TheProtocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare,usually called theGeneva Protocol,is atreatyprohibiting the use ofchemicalandbiological weaponsin internationalarmed conflicts.It was signed atGenevaon 17 June 1925 and entered into force on 8 February 1928. It was registered inLeague of NationsTreaty Serieson 7 September 1929.[4]The Geneva Protocol is a protocol to the Convention for the Supervision of the International Trade in Arms and Ammunition and in Implements of War signed on the same date, and followed theHague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.

Geneva Protocol
Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare
Drafted17 June 1925[1]
Signed17 June 1925[1]
LocationGeneva[1]
Effective8 February 1928[1]
ConditionRatification by 65 states[2]
Signatories38[1]
Parties146[3]
DepositaryGovernment of France[1]
Full text
Geneva Protocol to Hague ConventionatWikisource

It prohibits the use of "asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of all analogous liquids, materials or devices" and "bacteriological methods of warfare". This is now understood to be a general prohibition on chemical weapons and biological weapons between state parties, but has nothing to say about production, storage or transfer. Later treaties did cover these aspects – the 1972Biological Weapons Convention(BWC) and the 1993Chemical Weapons Convention(CWC).

A number of countries submitted reservations when becoming parties to the Geneva Protocol, declaring that they only regarded the non-use obligations as applying to other parties and that these obligations would cease to apply if the prohibited weapons were used against them.[5][6]

Negotiation history

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British troops blinded by poison gas during theBattle of Estaires,1918

In theHague Conventions of 1899 and 1907,the use of dangerous chemical agents was outlawed. In spite of this, theFirst World Warsaw large-scalechemical warfare.Franceusedtear gasin 1914, but the first large-scale successful deployment of chemical weapons was by theGerman EmpireinYpres,Belgiumin 1915, whenchlorine gaswas released as part of a German attack at theBattle of Gravenstafel.Following this, a chemicalarms racebegan, with theUnited Kingdom,Russia,Austria-Hungary,theUnited States,andItalyjoiningFranceandGermanyin the use of chemical weapons.[citation needed]

This resulted in the development of a range of horrific chemicals affecting lungs, skin, or eyes. Some were intended to be lethal on the battlefield, likehydrogen cyanide,and efficient methods of deploying agents were invented. At least 124,000 tons were produced during the war. In 1918, about one grenade out of three was filled with dangerous chemical agents.[citation needed]Around 500k-1.3 million casualties of the conflict were attributed to the use of gas, and the psychological effect on troops may have had a much greater effect. A few thousand civilians also became casualties as collateral damage or due to production accidents.[7]

TheTreaty of Versaillesincluded some provisions that banned Germany from either manufacturing or importing chemical weapons. Similar treaties banned theFirst Austrian Republic,theKingdom of Bulgaria,and theKingdom of Hungaryfrom chemical weapons, all belonging to the losing side, theCentral powers.RussianbolsheviksandBritaincontinued theuse of chemical weaponsin theRussian Civil Warandpossibly in the Middle Eastin 1920.

Three years after World War I, the Allies wanted to reaffirm the Treaty of Versailles, and in 1922 theUnited Statesintroduced the Treaty relating to the Use of Submarines and Noxious Gases in Warfare at theWashington Naval Conference.[8]Four of the war victors, theUnited States,theUnited Kingdom,theKingdom of Italyand theEmpire of Japan,gave consent forratification,but it failed to enter into force as theFrench Third Republicobjected to thesubmarineprovisions of the treaty.[8]

At the 1925 Geneva Conference for the Supervision of the International Traffic in Arms the French suggested a protocol for non-use of poisonous gases. TheSecond Polish Republicsuggested the addition of bacteriological weapons.[9]It was signed on 17 June.[10]

Historical assessment

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Rabbit used to check for leaks at asarinproduction plant in 1970

Eric Croddy, assessing the Protocol in 2005, took the view that the historic record showed it had been largely ineffectual. Specifically it does not prohibit:[10]

