Tear Gas Is Banned in International Warfare--Why Are Police Using It On U.S. Civilians?

[Judi Lynn]

Police say they’re using tear gas to clear crowds, but the chemical agent’s effects can cause long-term physical damage.

BY JANEA WILSON

On June 2, President Trump threatened to deploy military troops against Americans in response to nationwide protests after the recent murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Trump’s suggestion to use military force against U.S. civilians shocked many—but in fact police already have been using a weapon banned in international warfare against protesters: tear gas.

Across the country, police officers have tear-gassed protesters in attempts to clear out crowds. While U.S. officials have a history of using tear gas as a “riot control agent” (defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as “chemical compounds that temporarily make people unable to function by causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs and skin”), tear gas was banned in international warfare through the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997.

The Convention is a treaty that 193 nation-states are party to through the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) headquartered in the Netherlands. The treaty’s purpose was to eliminate weapons of mass destruction in international warfare by prohibiting the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons, defined by the OPCW as a “chemical used to cause intentional death or harm through its toxic properties.” Tear gas irritates the respiratory system, skin and eyes, which can lead to loss of eyesight and breathing problems, classifying it as a chemical weapon if used to intentionally cause harm or death (such as when it was used during World War I).

Under Article II Section 9 of the treaty, however, chemical agents used for “domestic riot control purposes” by law enforcement are not prohibited. Because U.S. law enforcement claims to use tear gas as a method to clear crowds, rather than to cause “intentional death or harm,” it has been used widely by police officers across the country.

More:
http://inthesetimes.com/article/22575/tear-gas-George-Floyd-Protest-War-Crimes-Black-Lives-Matter/

[msongs]

1. the article answers the question nt

[I_UndergroundPanther]

2. Human rights abuse

Can get amnesty international and the world community to notice. Make a call to the UN,than they'd take trump to the hague.along with his republican pigboys

[lapucelle]

5. "States can legitimately possess riot control agents

and use them for domestic law enforcement purposes."

Riot control agents

Riot control agents are intended to temporarily incapacitate a person by causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and skin.

Riot control agents, such as tear gas, are considered chemical weapons if used as a method of warfare. States can legitimately possess riot control agents and use them for domestic law enforcement purposes, but states that are members of the Chemical Weapons Convention must declare what type of riot agents they possess.

Example agents:

Tear Gas (CS)
Pepper Spray (OC)

https://www.opcw.org/our-work/what-chemical-weapon

[dware]

6. The UN has no authority to take the Mango Menace to the Hague,

1. The US is not a signatory to the Hague, therefore they have no jurisdiction over US citizens.

2. The Secret Service would never allow that to happen to any president, however warranted it is.

[Jamastiene]

3. K&R

[Hoyt]

4. It is a good question. It appears in the 1990s when a chemical weapons ban treaty was being

negotiated, a number of countries -- not just the USA -- did not want tear gas banned for domestic riot control because tear gas is much less damaging than other options.


Under Article II Section 9 of the treaty, however, chemical agents used for “domestic riot control purposes” by law enforcement are not prohibited.


Honestly, we can debate when tear gas should be deployed in protests, but it is pretty harmless in most -- but not all cases. Plus, there are different strengths.

Assuming chit is about to go down -- as deemed by a rational person -- I'd heck of lot rather be tear gased than just about anything else I can think of -- especially some of the newer methods like Long Range Acoustic Devices, Water cannon, bayonets, stun grenades, directed-energy weapon, heat guns, etc.

[Karadeniz]

7. Here tear gas was not being used for riot control. It was used against peaceful protestors.