ОГРАНИЧЕЊЕ УПОТРЕБЕ ЗАПАЉИВОГ ОРУЖЈА У ОРУЖАНИМ СУКОБИМА
RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF INCENDIARY WEAPONS IN ARMED CONFLICTS

Summary/Abstract: Incendiary weapons are means of warfare where flame and heat produced by a chemical reaction of some substances are used for causing material damage and burn injuries to the enemy. Modern incendiary weapons are based on one of the three chemicals: napalm, thermite or white phosphorus. Although state parties to the Protocol III have reached a consensus on the definition of incendiary weapons, there is still disagreement on its scope. The legal status of incendiary weapons is different in customary and treaty law. Customary rules are obligatory for all countries while treaty provisions are binding only for those states which ratified these treaties. There are two customary principles of international humanitarian law which are most relevant for the use of incendiary weapons: the distinction between combatants (and military objectives) and civilians (and civilian objects), and the prohibition of unnecessary suffering or superfluous injury. The first principle prohibits only some ways of using these weapons but not incendiary weapon per se. The second principle does not allow use of incendiary weapons against military personnel, unless it is not feasible to use a less harmful weapon to render a combatant hors de combat. There are two international treaties which contain special provisions on incendiary weapons: the Declaration of St. Petersburg of 1868 and Protocol III annexed to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, adopted in 1980. The St. Petersburg Declaration bans projectiles weighing below 400 grammes which are charged with fulminating or inflammable substances, but nowadays this prohibition does not have a significant practical impact. Protocol III mainly protects civilians from the effects of incendiary weapons. Article 2(1) prohibits the use of incendiary weapons against civilians and civilian objects. Article 2(2) bans attacks by air-delivered incendiary weapons against military objectives located within a concentration of civilians, without allowing for any exceptions. Article 2(3) restricts the use of incendiary weapons other than air-delivered incendiary weapons during attacks on military objectives located in populated areas. Yet, as opposed to the absolute prohibitions contained in Article 2(2), incendiary weapons may be used during land or sea attacks if military objectives are clearly separated from the concentration of civilians and if all feasible precautions have been taken to protect the civilians. Article 2 (4) contains a provision of an environmental rather than humanitarian nature. It envisages that forests and other kinds of plant cover may not be an object of attack by incendiary weapons but it also includes a number of exceptions.

• Details
• Contents