Thread by @NeilDvsn

Good news. And a long time coming!

Patience is a necessity in disarmament (and you’ll need it to make it through this🧵).

https://twitter.com/OPCW/status/1465991602804039690

Just now governments at the Chemical Weapons Convention #CWC #CSP26 finally decided that aerosolized central nervous system-acting chemicals cannot be used for law enforcement.

The decision can be traced back 30 years or so. A perceived loophole, or de-constructive ambiguity, in the treaty was known when the #CWC was negotiated. The late Julian Perry Robinson @SPRU hit the nail on the head in 1994:

He and many others in civil society helped fix it (alongside those in govt. & @opcw), incl. Malcolm Dando & Michael Crowley @UniofBradford. @BMA doctors rejected drugs as weapons & scientists at @royalsociety helped dismantle the myth of a “harmless” knock-out gas.

@ICRC entered the fray publicly at the 1st #CWC Review Conference in 2003 urging States “to clarify the meaning of the Convention's law enforcement provisions and so address the risks”. It received significant push-back from some for voicing its concerns: icrc.org/en/doc/resourc…

Later @ICRC convened meetings of government and independent experts in 2010 and 2012. It settled on a ‘riot control agents only’ policy in 2013, which it urged governments to adopt nationally and clarify internationally: icrc.org/en/doc/resourc…

Long-term efforts by Switzerland @SecurityPolCH – later with Australia and then joined by the USA – eventually led to growing support for a March 2021 @OPCW Executive Council decision approved today at #CSP26 by a majority vote.

It’s not perfectly worded. Non-aerosol delivered and/or non-CNS acting toxic chemicals would raise the same humanitarian, health and legal concerns. See @ICRC statement to #CSP26:
icrc.org/en/document/pr…

In fact, the @ICRC concluded in 2013 that applicable international law “leaves little room, if any, for the legitimate use of toxic chemicals as weapons for law enforcement other than the use of riot control agents”.

The #CWC #CSP26 decision also seemingly throws a bone to those still searching for the mythical “harmless” knock-out gas – noting that the decision is based upon the current state of scientific and technological “progress”.

☝ That type of thinking is exactly what has sustained this particular hangover from military #ChemicalWeapons programmes in the face of scientific evidence, real-world consequences, and legal obligations to the contrary.

Thankfully today's #CWC #CSP26 success provides some long-overdue clarity where it matters. It shrinks any perceived loophole dramatically. It is good news for the prohibition of chemical weapons and for the #CWC. Well done to all those involved over the years!✌️