Convention on the Prohibition of the Development Production, Stockpiling, and

use of Chemical Weapons and their Destruction

Emmy Bonagofski

General Information

• The Chemical Weapons Convention was drafted on September 3rd, 1992 in Paris and New York.

• The United States signed it on January 13, 1993• Enforced on April 29th, 1997• 189 countries signed the CWC

– Excluding Angola, Burma, Egypt, Israel, North Korea, and South Sudan.

Purpose

• Aims to eliminate weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting :– Development– Production– Acquisition

• By signing this, countries agree to:– Destroy any stockpiles (held in and out of their country)– Create a verification regime for certain toxic chemicals and their

precursors • If a country feels as though another country is not adhering

to this treaty, they can contact CWC and request a challenge inspection that cannot be refused.

-Stockpiling-Retention-Transfer/use

Was it Effective?

Yes• Potentially saved millions of lives• Made the world a safer place• Most countries have destroyed

over 3/5 of their chemical weapons

• Groups such as Al Quaeda have been prohibited to create chemical weapons.

• In 2014, 5 men from Al Quaeda were arrested after attempting to create such weapons.

No• There are loopholes that made

the attacks on August 21st, 2013 from Syria possible.

• That loophole made more dangerous phosphate-based chemical weapons possible to use.

• Allowed more dangerous weapons to be made and used.

• Unenforceable

Ideas

• Treaty is constantly being edited and changed– Edit the loophole out– Add another section to cover more dangerous weapons

• Include all nonlethal chemical weapons– Nonlethal weapons can have a 20% or less mortality rate

• Some people believe that actually destroying facilities that are suspected of producing chemical weapons would be more effective than the CWC.– What about the surrounding population?

References• Adams, A. (2013). The Russian Loophole: Syria enters the UN Convention that enabled

its chemical weapons program, OpEd News. Retrieved from http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Russian-Loophole--Syr-by-Abigail-W-Adams-Assad_Chemical-Weapons_Opcw_Syria-131114-905.html

• Gaffney, F. (2001). The Chemical Weapons Convention Is Unenforceable, Biological and Chemical Weapons. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.kcls.org

• N.A. (2014). Chemical Weapons Convention, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Retrieved from http://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/

• Üzümcü, A. (2014). Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (CWC), NTI. Retrieved from http://www.nti.org/treaties-and-regimes/convention-prohibition-development-production-stockpiling-and-use-chemical-weapons-and-their-destruction-cwc/

• Wheelis, M. (2006). The Use of Nonlethal Chemical Weapons Should Be Prohibited, Biological and Chemical Weapons. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.kcls.org