Immorality, inhumanity, opportunity and impunity of the chemical weapons’ use: the case of Syria

Abstract

Despite the frequent and extensive use of chemical weapons in armed conflicts, they were always considered as immoral, due to their uncontrollable and inhuman effects. The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) codifies the obligation to eliminate chemical arsenals on a global scale. The withdrawal and destruction of chemical weapons from Syria in 2014 will be the most important milestone of the non-proliferation regime and the greatest challenge for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The process will be long and extremely complicated, due to the lack of cooperation from the Syrian government and the finding by the OPCW of the use of chemical warfare agents in the conflict (both by the regime and by non-state actors). The feeling of frustration in the face of the impossibility of acting against the perpetrators of the attacks with chemical weapons on Syrian territory, has led in the last two years to the launch of some international initiatives, which seek to ensure that these crimes against humanity do not go unpunished. All this, in parallel to a recent criminal and homicidal use of chemical agents that seemed already forgotten.