Certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects

Abstract

The question of prohibitions, or restrictions of the use, of certain conventional weapons that may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects has long been considered by the international community. At the United Nations, the matter has been discussed by the General Assembly under various topics. For instance, at its twenty-seventh session in 1972, the Assembly considered the question under general and complete disarmament. At that session it had before it a report of the Secretary-General entitled Napalm and Other Incendiary Weapons and All Aspects of Their Possible Use which revealed that incendiary weapons caused widespread and largely uncontrollable conflagrations and concluded that there was a need for measures prohibiting their use, production, development and stockpiling. The General Assembly adopted resolution 2392 A (XXVII), by which it deplored the use of napalm and other incendiary weapons in all armed conflicts and commended the report to the attention of all Governments and peoples. The following year, the Assembly discussed the question as a separate agenda item entitled “Napalm and other incendiary weapons and all aspects of their possible use” , and adopted resolution 3076 (XXVIII) by which it invited the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, which held four sessions from 1974 to 1977, to consider the question of the use of napalm and other incendiary weapons, as well as other specific conventional weapons which might be deemed to cause unnecessary suffering or to have indiscriminate effects, and to seek agreement on rules prohibiting or restricting the use of such weapons. The Diplomatic Conference established an Ad Hoc Committee on Conventional Weapons for that purpose. A notable contribution to the study of the question was also made at the expert level by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) between 1973 and 1976.