The Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the use of Incendiary Weapons is a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal per ...

that restricts the use of

incendiary weapon Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, t ...

s. It is Protocol III to the 1980

Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons The United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW or CCWC), 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 consid ...

. Concluded in 1981, it entered into force on 2 December 1983. , it has been adopted by 125 state parties.

Content

The protocol prohibits, in all circumstances, making the civilian population as such, individual civilians or civilian objects, the object of attack by any weapon or munition which is primarily designed to set fire to objects or to cause burn injury to persons through the action of

flame A flame (from Latin '' flamma'') is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction taking place in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density they ...

heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...

or a combination thereof, produced by a

chemical reaction A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Classically, chemical reactions encompass changes that only involve the positions of electrons in the forming and breakin ...

of a substance delivered on the target. The protocol also prohibits the use of air-delivered incendiary weapons against military targets within a concentration of civilians, and limits the use of incendiary weapons delivered by other means. Forest and other plants may not be a target unless they are used to conceal combatants or other military objectives. Protocol III lists certain munition types like

smoke shell A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Modern usage ...

s which only have a secondary or additional incendiary effect; these munition types are not considered to be incendiary weapons.

External links

Text and signatories of the protocol

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices, Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary weapons International humanitarian law treaties United Nations treaties Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Treaties concluded in 1981 Treaties entered into force in 1983 Treaties of Albania Treaties of Algeria Treaties of Antigua and Barbuda Treaties of Argentina Treaties of Australia Treaties of Austria Treaties of Bahrain Treaties of Bangladesh Treaties of Belarus Treaties of Benin Treaties of Belgium Treaties of Bolivia Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina Treaties of Brazil Treaties of Bulgaria Treaties of Burkina Faso Treaties of Cambodia Treaties of Canada Treaties of Cape Verde Treaties of Chile Treaties of China Treaties of Colombia Treaties of Costa Rica Treaties of Croatia Treaties of Cuba Treaties of Cyprus Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of Denmark Treaties of Djibouti Treaties of Ecuador Treaties of El Salvador Treaties of Estonia Treaties of Finland Treaties of France Treaties of Gabon Treaties of Georgia (country) Treaties of Germany Treaties of Greece Treaties of Grenada Treaties of Guatemala Treaties of Guinea-Bissau Treaties of the Holy See Treaties of Honduras Treaties of Hungary Treaties of Iceland Treaties of India Treaties of Ireland Treaties of Italy Treaties of Jamaica Treaties of Japan Treaties of Jordan Treaties of Kazakhstan Treaties of Kuwait Treaties of Laos Treaties of Latvia Treaties of Lesotho Treaties of Liberia Treaties of Liechtenstein Treaties of Lithuania Treaties of Luxembourg Treaties of North Macedonia Treaties of Madagascar Treaties of the Maldives Treaties of Mali Treaties of Malta Treaties of Mauritius Treaties of Mexico Treaties of Moldova Treaties of Mongolia Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of Nauru Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of New Zealand Treaties of Nicaragua Treaties of Niger Treaties of Norway Treaties of Pakistan Treaties of the State of Palestine Treaties of Panama Treaties of Paraguay Treaties of Peru Treaties of the Philippines Treaties of Poland Treaties of Portugal Treaties of Qatar Treaties of Romania Treaties of Russia Treaties of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Treaties of Saudi Arabia Treaties of Senegal Treaties of Serbia Treaties of Seychelles Treaties of Sierra Leone Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of Slovenia Treaties of South Africa Treaties of Spain Treaties of Sri Lanka Treaties of Sweden Treaties of Switzerland Treaties of Tajikistan Treaties of Togo Treaties of Tunisia Treaties of Uganda Treaties of Ukraine Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of the United States Treaties of Uruguay Treaties of Venezuela Treaties of Zambia