesters have been calling almost every night for the resignation of the government, which they accuse of rigging elections, supporting Russian interests, and passing increasingly harsh laws against civil society.

The ruling Georgian Dream party rejects accusations that the government or the party's honorary chairman, Bidzina Ivanishvili, are pro-Russian or committed to Russia's interests.

A party spokesman told the BBC that legislative changes over the past year were in the interests of the "public good".

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