t lNTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS Conference of Government Experts on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons (Second Stssion-Lugano. 28.1·26.2.J976) REPORT GENEVA 1976 Dft-f; r6/--fiCj-M. -ocJ../9 (Cff(;'%:7 f1) ~) lJhA k f"tf - /37 (i9 'n17 INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS Conference of Government Experts on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons (Second Session-Lugano, 28.1-26.2.1976) REPORT JA;G SCHOOL MAY 1 9 1989 LIBRARY GENEVA 1976 FOREWORD The need to publish this report as soon as possible, because of the work of the third session of the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts (Geneva, 21 April-II June 1976) is the main cause of a number of errors which will not escape the reader's attention. The ICRC would ask readers to bear with it. ,.. CONTENTS pages para. Introduction . 1-3 1-11 I. REPORT ON PLENARY MEETING PROCEEDINGS . 5 1-60 Chapter 1. General Debate . 1-15 Chapter 2. Incendiary Weapons . 9 16-26 Chapter 3. Delayed-Action and Treacherous Weap­ ons ' . 12 27-32 Chapter 4. Small-Calibre Projectiles . 13 33-43 Chapter 5. Blast and Fragmentation Weapons . 17 44-52 Chapter 6. Other Categories of Weapon and New Weapons . 19 53-55 Chapter 7. Other Business . 20 56-60 II. SUMMARY RECORDS OF PLENARY MEETINGS .•......... 21 1 First Meeting . 21 1-5 - Organization of Work . 1 - General Debate . 24 2-5 Second Meeting . 26 1-3 Designation of Officers . 1 - Organization of Work (continued) . 1 - General Debate (continued) . 27 2-3 ThirdMeeting . 30 1-12 - General Debate (continued) . 1-12 Fourth Meeting . 37 1-7 - General Debate (continued) . 1-6 - Provisional Timetable . 44 7 - Rules ofProcedure ' . 7 - Bureau of the General Working Group . 7 Fifth Meeting . 44 1-14 - General Debate on Incendiary Weapons 1-14 Sixth Meeting . 49 1-20 General Debate on Delayed-Action and Treach­ erous Weapons . 1-19 III pages para. - Statement by the Secretary-General on the Fi­ nancing of the Conference . 60 20 Seventh Meeting . 60 1--4 - General Debate on Delayed-Action and Treach­ erous Weapons (continued) . 1--4 Eighth Meeting . 61 1-12 - General Debate on Small-Calibre Projectiles 1-12 Ninth Meeting . 69 1-18 Organization of Work . 1 - General Debate on Blast and Fragmentation Weapons . 2-18 Tenth Meeting . 78 1-6 - Statement by the Vice-President of the ICRC . 1 - Organization of Work . 80 1--4 - General Debate on Other Categories of Weapon and New Weapons . 5-6 Eleventh Meeting . 82 1-32 - Continuation of Work . 1-10 - Consideration and Adoption of the Report . 85 11-31 - Statement by the Secretary-General on the Fi­ nancing of the Conference . 89 32 Twelfth Meeting . 89 1-35 - Consideration and adoption of the Report (con­ tinued) ',' . 1-16 - Final Statements . 92 17-34 - Final Statement of the President of the Con­ ference . 100 35 III. REPORT THE GENERAL WORKING GROUP . 103 1. Introduction . 1-3 2. Incendiary Weapons . 104 4-37 - Proposals . 5-29 - New Data . 109 30-37 3. Delayed-Action Weapons and Treacherous Weapons . 112 38-56 - Proposals . 39-55 - NewData . 115 56 4. Small-Calibre Projectiles . 116 57-67 IV pages para. - Proposals . 58-63 - New Data 118 64-67 5. Blast and Fragmentation Weapons. 119 68-83 . - Proposals . 68-82 - NewData 123 83 6. Future Weapons. ........................... 124 84-88 7. Other Business and Final Statement by the Chair­ manoftheGeneral Working Group 125 89 8. Documents Produced by the General Working Group: '... .. 132 (a) Incendiary Weapons - General Guidelines for the Discussion 13 2 (b) Proposed Agenda for the Working Sub- Group on General and Legal Questions ..... 133 (c) Draft Agenda for the Technical Experts Working Sub-Group on Small-Calibre Pro­ jectiles ................................. 134 (d) Informal Proposal Submitted to the Technical Experts Working Sub-Group on SmaIl-Cali­ bre Projectiles 135 (e) Statement concerning Unnecessary Suffering presented by the Informal Working Group of Medical Experts. ........................ 140 9. Report of the Working Sub-Group on General and Legal Questions 140 10. Report of the Working Sub-Group of Military Experts on Mines and Booby-Traps . 146 11. Technical Experts Working Sub-Group on SmaIl- Calibre Projectiles 154 (a) Provisional Notes on the First Meeting . 154 (b) Provisional Notes on the Second Meeting. 155 (c) Provisional Notes on the Third Meeting " . 156 (d) Provisional Notes on the Fourth Meeting. 159 (e) Provisional Notes on the Fifth Meeting . 161 (f) Informal Working Paper on Environmental Conditions 163 (g) Informal Working Paper on the Methods for Evaluating the Physical Characteristics of the Terminal Effects in Living Tissues. 163 (h) FinalStatement .. .. 