Reinforcing the Norm Against Chemical Weapons: The April 20-22 Conference of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention armscontrol.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from armscontrol.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Seeing chemical weapons attacks in close proximity Infographic News
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
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.
On April 29, 1997, the Chemical Weapons Convention – which banned the development, production or stockpiling of chemical weapons – came into force.
Since then, over 70,000 metric tonnes of stockpiles and chemical agents have been destroyed under the agreement. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), 193 states, or 98 percent of the world’s population, now live under the protection of the convention.
Only four countries have not signed or ratified the convention. They include: Egypt, South Sudan, North Korea and Israel (signed but not ratified).
Types of chemical agents
1. Choking agents
These gas-dispersed chemicals damage the nose, throat and lungs, causing victims to choke. When inhaled, they cause the air sacs in the lungs to secrete fluid, which essentially drowns those affected.
A brilliant political strategist and Putin critic, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been poisoned, imprisoned and recently ended a hunger strike protesting his lack of medical care while in prison.
Flash90
It has been a tough week for our Palestinian neighbors. A week they would rather forget.
It started with the decision of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to rebuff Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s regime for the use of chemical weapons in recent years. The condemnation was expected, as was the fact that a number of Assad’s allies, like Russia, voted against the motion. But the big surprise was the Palestinian Authority’s opposition to the resolution.
Thousands of Syrian opposition activists in turn condemned the Palestinians for opposing the motion, and vowed that Syrians in the future would no longer help or cooperate with “Palestinian issue” (e.g. condemning Israel).