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On April 29, 1997, the Chemical Weapons Convention – which prohibited the development, production or storage of chemical weapons – entered into force.
Since then, more than 70,000 metric tons of warehouses and chemical agents have been destroyed under the agreement. According to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), 193 states, which are 98 percent of the world’s population, live under the convention.
Only four countries have signed or ratified the agreement. They are: Egypt, South Sudan, North Korea and Israel (signed but not ratified).
Types of chemical agents
The OPCW has classified five different types of chemical agents used as weapons. They are:
1. Drowning agents
These gas-dispersed chemicals damage the nose, throat and lungs and drown the victims. When inhaled, the air sacs in the lungs secrete fluid, which essentially drowns the affected.
2. Blister agents
Oily substances that are inhaled or absorbed on contact, affecting the eyes, respiratory tract and skin, creating large blisters similar to severe burns. Exposure to these agents – dispersed as vapor, liquid or dust – can cause blindness and permanent damage to the respiratory system.
3. Blood agents
These agents inhibit the ability of cells to use and transfer oxygen, and drowns the body. Blood agents normally enter the body by inhalation and cause damage to vital organs, the heart and lungs.
4. Nerve agents
These toxic agents over-stimulate the body’s nervous system, which can lead to difficulty breathing, vomiting, headaches and blurred vision. A more potent dose can lead to seizures and muscle paralysis. Nerve agents are usually absorbed from the skin and lungs.
5. Incident control agents
Anti-disturbance agents such as tear gas, eyes, skin and respiratory system are a set of chemicals that cause irritation. Incident control agents are considered chemical weapons if used as a method of warfare, but may be permitted to enforce laws, as well as to control domestic incidents.
Where have chemical weapons been used?
Chemical weapons were first used in World War I when German agents used phosphene and mustard gas, including climate gas, phosgene, and mustard gas, and then caused at least 1.1 million deaths in the four-year war.
After the war, amid widespread anger, several countries signed the Geneva Protocol in 1925, banning the use of chemical weapons. The protocol, however, did not prohibit the development, production, or storage of such weapons.
Despite the ban, chemical weapons were used in the following decades, such as the Italy-Ethiopia War (1935-1936), the China-Japan War (1937-1945), and World War II, while Nazi Germany used poisonous gases. in concentration camps for killing civilians.
In the Middle East, during the Yemeni War (1963-1967), Egyptian forces used mustard and nerve agents to stage a coup against the Yemeni monarchy, killing 527 people.
A decade later, during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), Iraqi forces used chemical weapons against Iran, causing more than 50,000 casualties. In 1988, chemical weapons, believed to be sarin and mustard gas, were used by Iraqi forces against the Kurdish city of Halabja in northern Iraq. There were 10,000 dead in the attack.
During the 2008/2009 Gaza war, Israel used a controversial chemical agent white phosphorus, can seriously burn people and set fire to homes. Israel has refused to sign the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty on the Regulation of Nuclear Weapons, as well as ratifying the Chemical Weapons Convention, which requires states to be subject to international inspection and to destroy the chemical agents at their disposal. Israel has long maintained what it calls “ambiguity” in questioning whether it has nuclear or chemical weapons.
Chemical weapons attacks in Syria
In 2011, Syrian government forces turned into repression against pro-democracy protesters Civil War. On July 23, 2012, a spokesman for the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed for the first time that Syria had chemical weapons, but that they would only be used against “external attacks”. Five months later, on December 23, seven people were allegedly killed by a poisonous gas from Homs, which the U.S. blamed on the Syrian army.
Hundreds were killed in the first hours of August 21, 2013, when government forces fired rockets with chemical warheads into the eastern Damascus suburbs of Ghouta. UN researchers found “clear and credible evidence” of the use of sarin gas. According to the evidence, the Syrian government was to blame, which Damascus denied.
Over the next four years, hundreds of other chemical weapons were allegedly attacked by the Syrian government and ISIL (ISIS) armed groups.
According to the Global Public Institute of Berlin, GPPIBetween December 2012 and May 2019, 349 chemical weapons attacks were recorded in Syria, resulting in at least 1,961 deaths and 18,790 injuries.
67% of these attacks (233) found that they used at least a medium to high level of confidence. Chlorine from the choke was used in at least 65% of the incidents, followed by sarin gas (5%) and sulfur mustard (2%).
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