[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[May 12, 1994]
[Pages 905-906]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the Senate Transmitting the Convention and Protocols on 
Conventional Weapons Restrictions
May 12, 1994

To the Senate of the United States:
    I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate to 
ratification, the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use 
of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed To Be Excessively 
Injurious or To Have Indiscriminate Effects (the Convention), and two 
accompanying Protocols on Non-Detectable Fragments (Protocol I) and on 
Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other 
Devices (Protocol II). Also transmitted for the information of the 
Senate is the report of the Department of State with respect to the 
Convention and its Protocols.
    The Convention was concluded at Geneva on October 10, 1980, was 
signed by the United States on April 8, 1982, and entered into force on 
December 2, 1983. More than 30 countries have become Party to the 
Convention. It constitutes a modest but significant humanitarian effort 
to protect the victims of armed conflict from the effects of particular 
weapons. It will supplement prohibitions or restrictions on the use of 
weapons contained in existing treaties and customary international law, 
including the prohibition on the use in war of chemical and 
bacteriological weapons in the Geneva Protocol of June 17, 1925. It will 
provide a basis for effective controls on the widespread and 
indiscriminate use of landmines, which have caused widespread civilian 
casualties in recent conflicts.
    The Convention and its Protocols restrict, for humanitarian reasons, 
the use in armed conflicts of three specific types of conventional 
weapons. Protocol I prohibits the use of weapons that rely on fragments 
not detectable by X-rays. Protocol II regulates the use of landmines and 
similar devices for the purpose of reducing the danger to the civilian 
population caused by the indiscriminate use of such weapons, and 
prohibits certain types of booby-traps. Protocol III restricts the use 
of incendiary weapons in populated areas.
    The United States signed the Convention on April 8, 1982. Since 
then, it has been subject to detailed interagency reviews. Based on 
these reviews, I have concluded that the United States should become a 
Party to the Convention and to its Protocols I and II. As described in 
the report of the Secretary of State, there are concerns about the 
acceptability of Protocol III from a military point of view that require 
further examination. I therefore recommend that in the meantime the 
United States exercise its right under Article 4 of the Convention to 
accept only Protocols I and II.
    I believe that United States ratification of the Convention and its 
Protocols I and II will underscore our commitment to the principle that

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belligerents must refrain from weapons or methods of warfare that are 
inhumane or unnecessary from a military standpoint. I am also mindful of 
the strong sense of the Congress that the Convention should be submitted 
to the Senate for advice and consent to ratification, as evidenced in 
section 1365 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
1993 (October 23, 1992, Public Law 102-484) and section 1423 of the 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (November 30, 
1993, Public Law 103-160).
    More specifically, by becoming Party, we will encourage the 
observance by other countries of restrictions on landmines and other 
weapons that U.S. Armed Forces and those of our allies already observe 
as a matter of humanity, common sense, and sound military doctrine. The 
United States will be able to take the lead in negotiating improvements 
to the Mines Protocol so as to deal more effectively with the immense 
threat to the civilian population caused by the indiscriminate use of 
those weapons. It will strengthen our efforts to encourage adoption of a 
moratorium on export of all anti-personnel landmines.
    I therefore recommend that the Senate give early and favorable 
consideration to the Convention and its Protocols I and II and give its 
advice and consent to ratification subject to the conditions contained 
in the report of the Department of State.

                                                      William J. Clinton

The White House,

May 12, 1994.