164 v pages para. IV. ANNEXES 167 A. PROPOSALS SUBMITTED TO THE CONFERENCE 167 1. COLU/202 1 -Fuel-AirExplosives 167 2. COLU/203 2 - Land Mines and Booby­ Traps and Proposals for the Regulation of their Use 167 3. COLU/204 - Study of Comparison between the Effects Caused by 7.62 mm and 5.56 mm Calibre Bullets Shotin a Block ofSoap 171 4. COLU/205 3 - Use of Incendiary Weapons on a Massive Scale and Use of Napalm. 176 5. COLU/206-Booby-Traps............... 181 6. COLU/207 4 -IncendiaryWeapons........ 181 7. COLU/208-IncendiaryWeapons......... 182 8. COLU/209 5 -Fuel-AirExplosives 182 9. COLU/210 - Procedure for Continuing Studies. ................................ 183 10. COLU/211 6 - Incendiary Weapons and· Analysis of the Proposals Submitted Con­ cerning Incendiary Weapons. 183 11. COLU/212 - Non-Detectable Fragments. 188 12. COLU/213 - Time-Fused Weapons 189 13. COLU/214 - Use of Mines and Booby- Traps. " " '" . .. 189 14. COLU/215-LandMinesandBooby:-Traps. 189 15. COLU/216-Non-DetectableFragments... 190 16. COLU/217 - Use of Mines and Booby- Traps. .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... ... .. 191 17. COLU/218 - Especially Injurious Pre-Frag­ mentedElements ... .. .... .... .. .... 191 18. COLU/219-DefinitionofBooby-Traps '" 191 1 COLU/20l is a glossary compiled by the ICRe. 2 Takes account of document COLU/203/Add.l. 3 Takes account of documents COLU/20S/CoIT.l to 3. 4 Takes account of documents COLU/207/Add.l and COIT.l. 5 Takes account of document COLU/209/CoIT.l. 6 Takes account of document COLU/2lllAdd.l. VI pages para. 19. COLVI220 - Draft Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 on the Prohibition of the Vse of Incendiary Weapons ... ............................ 192 20. COLVI221 7 - Small-Calibre Projectiles: Experiments to Determine Bullet Behaviour in Water. ............................... 194 21. CDDHlIV/201- Incendiary Weapons, Anti­ Personnel Fragmentation Weapons, Fle­ chettes, Especially Injurious Small-Calibre Projectiles, Anti-Personnel Land Mines - Explanatory Memorandum. 198 22. RO 610/4 8 -IncendiaryWeapons .. 206 B. LIST OF EXPERTS ..•..••....................•. 209 C. WORK PROGRAMME •.......................•.. 226 D. RULES OF PROCEDURE. • . • . 227 E. STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS (as at 10 March 1976) 231 7 Takes account of document COLU/221/Corr.1. Documents COLU/221 and COLU/221/Corr.l have been submitted after the end of work on small-calibre projectiles. 8 Takes account of document RO 610/4/Add.1. VII INTRODUCTION 1. The second session of the Conference of Government Experts on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons, convened by the International Com­ mittee of the Red Cross (or ICRe) in accordance with the broad agreement reflected in the conclusions of the first session of the Conference (Report, para. 282, 2) and endorsed by the ad hoc Committee at the second session of the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts (CDDH, Geneva, 3 February - 18 April 1975; Report, CDDH/220/Rev. 1, paras. 56 ff.), was held at Lugano, Switzerland, from 28 January to 26 February 1976. Participants in the second session of the Conference (hereinafter referred to as the Conference) included experts appointed by the Govern­ ments of 43 States, as well as representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and of the Director-General of the World Health Organ­ ization. In addition, the Conference was attended by a technical expert repre­ senting the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and by representatives of the League of Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) Societies, of some National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) Societies, the International Federation of Former Prisoners of War, and the Special Non-Governmental Organizations Committee on Disarma­ ment. A List of the participants is annexed to this report (Annex B). 2. The Conference was governed by Rules of Procedure drawn up by the ICRC and presented to the ad hoc Committee of the CDDH, 2nd session (doc. RO 610/2 b). Essentially, the Rules ofProcedure were the same as those that had governed the first session, these merely having been adapted to the requirements of the second session. In the course of the 4th Plenary Meeting, the President announced a modification to Rule 8 para. 2, where the words "or to the CDDH" were replaced by the words", especially to the participants in the CDDH". (For the final version of the Rules of Procedure, see Annex D). 3. At the opening session, the Conference heard addresses by the President of the ICRC, the President of the State Council of the Republic and Canton of Ticino and the Mayor of the City of Lugano. 1 4. In accordance with Rule 6, the Conference was presided by Dr. Jean S. Pictet, Vice-President of the ICRe. After new Vice-Presidents had been designated to substitute those elected at the first session who were not present at the beginning of the second session, the list of Vice-Presidents read as follows: Messrs. D. M. Miller (Canada), S. Anwar Abou-Ali (Egypt), P. M.