  • use against not-ratifying parties
  • retaliation using such weapons, so effectively making it a no-first-use agreement
  • use within a state's own borders in a civil conflict
  • research and development of such weapons, or stockpiling them

In light of these shortcomings, Jack Beard notes that "the Protocol (...) resulted in a legal framework that allowed states to conduct [biological weapons] research, develop new biological weapons, and ultimately engage in [biological weapons] arms races".[6]

As such, the use of chemical weapons inside the nation's own territory against its citizens or subjects employed bySpaininthe Rif Waruntil 1927,[11][12]Japan againstSeediqindigenous rebels inTaiwan(then part of theJapanese colonial empire) in 1930 during theMusha Incident,Iraq against ethnicKurdishcivilians in the1988 attack on Halabjaduring theIran–Iraq War,andSyriaorSyrian oppositionforces duringthe Syrian civil war,nor use onBlack Lives Matterprotestors in the United States did not breach the Geneva Protocol.[13]

Despite the U.S. having been a proponent of the protocol, theU.S. militaryandAmerican Chemical Societylobbied against it, causing theU.S. Senatenot to ratify the protocol until 1975, the same year when the United States ratified theBiological Weapons Convention.[10][14]

Violations

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Several state parties have deployed chemical weapons for combat in spite of the treaty.Italyusedmustard gasagainst theEthiopian Empirein theSecond Italo-Ethiopian War.InWorld War II,Germany employed chemical weapons in combat on several occasions along theBlack Sea,notably inSevastopol,where they used toxic smoke to force Soviet resistance fighters out of caverns below the city. They also used asphyxiating gas in the catacombs ofOdesain November 1941, following theircapture of the city,and in late May 1942 during theBattle of the Kerch Peninsulain easternCrimea,perpetrated by the Wehrmacht's Chemical Forces and organized by a special detail ofSStroops with the help of a field engineer battalion.[15]After the battle in mid-May 1942, the Germans gassed and killed almost 3,000 of the besieged and non-evacuatedRed Armysoldiers and Soviet civilians hiding in a series of caves and tunnels in the nearbyAdzhimushkay quarry.[16]

During the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, Iraq is known to have employed a variety of chemical weapons against Iranian forces. Some 100,000 Iranian troops were casualties of Iraqi chemical weapons during the war.[17][18][19]

Subsequent interpretation of the protocol

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In 1966,United Nations General Assembly resolution2162B called for, without any dissent, all states to strictly observe the protocol. In 1969, United Nations General Assembly resolution 2603 (XXIV) declared that the prohibition on use of chemical and biological weapons in international armed conflicts, as embodied in the protocol (though restated in a more general form), were generally recognized rules of international law.[20]Following this, there was discussion of whether the main elements of the protocol now form part ofcustomary international law,and now this is widely accepted to be the case.[14][21]

There have been differing interpretations over whether the protocol covers the use of harassing agents, such asadamsiteandtear gas,anddefoliantsandherbicides,such asAgent Orange,in warfare.[14][22]The 1977Environmental Modification Conventionprohibits the military use of environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects. Many states do not regard this as a complete ban on the use of herbicides in warfare, but it does require case-by-case consideration.[23]The 1993Chemical Weapons Conventioneffectively banned riot control agents from being used as a method of warfare, though still permitting it forriot control.[24]

In recent times, the protocol had been interpreted to cover non-international armed conflicts as well international ones. In 1995, an appellate chamber in theInternational Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslaviastated that "there had undisputedly emerged a general consensus in the international community on the principle that the use of chemical weapons is also prohibited in internal armed conflicts." In 2005, theInternational Committee of the Red Crossconcluded that customary international law includes a ban on the use of chemical weapons in internal as well as international conflicts.[25]

