Year 10 Legal Studies: Chemical Weapons in Syria

A Chemical Weapon is a chemical used to cause intentional death or harm through its toxic properties. Munitions, devices and other equipment specifically designed to weaponise toxic chemicals also fall under the definition of chemical weapons.

Chemical weapon, any of several chemical compounds, usually toxic agents, that are intended to kill, injure, or incapacitate enemy personnel.

The modern use of chemical weapons began with World War I, when both sides to the conflict used poisonous gas to inflict agonizing suffering and to cause significant battlefield casualties. Such weapons basically consisted of well known commercial chemicals put into standard munitions such as grenades and artillery shells.

Australia Group participants strongly supported the negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva leading to the conclusion of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). They became original signatories to the Convention when it opened for signature in Paris in January 1993 and are States Parties to that Convention. Australia Group participants are now playing an active and constructive role in the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.

WATCH THIS: When you think of wars it's easy to picture them as countries fighting against each other but tn the Middle East we've seen many conflicts that have taken on a different form. People fighting against their own government. And one country that's been doing that is Syria.

WATCH THIS: The official dismantling of Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons began in October 2013, the result of painstaking negotiations.

The UN's chemical weapons watchdog said Tuesday it was checking Kurdish allegations that Turkish forces fired non-conventional weapons in northern Syria, but emphasised it had not launched a formal investigation.

Turkey has rejected unconfirmed reports on the alleged use of chemical weapons and killings of civilians in northeastern Syria after a temporary halt to fighting between Turkish forces and Syria Kurdish militants was announced.

The United States has concluded that Syria used chlorine gas in an attack against rebels last May, saying Thursday that it was the latest use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad’s government in the eight-year civil war but stopping short of threatening a military response.

Over the course of the horrific five and a half years of the Syrian civil war, the government of Bashar al-Assad, his Russian allies, and extremist fighters, have committed numerous war crimes. Some 500,000 people have died, and more than 10 million have been displaced. There is no military solution to the conflict, yet the killing continues.

A study released on Sunday tallies the chemical weapons attacks over the course of the Syrian civil war, which has left hundreds of thousands dead. At least 336 have occurred, according to authors Tobias Schneider and Theresa Lütkefend of the Berlin-based Global Public Policy Institute.