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with the absolute and universal prohibition of the development, produc-
tion, stockpiling, acquisition and retention of bacteriological (biological)
and toxin weapons, with the aim to exclude completely and forever the
possibility of their use. 7
This clear declaration challenges states to act and not to hide behind the
supposed supersession of the Protocol by the BWC as an excuse for inac-
tion. In any case the BWC did not explicitly ban use: it was concerned
with other activities, grouped around the possession of BW, and the ban on
use had to be logically derived from the combined effect of the actual
BWC prohibitions and belatedly emphasized in the Final Declaration of
the Fourth Review Conference. In this context, there is all the more rea-
son to regularize the Geneva Protocol status of BWC parties. Even if its
import would be more political than legal, withdrawal of reservations still
has an important part to play in achieving consistency of obligations and
emphasizing the absolute character of the ban on use of BW.
Withdrawal of the remaining reservations would also help to clarify the
extent of the norm against use in customary international law. As Adam
Roberts and Richard Guelff observed, writing in 1999:
Partly because of the large number of states bound by the 1925 Geneva
Protocol and the repeated expressions of support for it in the UN General
Assembly and Security Council, the prohibitions embodied in the Proto-
col are widely viewed as having become a part of customary interna-
tional law. As customary international law, the Protocol would be appli-
cable to all states and not merely those which have become formally
bound by ratification, accession or succession. However, some suggest
that the controversy over the Protocol's interpretation, as well as the
character of reservations, have reduced the Protocol's usefulness as a
guide to customary international law in this area. The weight of opinion
has long been that at least the first use of lethal chemical and BW is pro-
hibited by customary international law. 8
What is needed now is an authoritative statement that the norm against
use of BW in customary international law has evolved to become abso-
lute. It would be much easier to generate such a statement if the remain-
ing Geneva Protocol reservations were withdrawn.
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