The Norm Against Biological Weapons

The norm against biological weapons is presently supported by three international agreements: the 1925 Geneva Protocol, the 1925 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.

At first sight the restriction on the use of pathogens as a weapon appears rather new. However, the general acceptance that germs are the causative agents of diseases is relatively recent. Germ theory established itself during the final decades of the 19th century in the face of strong resistance from more traditional views on the causes of disease. In addition, given the then available laboratory instruments and scientific procedures, the proponents of germ theory faced an uphill struggle to prove that (1) microbial agents cause disease; (2) these agents can spread from person to person; and (3) the same microbe will always produce the same illness. Bacteria were first identified, followed by (the much smaller) viruses in the late 1920s and other causative agents of disease.

The acceptance of the three principles also meant that man would apply the insights from germ theory to hostile purposes. In World War 1 cultivated bacteria were first used in acts of sabotage against animals. The experience of modern chemical warfare together with the growing concern that the emerging insights into disease might be applied to weapon development led to the adoption in 1925 of the first international agreement formally banning bacteriological warfare.

Although lack of knowledge meant that there were no pathogens to manipulate in earlier ages, the customs and laws of war have since long banned the use of poison and poisoned weapons in combat. Legal treatises going back many centuries and originating from different civilizations and cultures clearly indicate that certain ways of fighting that today would be considered biological or toxin warfare were covered under the ban on the use of poison.

The norm against biological weapons thus goes back much further than the present-day treaties might suggest. These three treaties, however, spell out most clearly the obligations of states—and increasingly of individuals and other non-state actors—regarding the prevention of biological weapons and, more generally, the misuse of biology and biotechnology for hostile purposes (including warfare, terrorism and crime). A large number of resolutions and declarations issued by international and regional organizations and individual states are rooted in these treaties, indicating that the norm against biological weapons is highly active. These documents are collected in the BioWeapons Monitor. The present pages focus on the three principal treaties and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention in particular.