However, such views drew general criticism from legal authors. They noted that much of thechemical arms control agreementsstems from the context ofinternationalconflicts. Furthermore, the application of customary international law to banning chemical warfare in non-international conflicts fails to meet two requirements: state practice andopinio juris.Jillian Blake & Aqsa Mahmud cited the periodic use of chemical weapons in non-international conflicts since the end of WWI (asstated above) as well as the lack of existinginternational humanitarian law(such as theGeneva Conventions) and national legislation and manuals prohibiting using them in such conflicts.[26]Anne Lorenzat stated the 2005 ICRC study was rooted in "'political and operational issues rather than legal ones".[27]

State parties

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Parties to the Geneva Protocol
Parties with no reservations
Parties with withdrawn reservations
Parties with implicit reservations
Parties with unwithdrawn reservations limiting the applicability of provisions of the Protocol
Non-parties

To become party to the Protocol, states must deposit an instrument with the government ofFrance(thedepositarypower). Thirty-eight states originally signed the Protocol. France was the first signatory to ratify the Protocol on 10 May 1926. El Salvador, the final signatory to ratify the Protocol, did so on 26 February 2008. As of April 2021, 146 states have ratified, acceded to, or succeeded to the Protocol,[3]most recently Colombia on 24 November 2015.

Reservations

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A number of countries submittedreservationswhen becoming parties to the Geneva Protocol, declaring that they only regarded the non-use obligations as applying with respect to other parties to the Protocol and/or that these obligations would cease to apply with respect to any state, or its allies, which used the prohibited weapons. Several Arab states also declared that their ratification did not constitute recognition of, or diplomatic relations with,Israel,or that the provision of the Protocol were not binding with respect to Israel.

Generally, reservations not only modify treaty provisions for the reserving party, but also symmetrically modify the provisions for previously ratifying parties in dealing with the reserving party.[14]: 394 Subsequently, numerous states have withdrawn their reservations, including the formerCzechoslovakiain 1990 prior to itsdissolution,[28]or the Russian reservation on biological weapons that "preserved the right to retaliate in kind if attacked" with them, which was dissolved byPresident Yeltsin.[29]

According to theVienna Convention on Succession of States in respect of Treaties,states which succeed to a treaty after gaining independence from a state party "shall be considered as maintaining any reservation to that treaty which was applicable at the date of the succession of States in respect of the territory to which the succession of States relates unless, when making the notification of succession, it expresses a contrary intention or formulates a reservation which relates to the same subject matter as that reservation." While some states have explicitly either retained or renounced their reservations inherited on succession, states which have not clarified their position on their inherited reservations are listed as "implicit" reservations.

