Humanity has endured countless wars over thousands of years. Despite the bloodshed and the loss of life on battlefields, there have always been certain conventions that parties are not allowed to violate. For instance, it is prohibited to kill envoys or to shoot those who raise a white flag of surrender. In ancient Greece, the use of poison on weapons was also forbidden, among other rules.
Since the 19th century, nations have convened to negotiate and establish the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), which currently has the agreement of 125 countries. This convention includes five protocols aimed at limiting the use of inhumane weapons on the battlefield, which are as follows:
Undetectable fragments: Weapons designed specifically to break into ultra-small fragments that cannot be detected in the human body by X-rays, such as fragmenting ammunition or bullets filled with broken glass.
Mines, booby traps, and other devices: This includes anti-personnel mines, which are specifically designed to target people rather than tanks.
Incendiary weapons: Incendiary weapons (e.g., Napalm bombs) are prohibited from being dropped in residential areas or forested regions.
Laser weapons: Laser weapons designed specifically to cause permanent blindness.
Unexploded ordnance after war: After the conclusion of a conflict, parties that used cluster bombs on the battlefield are required to clear all unexploded ordnance.
