Protocol on Incendiary Weapons

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Protocol on Incendiary Weapons
Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the use of Incendiary Weapons
Context Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons
Effective2 December 1983 (1983-12-02)
Condition20
Parties126, As of January 2023 [1]
Depositary UN Secretary-General
LanguagesArabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

The Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the use of Incendiary Weapons is a United Nations treaty that restricts the use of incendiary weapons. It is Protocol III to the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed To Be Excessively Injurious Or To Have Indiscriminate Effects. Concluded in 1981, it entered into force on 2 December 1983. [2] [3] As of January 2023, it had been ratified by 126 state parties. [1]

Contents

Incendiary weapons as a category does not appear to include thermobaric weapons, and international law does not appear to prohibit the use of thermobaric munitions, fuel-air explosive devices, or vacuum bombs against military targets. [4] [5] Their use against civilian populations or infrastructure may be banned by this Protocol. [6] As of November 2022, all past attempts to regulate or restrict thermobaric weapons have failed. [7] [5]

Content

The protocol prohibits, in all circumstances, making the civilian population as such, individual civilians or civilian objects, the object of attack by any weapon or munition which is primarily designed to set fire to objects or to cause burn injury to persons through the action of flame, heat or a combination thereof, produced by a chemical reaction of a substance delivered on the target. The protocol also prohibits the use of air-delivered incendiary weapons against military targets within a concentration of civilians, and limits the use of incendiary weapons delivered by other means. Forest and other plants may not be a target unless they are used to conceal combatants or other military objectives. [8] [9]

The protocol lists certain munition types like smoke shells which only have a secondary or additional incendiary effect; these munition types are not considered to be incendiary weapons. [10]

Review of doctrine

An investigation into the doctrine taught by various militaries was conducted sometime after 2001 by the International Committee of the Red Cross as part of its database on Customary International Humanitarian Law. [11] Rule 84 deals with this Protocol. [12]

History

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation used incendiary weapons in the Battle of Grozny (1999–2000). Pavel Felgenhauer, at the time a journalist of the Moscow Times , reported that: [12] [13]

Incendiary bombs, incendiary cluster bombs and containers were extensively used to torch enemy-occupied objects and to destroy enemy manpower concentrations. At the time of these air raids there were several thousand Chechen fighters in Grozny and up to 100,000 civilians … Concrete evidence has been gathered by journalists and human rights groups on the use of different air-delivered incendiary weapons, including “vacuum” or “fuel” bombs against Grozny and other Chechen towns and villages. There is also concrete evidence that hundreds of civilians, including women and children, have been killed by such weapons.
The use of prohibited incendiary weapons in violation of international agreements is a much more serious war crime than the abuse of civilians by troops and bombardments by “ordinary” bombs or shells. The Russian military knows that the use of incendiary weapons is severely limited by international agreements. Such weapons are not part of the normal inventory of Russian units. Military sources say the orders to forgo internationally outlawed air-delivered incendiary weapons and attack towns and villages “came from the highest authorities”.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thermobaric weapon</span> Device producing a high-temperature explosion

A thermobaric weapon, also called an aerosol bomb, or a vacuum bomb, is a type of explosive that uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion. The fuel–air explosive is one of the best-known types of thermobaric weapons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cluster munition</span> Explosive weapon with small submunitions

A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicles. Other cluster munitions are designed to destroy runways or electric power transmission lines, disperse chemical or biological weapons, or to scatter land mines. Some submunition-based weapons can disperse non-munitions, such as leaflets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law of war</span> International regulations of warfare

The law of war is the component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war and the conduct of warring parties. Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territories, occupation, and other critical terms of law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incendiary device</span> Weapons intended to start fires

Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire, using materials such as napalm, thermite, magnesium powder, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus. Though colloquially often known as bombs, they are not explosives but in fact are designed to slow the process of chemical reactions and use ignition rather than detonation to start or maintain the reaction. Napalm, for example, is petroleum especially thickened with certain chemicals into a 'gel' to slow, but not stop, combustion, releasing energy over a longer time than an explosive device. In the case of napalm, the gel adheres to surfaces and resists suppression.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">White phosphorus munitions</span> Incendiary munition

White phosphorus munitions are weapons that use one of the common allotropes of the chemical element phosphorus. White phosphorus is used in smoke, illumination, and incendiary munitions, and is commonly the burning element of tracer ammunition. Other common names for white phosphorus munitions include WP and the slang terms Willie Pete and Willie Peter, which are derived from William Peter, the World War II phonetic alphabet rendering of the letters WP. White phosphorus is pyrophoric ; burns fiercely; and can ignite cloth, fuel, ammunition, and other combustibles.

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Air warfare must comply with laws and customs of war, including international humanitarian law by protecting the victims of the conflict and refraining from attacks on protected persons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convention on Cluster Munitions</span> International treaty

The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) is an international treaty that prohibits all use, transfer, production, and stockpiling of cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon which scatters submunitions ("bomblets") over an area. Additionally, the convention establishes a framework to support victim assistance, clearance of contaminated sites, risk reduction education, and stockpile destruction. The convention was adopted on 30 May 2008 in Dublin, and was opened for signature on 3 December 2008 in Oslo. It entered into force on 1 August 2010, six months after it was ratified by 30 states. As of April 2023, a total of 123 states are committed to the goal of the convention, with 111 states that have ratified it, and 12 states that have signed the convention but not yet ratified it.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Convention On Prohibitions Or Restrictions On The Use Of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed To Be Excessively Injurious Or To Have Indiscriminate Effects (With Protocols I, II And III)" (PDF). United Nations, Treaty Series , vol. 1342. p. 137. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  2. ↑ "Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons (Protocol III). Geneva, 10 October 1980". International Committee of the Red Cross. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  3. ↑ D. Schindler and J. Toman, The Laws of Armed Conflicts, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1988, pp.190-191.
  4. ↑ "Ukraine's ambassador to US says Russia used a vacuum bomb, international groups say banned cluster munitions used to strike shelter". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  5. 1 2 Hanson, Marianne (2 March 2022). "What are thermobaric weapons? And why should they be banned?". The Conversation. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  6. ↑ Dunlap, Charlie (27 February 2022). "The Ukraine crisis and the international law of armed conflict (LOAC): some Q & A". Lawfire. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  7. ↑ Seidel, Jamie (27 February 2022). "Father of all bombs': Russia's brutal weapon". news.com.au. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  8. ↑ "1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons – Factsheet". International Committee of the Red Cross. March 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Rule 84. The Protection of Civilians and Civilian Objects from the Effects of Incendiary Weapons". International Committee of the Red Cross. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Protocol III to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects: Text of the Protocol". UNODA. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  11. ↑ ICRC Database, Customary IHL , Practice, https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v2
  12. 1 2 "Practice relating to Rule 84. The Protection of Civilians and Civilian Objects from the Effects of Incendiary Weapons". International Committee of the Red Cross. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  13. ↑ Pavel Felgenhauer, “Endorsing War Crimes”, Moscow Times, 12 July 2001, p. 6
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