Party[1][3][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] Signed[39] Deposited Reservations[1][14][31][32][40][41][42][43][44] Notes
Afghanistan 2 September 1986
Albania 12 December 1989
Algeria 14 January 1992
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
[45]
Angola 30 October 1990
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
[46]
Antigua and Barbuda 1 February 1989
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeededfrom the United Kingdom.
Argentina 8 May 1969
Armenia 13 March 2018
Australia 22 January 1930
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrawn in 1986.[47]
Austria 17 June 1925 9 May 1928
Bahrain 9 November 1988
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
[Reservation 3]
[48]
Bangladesh 20 May 1989
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
[49]
Barbados 16 July 1976
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrew the reservations made by the United Kingdom on succession.[50]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Belgium 17 June 1925 4 December 1928
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrawn in 1997.[51]
Benin 4 December 1986
Bhutan 12 June 1978
Bolivia 14 January 1985
Brazil 17 June 1925 28 August 1970
Bulgaria 17 June 1925 7 March 1934
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrawn in 1991.[52]
Burkina Faso 1 March 1971 Ratified as theRepublic of Upper Volta.
Cambodia 15 March 1983 [Reservation 2] The Protocol was ratified by theCoalition Government of Democratic Kampucheain exile in 1983. 13 states (including the depositary France) objected to their ratification, and considered it legally invalid. In 1993, theKingdom of Cambodiastated in anote verbalethat it considered itself bound by the provisions of the Protocol.[53]
Cameroon 21 April 1989
Canada 17 June 1925 6 May 1930
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrawn in 1991 as regards bacteriological agents, and completely withdrawn in 1999.[54]
Cape Verde 20 May 1991
Central African Republic 30 July 1970
Chile 17 June 1925 2 July 1935
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrawn in 1991.[55]
China 7 August 1929
[Reservation 2] Made on succession.[56]
Ratified as theRepublic of China,from which thePeople's Republic of Chinasucceeded on 13 July 1952.[56]
Colombia 24 November 2015
Costa Rica 17 June 2009
Côte d'Ivoire 27 July 1970
Croatia 25 September 2006
Cuba 24 May 1966
Cyprus 29 November 1966
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Czech Republic 19 September 1993
[Reservation 2] Withdrawn prior to succession.
Succeeded fromCzechoslovakia,which ratified the protocol on 16 August 1938.
Denmark 17 June 1925 5 May 1930
Dominican Republic 4 December 1970
Ecuador 10 September 1970
Egypt 17 June 1925 6 December 1928
El Salvador 17 June 1925 12 January 2010
Equatorial Guinea 16 May 1989
Estonia 17 June 1925 28 August 1931
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrawn in 1999.[57]
Eswatini 10 July 1991
Ethiopia 17 June 1925 7 October 1935
Fiji 21 March 1973
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Retained the United Kingdom's reservations on succession.[58]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Finland 17 June 1925 26 June 1929
France 17 June 1925 10 May 1926
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrawn in 1996.[59]
Gambia 5 November 1966
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Germany 17 June 1925 25 April 1929
Ghana 2 May 1967
Greece 17 June 1925 30 May 1931
Grenada 3 January 1989
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Guatemala 3 May 1983
Guinea-Bissau 20 May 1989
Holy See 12 October 1966
Hungary 17 June 1925 11 October 1952
Iceland 19 December 1966
India 17 June 1925 9 April 1930
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
[60]
Indonesia 14 January 1971
[Reservation 4] Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the Netherlands.
Iran 4 July 1929
Iraq 18 August 1931
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
[61]
Ireland 18 August 1930
