Legal Constraints on Biological Weapons - Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 - page 337

tee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and for disarmament nongovernmental orga-
nizations (NGOs), which appealed to governments to take more resolute
and effective action against the threat of CBW.
Accession to or ratification of the Geneva Protocol was a central, and
relatively uncontentious, element in every resolution and appeal to states
under the heading of CBW. Adherence to the Geneva Protocol accord-
ingly began to pick up speed in the years 1966-1969. The roster rose
from 49 at the end of 1965 to 68 at the end of 1969, with Cuba, Gambia,
Holy See, Cyprus, and Maldives (1966); Monaco, Niger, Sierra Leone,
Ghana, Tunisia, Madagascar, and Iceland (1967); Nigeria (R) , Mongolia (R) ,
and Syria (1968); Israel (R) , Lebanon, Nepal, and Argentina (1969).
Then came the 45th anniversary of the Protocol and the 25th anniver-
sary of the UN. On 16 December 1969, by GA Resolution 2603B (XXIV),
the General Assembly:
Conscious of the need to maintain inviolate the Geneva Protocol and to
ensure its universal applicability . . . Invites all States which have not yet
done so to accede to or ratify the Geneva Protocol in the course of 1970
in commemoration of the 45th anniversary of its signing and the 25th
anniversary of the UN.
A major letter-writing campaign in support of the resolution was un-
dertaken from Geneva by the ICRC and the Special NGO Committee on
Disarmament. The result was spectacular. The Geneva Protocol roster
increased from 68 to 91 in 1970 and 1971. This expansion included rati-
fication by Japan on 21 May 1970 and Brazil on 28 August 1970 and 21
instruments of accession or succession: Central African Republic, Côte
d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Kenya, Malawi, Malay-
sia, Malta, Mauritius, Morocco, Panama, and Trinidad & Tobago, (1970);
Arab Republic of (North) Yemen, Indonesia, Kuwait (R) , Libya (R) , Saudi
Arabia, Togo, Tonga, and Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) (1971). As a
proportion of all the states in the world, this represented an increase from
50 percent to 65 percent in just two years. Almost two-thirds of all states
were now formally bound by the Protocol.
The years 1972 added Lesotho, and 1973 Fiji (R) and the Philippines. The
next year saw no new States Parties, but 1975 brought a historic event in
the life of the Protocol: on 10 April 1975 the US became the 95th State
Party by ratifying its signature of 50 years before.