The Global Ban on Chemical Weapons: Preserving Its Integrity

Preserving the integrity of the global ban on chemical weapons is crucial to maintaining a peaceful and humanitarian world. In anticipation of the upcoming Review Conference of the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged governments to reaffirm their commitment to the treaty and demand accountability for violations.

The Chemical Weapons Convention is the world’s most universally accepted humanitarian disarmament treaty with 193 countries currently party to it. The convention prohibits the use of toxic properties of common chemicals, such as chlorine, for killing or injuring. Each state party is also obligated to refrain from assisting, encouraging, or inducing any activity prohibited by the convention. In effect since 1997, the convention’s promise of a world free of chemical weapons is being threatened by the continued use of banned weapons by several actors.

The Syrian government’s partial compliance with the treaty’s requirements is a test of the strength of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Although Syria joined the treaty in October 2013, the government has continued to use chemical weapons and failed to declare and destroy remaining chemical weapons facilities. According to investigations by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, thousands of Syrians were killed or injured in attacks using chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin and chlorine delivered by improvised air-dropped bombs between 2015 and 2018.

The HRW has called on governments to uphold the integrity of the treaty by publicly singling out violators. However, the organization’s previous requests to participate in meetings of the Chemical Weapons Convention have been repeatedly denied in the past due to opposition from a few member countries. Nevertheless, in April 2023, the HRW’s accreditation to attend the Fifth Review Conference was accepted, except for other organizations like the Syrian Network for Human Rights and Syria Civil Defence.

Furthermore, HRW has also investigated and documented the abuse and sometimes lethal use of tear gas and other chemical irritants during protests by law enforcement and other security forces, globally. Although the use of tear gas on nonviolent protestors violates international human rights law, the Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the use of such riot control agents as a method of warfare during international and non-international armed conflicts. The HRW called on governments to prevent and suppress the use of tear gas on the battlefield.

In conclusion, protecting and upholding the Chemical Weapons Convention is imperative to creating a safe and humanitarian world that is free of weapons of mass destruction. Governments must defend the treaty by condemning the use of chemical weapons and their continued development and demanding accountability for violations. Additionally, the Chemical Weapons Convention must overhaul its practices for accepting or rejecting the presence of nongovernmental organizations and make the decisions clear and public to prevent the muting of expert civil society voices and maintain transparency and accountability.

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