Geneva Protocol

For other uses, see Geneva Protocol (disambiguation).

Countries part of the Geneva Protocol.

The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva Protocol, is a treaty prohibiting the first use of chemical and biological weapons. It was signed at Geneva on 17 June 1925 and entered into force on 8 February 1928. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on 7 September 1929. The Geneva Protocol is a protocol to the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.

It prohibits the use of chemical weapons and biological weapons, but has nothing to say about production, storage or transfer. Later treaties did cover these aspects—the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.

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.

History

In the 19th century Great Britain used chemical weapons at war^{[citation needed]} and others planned to use it. In the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 the use of dangerous chemical agents were outlawed. In spite of this, chemical warfare was done in large scale in the First World War. Already in 1914 France used teargas. The first large scale application was by the German Empire in Ypres, Kingdom of Belgium in 1915, when chlorine gas was released as a defensive measure at a Canadian led attack leaving lots of wounded and a few killed. After the introduction, most warfaring countries engaged in a chemical arms race, including Great Britain, Russia, Austria-Hungary, USA and Italy. It resulted in a vast range of horrific chemicals affecting lungs, skin, or eyes, and some were intended to be lethal on the battle field, like hydrogen cyanide, and efficient methods of deploying agents were invented. At least 124 000 tons was produced during the war. In 1918 about one grenade out of three was filled with dangerous chemical agents. As protective equipment developed, also the technology to destroy such equipment became a part of the race of armament. About 1% of the fatalities and 4% of woundings of the Great War can be attributed to the use of gas, but the terror inflicted on the soldiers was an even bigger effect.

The Treaty of Versailles included some provisions that banned Germany from either manufacturing or importing chemical weapons. Similar treaties banned the First Austrian Republic, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, and the Kingdom of Hungary from chemical weapons, all belonging to the losing side, the Central powers. Russian bolsheviks and Britain continued the use of chemical weapons in the Russian Civil War and the Britons probably in the Middle East 1920.

Three years after World War I, the Allies wanted to reaffirm the Treaty of Versailles, and in 1922 the United States introduced the treaty on the Use of Submarines and Noxious Gases in Warfare, known as the Washington Treaty. The four of the war victors, United States, United Kingdom, Italy and Japan, gave consent for ratification but it failed to enter into force as the French Third Republic objected to the submarine provisions of the treaty and thus the treaty failed.

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. The Second Polish Republic suggested the addition of bacteriological weapons. It was signed on 17 June.

Trespasses

Several countries have deployed or prepared chemical weapons in spite of the treaty. Spain and France in the Rif War before it came into effect 1928. Italy against Abyssinia 1935 (mustard gas), Japan against China 1938-41, Iraq against Iran and Kurds 1980-88 (mustard gas, sarin, VX etc.).

In the Second World War, the USA, Great Britain and Germany prepared the resources to deploy chemical weapons, stockpiling tons of it, but refrained from it due to the balance of terror, the probability of horrific retaliation. Great Britain collaborated with USA in the development of the weapons. Soviet Union kept their development secret but they did have the facilities to produce chemical weapons. After the war thousands of tons of shells and containers with tabun and sarin and other chemical weapons were disposed of at sea by the allies.

Historical assessment

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

• use against not-ratifying parties
• retalliation 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

Despite the U.S. having peen a proponent of the protocol, the U.S. military and American Chemical Society lobbied against it, causing the U.S. Senate not to ratify the protocol for 50 years.

State parties

To become party to the Protocol, state parties must deposit an instrument with the government of France (the depository power). Thirty-eight states originally signed the Protocol. France was the first signatory to ratify the treaty, on 10 May 1926. El Salvador, the final signatory to ratify the treaty did so on 26 February 2008. As of May 2013, 138 states have ratified, acceded to, or succeeded to the treaty.