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrawn in 1972.[62]
Israel 10 February 1969
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
[63]
Italy 17 June 1925 3 April 1928
Jamaica 28 July 1970
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Japan 17 June 1925 21 May 1970
Jordan 20 January 1977
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
[Reservation 3]
[64]
Kazakhstan 20 April 2020
Kenya 17 June 1970
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of 22 December 1988
[Reservation 2] [65]
Korea, Republic of 29 December 1988
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Reservation 2 withdrawn in 2002 as regards biological agents covered by theBWC.
Kuwait 15 December 1971
[Reservation 3]
[Reservation 5]
[66]
Kyrgyzstan 29 June 2020
Laos 16 January 1989
Latvia 17 June 1925 3 June 1931
Lebanon 15 April 1969
Lesotho 10 March 1972
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Liberia 2 April 1927
Libya 21 December 1971
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
[Reservation 3]
[67]
Liechtenstein 16 May 1991
Lithuania 17 June 1925 15 June 1933
Luxembourg 17 June 1925 1 September 1936
North Macedonia 20 August 2015
Madagascar 2 August 1967
Malawi 4 September 1970
Malaysia 7 December 1970
Maldives 27 December 1966
Malta 9 October 1970
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Mauritius 23 December 1970
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Mexico 28 March 1932
Moldova 14 January 2011
Monaco 15 December 1966
Mongolia 18 November 1968
[Reservation 2] Withdrawn in 1990.[68]
Morocco 7 October 1970
Nepal 7 May 1969
Netherlands 17 June 1925 31 October 1930
[Reservation 4] Withdrawn in 1995.[69]
New Zealand 22 January 1930
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrawn in 1989.[70]
Nicaragua 17 June 1925 5 October 1990
Niger 5 April 1967
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from France.
Nigeria 9 October 1968
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
[71]
Norway 17 June 1925 27 July 1932
Pakistan 15 April 1960
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from India.
Palestine 19 January 2018
Panama 26 November 1970
Papua New Guinea 2 September 1980
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Retained Australia's reservations on succession.[72]
Succeeded from Australia.
Paraguay 22 October 1933
Peru 5 June 1985
Philippines 29 May 1973
Poland 17 June 1925 4 February 1929
Portugal 17 June 1925 1 July 1930
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Reservation 2 withdrawn in 2003, and reservation 1 withdrawn in 2014.
Qatar 16 September 1976
Romania 17 June 1925 23 August 1929
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrawn in 1991.[73]
Russia 17 June 1925 5 April 1928
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrawn in 2001.[74]
Ratified as theUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Rwanda 21 March 1964
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from Belgium.
Saint Kitts and Nevis 26 October 1989
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Saint Lucia 21 December 1988
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 23 April 1999
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia 27 January 1971
Senegal 15 June 1977
Serbia 20 January 2003
[Reservation 2] Implicit on succession.[Note 1]Serbia's Parliament voted to withdraw their reservation in May 2009[75]and the withdrawal was announced in 2010, but the depositary has not been notified.[76]
Succeeded as theFederal Republic of Yugoslaviafrom theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,[Note 2]which had ratified the protocol as theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Sloveneson 12 April 1929.
Sierra Leone 20 February 1967
Slovakia 1 July 1997[Note 3]
[Reservation 2] Withdrawn prior to succession.
Succeeded from Czechoslovakia, which ratified the protocol on 16 August 1938.
Slovenia 8 April 2008
Solomon Islands 1 June 1981
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Retained the United Kingdom's reservations on succession.[78]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
