TBILISI, Georgia — A BBC investigation alleging that Georgian riot police sprayed protesters with a World War I–era chemical agent known as camite has prompted the State Security Service to open a criminal inquiry. In contrast, the ruling Georgian Dream party threatens to sue the broadcaster, officials and rights groups said this week, Dec. 10, 2025.
BBC camera findings raise chemical weapons concerns
The BBC’s long-form investigation, published Dec. 1, cites whistleblowers from Georgia’s Special Tasks Department, medical records, and chemical inventory documents to argue that bromobenzyl cyanide — a potent tear agent marketed in the past as camite — was mixed into water cannon streams during anti-government protests in Tbilisi in late November 2024. One protester told the BBC, “You could feel the water burning,” saying the sensation “could not immediately be washed off.”
Camite, first deployed by France in World War I, is a highly persistent lachrymatory agent whose fumes and liquid can burn the eyes, skin, and airways and trigger prolonged respiratory and cardiac problems. It was largely abandoned in the 1930s as too toxic for routine crowd control, unlike modern CS gas, which typically disperses within minutes. Doctors in Georgia who treated nearly 350 protesters reported burns, coughing, heart rhythm changes, and other symptoms that in many cases lasted for weeks, patterns independent experts say are consistent with camite exposure rather than standard tear gas.
The BBC says it identified two chemicals in a 2019 riot-police inventory, listed only as “chemical liquid UN1710” and “chemical powder UN3439,” and that further analysis suggested the powder was bromobenzyl cyanide. The investigation was released as both an online article and a visual documentary, available via a detailed BBC investigation that has since been shared widely by international media and rights groups.
The government opens a committee probe but denounces BBC reporting.
Following the broadcast, the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) announced it had opened a probe under two articles of the criminal code: abuse of official powers, linked to the alleged use of toxic substances against demonstrators, and aiding a foreign organization in hostile activities, wording critics see as aimed at people who cooperated with the BBC. Investigators have already summoned pediatrician Konstantine Chakhunashvili, whose peer-reviewed study on protester health was cited in the BBC piece, along with opposition activist Tamar Khundadze and other witnesses.
At the same time, Georgian authorities insist no camite was used. The State Security Service and Interior Ministry say lab tests detected only chlorobenzylidene malononitrile (CS gas) and related solvents and stress that “bromobenzyl cyanide, also known as camite,” has never been purchased by the ministry. A separate internal review, whose summary was released this week, concluded there was “no evidence” that prohibited agents were deployed during the 2024 crackdown, and pro-government media have framed the BBC’s work as an attempt to “artificially create a scandal” around Georgia’s security forces.
The political response has been even sharper. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has called the film “a false report aired by a public broadcaster” and vowed to use “every legal avenue” against it, including filing complaints with the UK media regulator and pursuing potential court action. In a separate interview, he warned that helping any organization spread “false information harmful to the state” could itself be treated as a crime, as the ruling party branded the BBC “fake media” and confirmed plans to sue.
Rights groups say Camite allegations fit broader pattern.
Amnesty International has urged state parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention to seek an international investigation, arguing that, if camite was indeed used in water cannons, Georgia may have breached its obligations by deploying a toxic agent not permitted as a riot-control chemical. The group also warns that summonses and questioning of doctors, journalists, and activists named in the BBC documentary amount to “a wave of intimidation” that risks silencing potential witnesses.
UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Alice Jill Edwards has said the evidence “leads [her] to consider” the use of chemicals in the water cannons as an “experimental weapon,” stressing that long-lasting health effects go beyond what international law allows for crowd-control agents. Experts consulted by the BBC and other outlets note that if camite was deliberately revived when safer alternatives exist, it could be treated not only as excessive force but as deployment of a chemical weapon against civilians.
Camite claims echo years of controversy over protest policing.
The camite controversy is unfolding against a backdrop of repeated clashes over how Georgian authorities police dissent. In March 2023, police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds protesting a “foreign agents” bill, scenes captured in early coverage by The Guardian. A year later, Reuters documented officers again firing tear gas, water cannon, and stun grenades at demonstrators outside parliament as lawmakers advanced a similar measure, prompting fresh accusations of heavy-handed tactics. The 2024–2025 protests over stalled EU accession talks saw those same tools deployed almost nightly — but this time, many protesters say the water itself felt different.
Local watchdogs had already highlighted concerns about chemicals mixed into water cannons before the BBC’s camera report, with legal groups noting that Interior Ministry statements appeared to accept the parallel use of tear gas and high-pressure jets. For critics, the new allegations that camite was in that mix reinforce a narrative of escalating force and limited accountability.
Government officials counter that the BBC relied on “interested parties” and misinterpreted clinical research. At the same time, doctors such as Giorgi Chakhunashvili emphasise that their work focuses on symptoms rather than identifying specific chemical agents. With the SSSG probe now formally underway, Georgia faces a dual test: convincing its own public — and increasingly skeptical international partners — that its rejection of camite is backed by transparent evidence, and addressing demands for an independent, science-driven review of how protest policing crossed from tear gas into something far more toxic.
Rights advocates say that unless the camite claims are credibly resolved, every fresh plume from a water cannon in Tbilisi will carry not just spray, but lingering doubts about what, exactly, is in the stream.
Additional context: This article draws on reporting by Georgian and international outlets, including a detailed OC Media analysis of the state’s reaction to the BBC film, which outlines both the opening of the investigation and the government’s stated plan to sue the broadcaster in international courts, and can be read at OC Media’s coverage of the BBC probe fallout, as well as a recent Amnesty International statement on alleged toxic chemical use.