Party	Date of deposition	Reservations		Notes
Afghanistan	01986-12-099 December 1986	—
Albania	01989-12-2020 December 1989	—
Algeria	01992-01-2727 January 1992
Angola	01990-11-088 November 1990
Antigua and Barbuda	01989-01-011 January 1989	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Argentina	01969-05-1212 May 1969	—
Australia	01930-05-2424 May 1930		Withdrawn 1986.
Austria	01928-05-099 May 1928	—		Signatory.
Bahrain	01988-12-099 December 1988
Bangladesh	01989-05-2020 May 1989
Barbados	01976-07-1616 July 1976	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Belgium	01928-12-044 December 1928		Withdrawn 1997.	Signatory.
Benin	01986-12-099 December 1986	—
Bhutan	01979-02-1919 February 1979	—
Bolivia	01985-01-1414 January 1985	—
Brazil	01970-08-2828 August 1970	—		Signatory.
Bulgaria	01934-03-077 March 1934		Withdrawn 1991.	Signatory.
Burkina Faso	01971-03-033 March 1971	—
Cambodia	01983-03-1515 March 1983
Cameroon	01989-07-2020 July 1989	—
Canada	01930-05-066 May 1930		Withdrawn in 1991 as regards biological agents and in 1999 as regards chemical agents.	Signatory.
Cape Verde	01991-10-1515 October 1991	—
Central African Republic	01970-07-3131 July 1970	—
Chile	01935-07-022 July 1935		Withdrawn 1991.	Signatory.
People's Republic of China	01929-08-2424 August 1929	—		The People's Republic of China replaced the Republic of China in the United Nations in 1971
Costa Rica	02009-02-1313 February 2009	—
Côte d'Ivoire	01970-07-2727 July 1970	—
Croatia	02006-12-1818 December 2006	—
Cuba	01966-06-2424 June 1966	—
Cyprus	01966-12-1212 December 1966	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Czech Republic	01993-09-1717 September 1993	—		Succeeded from Czechoslovakia.
Denmark	01930-05-055 May 1930	—		Signatory.
Dominican Republic	01970-12-088 December 1970	—
Ecuador	01970-09-1616 September 1970	—
Egypt	01928-12-066 December 1928	—		Signatory.
El Salvador	02008-02-2626 February 2008	—		Signatory.
Equatorial Guinea	01989-05-2020 May 1989	—
Estonia	01931-08-2828 August 1931		Withdrawn 1991.	Signatory.
Ethiopia	01935-10-077 October 1935	—		Signatory.
Fiji	01973-03-2121 March 1973			Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Finland	01929-06-2626 June 1929	—		Signatory.
France	01926-05-1010 May 1926		Withdrawn 1996.	Signatory.
Gambia	01966-11-055 November 1966	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Germany	01929-04-2525 April 1929	—		Signatory.
Ghana	01967-05-033 May 1967	—
Greece	01931-05-3030 May 1931	—		Signatory.
Grenada	01989-05-2020 May 1989	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Guatemala	01983-05-033 May 1983	—
Guinea-Bissau	01989-05-2020 May 1989	—
Holy See	01966-10-1818 October 1966	—
Hungary	01952-10-1111 October 1952	—
Iceland	01967-11-022 November 1967	—
India	01930-04-099 April 1930			Signatory.
Indonesia	01971-01-2121 January 1971	—		Succeeded from the Netherlands.
Iran	01929-11-055 November 1929	—
Iraq	01931-09-088 September 1931
Ireland	01930-08-2929 August 1930		Withdrawn 1972.
Israel	01969-02-2020 February 1969
Italy	01928-04-033 April 1928			Signatory.
Jamaica	01970-07-2828 July 1970	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Japan	01970-05-2121 May 1970	—		Signatory.
Jordan	01977-01-2020 January 1977
Kenya	01970-07-066 July 1970	—
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of	01989-01-044 January 1989
Korea, Republic of	01989-01-044 January 1989		Withdrawn in 2002 as regards bacteriological and toxin agents.
Kuwait	01971-12-1515 December 1971
Laos	01989-05-2020 May 1989	—
Latvia	01931-06-033 June 1931	—		Signatory.
Lebanon	01969-04-1717 April 1969	—
Lesotho	01972-03-1010 March 1972	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Liberia	01927-06-1717 June 1927	—
Libya	01971-12-2929 December 1971
Liechtenstein	01991-09-066 September 1991	—
Lithuania	01933-06-1515 June 1933	—		Signatory.
Luxembourg	01936-09-011 September 1936	—		Signatory.
Madagascar	01967-08-022 August 1967	—
Malawi	01970-09-1414 September 1970	—
Malaysia	01970-12-1010 December 1970	—
Maldives	01966-12-2727 December 1966	—