South Africa 24 May 1930
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrawn in 1996.[79]
Spain 17 June 1925 22 August 1929
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Withdrawn in 1992.[80]
Sri Lanka 20 January 1954 Ratified as theDominion of Ceylon.
Sudan 17 December 1980
Sweden 17 June 1925 25 April 1930
Switzerland 17 June 1925 12 July 1932
Syria 17 December 1968
[Reservation 3] [81]
Tajikistan 15 November 2019
Tanzania 28 February 1963 Ratified as theRepublic of Tanganyika.
Thailand 17 June 1925 6 June 1931 [Note 4] Ratified asSiam.
Togo 18 November 1970
Tonga 19 July 1971
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Trinidad and Tobago 24 November 1970
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Tunisia 12 July 1967
Turkey 17 June 1925 5 October 1929
Uganda 2 April 1965
Ukraine 7 August 2003
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Implicit on succession.[Note 1]
Succeeded from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
United Kingdom 17 June 1925 9 April 1930
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
Reservation 2 withdrawn in 1991 as regards biological agents covered by theBWC,and reservations completely withdrawn in 2002.[83]
United States of America 17 June 1925 10 April 1975
[Reservation 4] [84]
Uruguay 17 June 1925 12 April 1977
Uzbekistan 5 October 2020
Venezuela 17 June 1925 8 February 1928
Vietnam 15 December 1980
[Reservation 1]
[Reservation 2]
[85]
Yemen 11 March 1971
[Reservation 3] Made in a second instrument of accession submitted on 16 September 1973.[Note 5]
Ratified as theYemen Arab Republic.Also ratified by thePeople's Democratic Republic of Yemenon 20 October 1986, prior toYemeni unificationin 1990.[86]
Parties with withdrawn reservations
Parties with implicit reservations
Parties with unwithdrawn reservations limiting the applicability of provisions of the Protocol
Reservations
  1. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeafagahaiajakalamanaoapaqarasatauavBinding only with regards to states which have ratified or acceded to the protocol.
  2. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeafagahaiajakalamanaoapaqarasatauavawaxayazbabbbcCeases to be binding in regards to any state, and its allies, which does not observe the prohibitions of the protocol.
  3. ^abcdefDoes not constitute recognition of, or establishing any relations with,Israel.
  4. ^abcCeases to be binding as to the use of chemical weapons in regards to any enemy state which does not observe the prohibitions of the protocol.
  5. ^Ceases to be binding in the case of a violation.
Notes
  1. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrsAccording to theVienna Convention on Succession of States in respect of Treaties,states which succeed to a treaty after gaining independence from a state party "shall be considered as maintaining any reservation to that treaty which was applicable at the date of the succession of States in respect of the territory to which the succession of States relates unless, when making the notification of succession, it expresses a contrary intention or formulates a reservation which relates to the same subject matter as that reservation." Any state which has not clarified their position on reservations inherited on succession are listed as "implicit" reservations.
  2. ^Although the FR Yugoslavia claimed to be the continuator state of the SFR of Yugoslavia, theUnited Nations General Assemblydid not accept this and forced them to reapply for membership.
  3. ^Listed as 28 October 1997 by theUnited Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs.[77]
  4. ^Some sources list two reservations by Thailand, but neither the instrument of accession,[1]nor theUnited Nations Office of Disarmament Affairslist,[82]makes any mention of a reservation.
  5. ^According to theVienna Convention on the Law of Treaties,states may make a reservation when "signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to a treaty".

