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What did the 1925 Geneva Gas Protocol prohibit?
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War crime
Former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann listening as an Israeli court declares him guilty on all counts at his war crimes trial in Jerusalem, 1961.
The 1925 Geneva Gas Protocol specifically prohibited the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous, or other gases, as well as bacteriological methods of warfare.1
Drafted to prevent the recurrence of the atrocities seen during World War I, the treaty established a foundational norm in international law against the use of chemical and biological weapons. However, it is important to note that the protocol contained significant limitations:1
- Scope: It did not prohibit the development, production, testing, or stockpiling of these weapons.1
- Retaliation: Many nations reserved the right to use these weapons for retaliatory purposes if they were attacked with them first.1
Because of these gaps, the protocol was later supplemented by more comprehensive agreements, including the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972 and the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, which address the production and storage of such agents.1