Malta	01970-10-1515 October 1970	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Mauritius	01971-01-088 January 1971	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Mexico	01932-05-2828 May 1932	—
Moldova	02010-11-044 November 2010	—
Monaco	01967-01-066 January 1967	—
Mongolia	01968-12-066 December 1968		Withdrawn 1990.
Morocco	01970-10-1313 October 1970	—
Nepal	01969-05-099 May 1969	—
Netherlands	01930-10-3131 October 1930		Withdrawn 1995.	Signatory.
New Zealand	01930-05-2424 May 1930		Withdrawn 1989.
Nicaragua	01990-10-055 October 1990	—		Signatory.
Niger	01967-04-055 April 1967	—		Succeeded from France.
Nigeria	01968-10-1515 October 1968
Norway	01932-07-2727 July 1932	—		Signatory.
Pakistan	01960-04-1515 April 1960	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom and "British India".
Panama	01970-12-044 December 1970	—
Papua New Guinea	01980-09-022 September 1980			Succeeded from Australia.
Paraguay	01933-10-2222 October 1933	—
Peru	01985-08-1313 August 1985	—
Philippines	01973-06-088 June 1973	—
Poland	01929-02-044 February 1929	—		Signatory.
Portugal	01930-07-011 July 1930		Withdrawn 2002.	Signatory.
Qatar	01976-10-1818 October 1976	—
Romania	01929-08-2323 August 1929		Withdrawn 1991.	Signatory.
Russia	01928-04-055 April 1928		Withdrawn 2000.	Succeeded from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Rwanda	01964-05-1111 May 1964	—		Succeeded from Belgium.
Saint Kitts and Nevis	01989-11-1515 November 1989	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Saint Lucia	01988-12-2121 December 1988	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	01999-03-2424 March 1999	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia	01971-01-2727 January 1971	—
Senegal	01977-06-1515 June 1977	—
Serbia	02006-06-033 June 2006	—		Succeeded from Yugoslavia.
Sierra Leone	01967-03-2020 March 1967	—
Slovakia	01993-09-2222 September 1993	—		Succeeded from Czechoslovakia.
Slovenia	02008-04-088 April 2008	—
Solomon Islands	01981-06-011 June 1981			Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
South Africa	01930-05-2424 May 1930		Withdrawn 1996.
Spain	01929-08-2222 August 1929		Withdrawn 1992.	Signatory.
Sri Lanka	01954-01-2020 January 1954	—
Sudan	01980-12-1717 December 1980	—
Swaziland	01991-07-2323 July 1991	—
Sweden	01930-04-2525 April 1930	—		Signatory.
Switzerland	01932-07-1212 July 1932	—		Signatory.
Syria	01968-12-1717 December 1968
Tanzania	01963-04-2222 April 1963	—
Thailand	01931-06-066 June 1931			Signatory.
Togo	01971-04-055 April 1971	—
Tonga	01971-07-1919 July 1971	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Trinidad and Tobago	01970-11-3030 November 1970	—		Succeeded from the United Kingdom.
Tunisia	01967-07-1212 July 1967	—
Turkey	01929-10-055 October 1929	—		Signatory.
Uganda	01965-05-2424 May 1965	—
Ukraine	02003-08-077 August 2003	—		Succeeded from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
United Kingdom	01930-04-099 April 1930		Withdrawn in 1991 as regards biological agents and in 2002 as regards chemical agents.	Signatory.
United States of America	01975-04-1010 April 1975			Signatory.
Uruguay	01977-04-1212 April 1977	—		Signatory.
Venezuela	01928-02-088 February 1928	—		Signatory.
Viet Nam	01980-12-1515 December 1980
Yemen	01971-03-1717 March 1971	—

Chemical weapons prohibitions

Date	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, and the use of arms, projectiles or material to cause unnecessary suffering.
1899	1st Peace Conference at the Hague	European Nations prohibited "the use of projectiles whose sole purpose is the release of asphyxiating or harmful gases"
1907	2nd Peace Conference at the Hague	The Conference added the use of poisons or poisoned weapons.
1919	Treaty of Versailles	Prohibited poison gas in Germany (Added by E.Arms)
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 of "asphyxiating gas, or any other kind of gas, liquids, substances or similar materials"
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 Signed	Comprehensive bans on development, production, stockpiling and use of Chemical Weapons, with destruction timelines.

External links

• The text of the protocol
• Weapons of War: Poison Gas
• 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. ISBN 1-4128-0495-7.