ICBUW - Current Legal Status of Depleted Uranium Weapons

Current Legal Status of Depleted Uranium Weapons

ICBUW believes that the use of conventional weapons containing uranium runs counter to existing principle of International Humanitarian, Human Rights and Environmental Laws. However, as has been seen with chemical and biological weapons, land mines and cluster bombs, an explicit treaty has proved the best solution for confirming the illegality of such weapons. ICBUW anticipates that such a treaty would not only outlaw the use of uranium weapons, but would include the prohibition of their production, the destruction of stockpiles, the decontamination of battlefields and rules on compensation for victims.

Although ICBUW believes that the use of weapons containing uranium should already be illegal under International Humanitarian this is not the view held by Carla Del Ponte, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Louise Arbour, Del Ponte's predecessor as chief prosecutor, had created a small, internal committee, made up of staff lawyers, to assess the allegation. Their findings, that were accepted and endorsed by Del Ponte, concluded that:

There is no specific treaty ban on the use of DU projectiles. There is a developing scientific debate and concern expressed regarding the impact of the use of such projectiles and it is possible that, in future, there will be a consensus view in international legal circles that use of such projectiles violate general principles of the law applicable to use of weapons in armed conflict. No such consensus exists at present.

Subsequent legal opinions have sought to highlight the fact that, while the secondary effects of uranium weapons have similarities to other classes of banned weapons, their primary role as an anti-materiel weapon means that they do fit well into existing legislation. Nevertheless an acceptance of the hazards inherent in their use should support a legal instrument based on the precautionary principle.