Chemical weapons use prohibitions

By and large, the negotiators managed to agree on a wide scope and a comprehensive set of prohibitions. Of particular importance in this context is the definition of chemical weapons used by the CWC. 

This provision incorporates almost verbatim the prohibitions contained in Article I, paragraph 1, of the CWC, as well as the prohibition on the use of riot control agents that is found in Article I, paragraph 5, of the CWC. The Australian legislation further provides that the term chemical weapons used in the legislation has the same meaning as in the Convention so that the scope of the Australian provision is basically coterminous with the fundamental prohibitions contained in Article I of the CWC.i ... 

The use of chemical weapons is prohibited by a number of international treaties or conventions. This illegality is said to confirm and codify a customary prohibition based on concepts... 

Unfortunately, none of the prohibitions of chemical weapons use have been labelled as a grave breach according to the Geneva Conventions nor the Additional Protocols. Nevertheless, there have been pertinent characterizations in national legislation. 

The Third Review Conference reaffirmed that the full, effective, and non-discriminatory implementation of all Articles of the Convention makes a major contribution to international peace and security, through the elimination of existing stockpiles of chemical weapons and prohibition of their acquisition and use, and provides for assistance and protection in the event of use, or threat of use, of chemical weapons and for international cooperation for peaceful purposes in the field of chemical activities. 

In addition to the agents detailed in this handbook, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) identifies in its Declaration Handbook 2002 for the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling, and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction another five agents in this class. However, there is no information available in the unclassified literature concerning the physical, chemical, or toxicological properties of these additional agents. 

The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, shortly described as Convention on general and comprehensive prohibition of chemical weapons, or Chemical Weapons Convention, abbreviated as CWC, was adopted in 1992 after complex negotiations on the basis of The Conference on Disarmament (and previous multilateral negotiating fora in Geneva), lasting nearly a quarter of a century mainly due to the worldwide spread of chemical industry and relatively easy... 

In this context, the Convention requires that States Parties cooperate with the OPCW in facilitating the coordination and delivery of assistance and protection to minimise the consequences of a chemical weapons attack, in countering the threat of use of chemical weapons, and in eliminating the threats posed by activities prohibited under Article I of the Convention. Article X stipulates that each State Party has the right to request and to receive assistance and protection against the use or threat of use of chemical weapons. 

In the event of (a) the use of chemical weapons or riot control agents as a method of warfare, and/or (b) the threat of the use of chemical weapons, and/or (c) the threat of actions or activities prohibited for States Parties by Article I ... 

Obligations of the countries ensuing from the convention for the prohibition of chemical weapons do not reduce the actuality of the protection. Terrorist acts during last decades with use of chemical and biological weapons enforce not only elaboration of new more efficient protection means, but permanent development and improvement of methods and means for consequence management. 

In 1972, more than 100 countries including the U.S. signed the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Biologic and Toxic Weapons and Their Destruction — a measure designed to limit further development or use of biological and chemical weapons. Unfortunately, the accord has been breached several times. 

The CWC prohibits the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer, or use of chemical weapons. Article IV requires that signatories destroy chemical weapons and any special facilities for their manufacture within 10 years (by April 29, 2007). Destruction of chemical weapons is defined as a process by which chemicals are converted in an essentially irreversible way to a form unsuitable for production of chemical weapons, and which, in an irreversible manner, renders munitions and other devices unusable as such (Smithson, 1993). The method of destruction is determined by each country, but the manner of destruction must ensure public safety and protection of the environment. 

Nevertheless, it was events in Kurdistan in particular which fully illustrated both the ambiguity of what was banned and the absence of verification measures under the Geneva Protocol. Only use of chemical weapons was banned, not possession. In 1972 the United Nations General Assembly had adopted the Convention of the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Biological Weapons. Chemical weapons fell outside this convention and by 1988 it became clear that a chemical weapons treaty was urgently needed to place effective constraints on the proliferation of these weapons worldwide. 

Attempts to ban chemical weapons progressed from early restrictions on their use to their total prohibition and elimination. Abhorrence against the use of poison in war can be found in some of the oldest literature of several cultures.2 In the nineteenth century the international community began to codify the conduct and customs of war, which resulted in the... 

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