open Democracy News Analysis - wmd: proliferation & verification - Comments

Aaron Tovish on "Criminalise WMD"

Aaron Tovish — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:21:21 +0000

Amendments to the part of the Statutes which defines applicable crimes, has a special twist:
"In respect of a State Party which has not accepted the amendment, the Court shall not exercise its jurisdiction regarding a crime covered by the amendment when committed by that State Party's nationals or on its territory."
This was not mentioned in this (the original) article. It means that the amendment could be adopted by seven-eighths of the parties but remain inapplicable to those who possess nuclear arms. This is not necessarily a fatal flaw. But it does mean thinking carefully about whether this is the best place to be investing energy.
I would be interested in hearing what other think.

Aaron Tovish on "Criminalise WMD"

Aaron Tovish — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:18:27 +0000

The word I have received from a top official in the Secretariat for External Relations is that:
"We are working on that amendment and intend to push it through and through. Of course, we would appreciate having the support of the NGO community."
It is being taken forward by their Legal Division. If there is any interest stemming from this blog, I will let folks know what I learn from them, particularly about the Hague, November meeting.
I think the next crucial step is getting the support of the CICC.

Aaron Tovish on "Criminalise WMD"

Aaron Tovish — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:49:56 +0000

I am the International Director of the 2020 Vision Campaign of Mayors for Peace. We aim to see the word free of nuclear weapons by the year 2020. So far over 3000 cities in 134 countries are on board, representing over 600 million people.
I was just in Mexico City (Mayor Ebrard joined!), at the annual UN DPOI/NGO conference which this year was devoted to disarmament. I find it curious that there was no mention of this Mexican Government initiative. I will try to find out if they are still pursuing it, and report back.

Catherine Jefferson on "Criminalise WMD"

Catherine Jefferson — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:01:11 +0000

It is shameful that use of neither NW nor BW is expressly treated as a war crime in the Rome Statute – though use of CW is, through verbatim inclusion of the provisions of the 1899/1907 Hague Declarations and the 1925 Geneva Protocol. However, an implication of the Statute not having included BW-use is that the BW-use prohibition in the Geneva Protocol is somehow invalid and not part of customary international law – an implication that is in urgent need of correction.

The ICC is not the only route through which to push for fuller criminalization of WMD. The Harvard Sussex Program has proposed a Draft Convention which seeks to create an international treaty establishing individual criminal liability for offences involving CBW. The Draft Convention goes further than the Statute by criminalizing all use of CBW, not only use of CBW constituting a war crime. Additionally, the Draft Convention extends the scope of impermissible activity to include not only use but also the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, and transfer of CBW.

Effective legislation is core in controlling the spread and use of CBW and adoption and widespread adherence to the Draft Convention would complement and extend existing initiatives.

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/spru/hsp/Harvard-Sussex-Program-draft-convention.htm