Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW)

The UN Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) was opened for signature on October 10, 1980, and entered into force in December 1983. The CCW prohibits the use of certain conventional weapons considered excessively deleterious or kill indiscriminately.

The CCW consists of five protocols:

1. Protocol I - Fragmentation weapons
2. Protocol II - Landmines
3. Protocol III - Incendiary weapons
4. Protocol IV - Blinding laser weapons
5. Protocol V - Clearance of explosive remnants of war

Enforcement

The protocols lack verification and enforcement provisions. The CCW sets international standards and relies on the goodwill of UN member states for enforcement. There is no formal process for resolving concerns about compliance as in the NPT or CTBT.

Landmines

In 1996, Protocol II was amended to restrict landmine use in internal conflcits, establish standards for reliability for remotely delivered mines, and prohibit the use of non-detectable fragments in anti-personnel landmines. The amendment entered into force on December 3, 1998. Many nations, however, favored a complete ban on landmines and convened to discuss the Ottawa Treaty.

Lasers

In the 1970's, Chinese soldiers were allegedly blinded by Soviet lasers in the China-Vietnam war. In 1982, there were similar reports of pilots from Argentina being blinded from lasers on British ships. Throughout the Iran-Iraq war, Iraqi laser systems caused over 4000 Iranian injuries. The Soviet Union was suspected of firing lasers at US spyplanes during the 1980's. In 1989 a bilateral agreement between the US and the USSR restricted the use of lasers. In 1989, the International Red Cross called for multi-lateral controls on the use of lasers in war.