Non-signatory states

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The remainingUN member statesandUN observersthat have not acceded or succeeded to the Protocol are:

Chemical weapons prohibitions

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Year Name Effect
1675 Strasbourg Agreement The first international agreement limiting the use of chemical weapons, in this case, poison bullets.
1874 Brussels Convention on the Law and Customs of War Prohibited the employment of poison or poisoned weapons (Never entered into force.)
1899 1st Peace Conference at the Hague Signatories agreed to abstain from "the use of projectiles the object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases."
1907 2nd Peace Conference at the Hague The Conference added the use of poison or poisoned weapons.
1919 Treaty of Versailles Prohibited poison gas in Germany.
1922 Treaty relating to the Use of Submarines and Noxious Gases in Warfare Failed because France objected to clauses relating to submarine warfare.
1925 Geneva Protocol Prohibited the "use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of all analogous liquids, materials or devices" and "bacteriological methods" in international conflicts.
1972 Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention No verification mechanism, negotiations for a protocol to make up this lack halted by USA in 2001.
1993 Chemical Weapons Convention Comprehensive bans on development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons, with destruction timelines.
1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Makes it a war crime to employ chemical weapons in international conflicts. (2010 amendmentextends prohibition to internal conflicts.)

References

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  1. ^abcdefghi"Protocole concernant la prohibition d'emploi à la guerre de gaz asphyxiants, toxiques ou similaires et de moyens bactériologiques, fait à Genève le 17 juin 1925"(in French).Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of France.Archived fromthe originalon 2 December 2008.Retrieved23 July2013.
  2. ^Chemical Weapons Convention,Article 21.
  3. ^abc"Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare".United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs.Retrieved24 July2013.
  4. ^League of Nations Treaty Series,vol. 94, pp. 66–74.
  5. ^"Disarmament Treaties Database: 1925 Geneva Protocol".United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs.Retrieved9 February2021.
  6. ^abBeard, J. (2007). "The Shortcomings of Indeterminacy in Arms Control Regimes: The Case of the Biological Weapons Convention". American Journal of International Law. 101(2): 271–321. doi:10.1017/S0002930000030098.p., 277
  7. ^Haber, L. F. (2002).The Poisonous Cloud: Chemical warfare in the First World War.Oxford University Press. pp.239–253.ISBN9780191512315.
  8. ^ab"Treaty relating to the Use of Submarines and Noxious Gases in Warfare. Washington, 6 February 1922".International Committee of the Red Cross. 2012.Retrieved30 April2013.
  9. ^"The Geneva Protocol at 90, Part 1: Discovery of the dual-use dilemma - The Trench - Jean Pascal Zanders".17 June 2015.
  10. ^abcEric A. Croddy, James J. Wirtz (2005).Weapons of Mass Destruction: An Encyclopedia of Worldwide Policy, Technology and History, Volume 1.ABC-CLIO. pp.140–142.ISBN978-1851094905.Retrieved28 April2013.
  11. ^Pascal Daudin (June 2023)."The Rif War: A forgotten war?".International Review of the Red Cross.
  12. ^Noguer, Miquel (2 July 2005)."ERC exige que España pida perdón por el uso de armas químicas en la guerra del Rif".El País(in Spanish).ISSN1134-6582.Retrieved6 January2023.
  13. ^"Geneva Protocol: Protocol For the Prohibition of the Use In War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous, or Other Gases, And of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare (Geneva Protocol)".Nuclear Threat Initiative.
  14. ^abcdeBunn, George (1969)."Banning Poison Gas and Germ Warfare: Should the United States Agree"(PDF).Wisconsin Law Review.1969(2):375–420. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2 July 2014.Retrieved5 August2013.
  15. ^Israelyan, Victor (1 November 2010).On the Battlefields of the Cold War: A Soviet Ambassador's Confession.Penn State Press. p. 339.ISBN978-0271047737.
  16. ^Merridale, Catherine,Ivan's War, Faber & Faber: pp. 148–150.
  17. ^Fassihi, Farnaz (27 October 2002),"In Iran, grim reminders of Saddam's arsenal",New Jersey Star Ledger,archived fromthe originalon 13 December 2007,retrieved27 July2023
  18. ^Paul Hughes (21 January 2003),"It's like a knife stabbing into me",The Star (South Africa)
  19. ^Sciolino, Elaine (13 February 2003),"Iraq Chemical Arms Condemned, but West Once Looked the Other Way",The New York Times,archived fromthe originalon 27 May 2013
  20. ^"2603 (XXIV). Question of chemical and bacteriological (biological) weapons"(PDF).United Nations General Assembly. 16 December 1969.Retrieved24 August2013.use in international armed conflicts of: (a) Any chemical agents of warfare - chemical substances, whether gaseous, liquid or solid - which might be employed because of their direct toxic effects on man, animals or plants; (b) Any biological agents of warfare - living organisms, whatever their nature, or infective material derived from them - which are intended to cause disease or death in man, animals or plants, and which depend for their effects on their ability to multiply in the person, animal or plant attacked.
  21. ^Angela Woodward (17 May 2012)."The 1925 Geneva Protocol goes digital".VERTIC.Retrieved26 August2013.
  22. ^"Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare (Geneva Protocol)".U.S. Department of State. 25 September 2002.Retrieved24 August2013.
  23. ^"Practice Relating to Rule 76. Herbicides".International Committee of the Red Cross. 2013.Retrieved24 August2013.
  24. ^"Practice Relating to Rule 75. Riot Control Agents".International Committee of the Red Cross. 2013.Retrieved24 August2013.
  25. ^Scott Spence and Meghan Brown (8 August 2012)."Syria: international law and the use of chemical weapons".VERTIC.Archived fromthe originalon 26 September 2013.Retrieved26 August2013.
  26. ^Jillian Blake & Aqsa Mahmud (15 October 2013)."A Legal" Red Line "? Syria and the Use of Chemical Weapons in Civil Conflict".UCLA Law Review.
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Further reading

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  • Frederic Joseph Brown (2005). "Chapter 3: The Evolution of Policy 1922-1939 / Geneva Gas Protocol".Chemical warfare: a study in restraints.Transaction Publishers. pp.98–110.ISBN1-4128-0495-7.
  • Bunn, George. "Gas and germ warfare: international legal history and present status."Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America65.1 (1970): 253+.online
  • Webster, Andrew. "Making Disarmament Work: The implementation of the international disarmament provisions in the League of Nations Covenant, 1919–1925."Diplomacy and Statecraft16.3 (2005): 551–569.
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