U.S. Joins Four Law of War Treaties

[struggle4progress]

Source: State Deoartment Public Relations Office

Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
January 23, 2009

On January 21, the United States deposited its instruments of ratification for Protocols III, IV, and V of the Convention on Conventional Weapons ( “CCW” ) and for an amendment to that Convention. Protocol III covers incendiary weapons, Protocol IV covers blinding laser weapons, and Protocol V deals with explosive remnants of war. The Amendment expands the scope of the Convention to non-international armed conflicts.

The United States took a leading role in negotiating these protocols and the amendment, has long complied with the norms contained in them, and is pleased to become a party to each of them. This action reaffirms our commitment to the development and implementation of international humanitarian law.

The CCW and its Protocols are part of a legal regime that regulates the use of particular types of conventional weapons that may be deemed to pose special risks of having indiscriminate effects or causing unnecessary suffering. The CCW is a framework convention. States Parties to the CCW negotiate protocols within this framework to regulate specific types of weapons. States ratify each protocol separately.

Read more: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/01/115309.htm

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U.S. concludes ratification of convention on conventional weapons
Source: Xinhua | 01-24-2009 07:57

... The ratification means the United States has adopted all the CCW, which has five protocols and an amendment. The previous administrations had ratified other two protocols covering non-detectable fragments, landmines and booby traps.

As an annexe of the Geneva Convention, the CCW, which was concluded at Geneva on October 10, 1980 and entered into force in December 1983, seeks to prohibit or restrict the use of certain conventional weapons which are considered excessively injurious or whose effects are indiscriminate.

http://www.cctv.com/english/20090124/100770.shtml

[jeff30997]

1. "explosive remnants of war"

I wonder how many thousands of unexploded cluster bombs are laying around in Iraq just waiting

for a kid to pick it up and detonate.:(

[mopinko]

2. hell, how many in viet nam

does this mean we are going to start cleaning up landmines?

[LynnTheDem]

3. Finally.

Shameful it took so long.

[bemildred]

4. Good job. nt

[bvar22]

5. Celebrate!

This is a BIG step in the right direction.

[DCKit]

6. It's been one hell of a first week Mr. President!!!! K&R

[Igel]

7. It's been in the works for a while.

http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2008_10/SenateCCW

Clinton submitted one in '97, Bush submitted two in '06 after they were negotiated in '03. Senate didn't do anything with them until 9/26/08, when the Senate finally got around to ratifying them. They were binding on the US then. It was just a matter of getting the paperwork together for formal notification that they were ratified.

CCTV doesn't understand how the US system works; nothing's done until it's promulgated by the executive power, so the Senate's ratification not only wasn't on their radar, it's judged immaterial. The Constitution says that the Senate ratified the treaties; the Chinese say the Obama administration ratified the treaties.

We, of course, know which is correct.

[Piewhacket]

8. I don't think its a cut and dried process...

there is a vast amount of wiggle in those diplomatic toolkits, methinks.

If i were king of the forest, I'd wait til the treaty was delivered to me
personally by someone who was claiming they were intending to follow it.

so who delivered these saying they were going to be followed?
Bush? or Obama?