Written Statementof the Covernment of Sri Lanka REQüEST FOR AN ADVISORY OPINION OF THE INTERNATIONAL
COURT OF JUSTICE ON THE QUESTION OF THE LEGALITY OF
THE USE BY A STATE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN AWD
CONFLICT SUBMITTED BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
WRITTEN STATEMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT OFSRI
LANKA IN ACCORDANCEWITH
ARTICLE 66, PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE STATUTE OF THE
INTERNATIONAL COURT'OF JUSTICE
The reports of the World Health Organization have
clearly--- expressed the massive scale of death,
destruction and irremediable suffering that would result
£rom nuclear war. The devastating environmental effects
of nuclear explosions were given graphic expression in
the United Nations -General Assembly Resolution On the
Climatic effects of Nuclear War, including Nuclear
Winter (GA Res. 41/86) wherein it was stated that :
--
"the climatic effects of nuclear war pose an
unprecendented peril to al1 nations, even those far
removed from the nuclear explosions, which would
add immeasureably to the previously known dangers
of nuclear war, without excluding the possibility
of al1 the earth being transformed into a darkened,
frozen planet, where conditions would be conducive
to mass extinction."
Sri Lanka's conmitment to the elimination of the
threat posed by nuclear weapons and other weapons of
mass destruction is reflected in the international
treaty obligations it has undertaken in the field of
disarmament. Sri Lanka is a party to the .Treaty on the
Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Chemical
Weapons Convention (CWC), the Convention on the
Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of
Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) and the
Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). Sri Lanka has also
been in the forefront of- major initiatives in the field
of disarmament and stands fully committed to the
disarmament process.
The government of Sri' Lanka is of the view that
there exlsts .a substantial corpus of principles of
international'humanitarian law, developed over the years
based on state practice, which provides a solid legal
basis for the prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons.
The- Charter of the United Nations, which antedated
the use of nuclearweapons in Hiroshima & Nagasaki, does
not specifically refer to nuclear weapons. Article 51of the Charter states that "nothing.. . ... shall impair
the inherent right of self-defence of a rnember State".
AS pointed out by a United Nations Study (A/45/373), the
question of which means are acceptable for exercising
the right of self-defence is thus left to regulation by
treaty and customary law. The Statute of the ICJ
indicates as primary. sources of international law,
besides treaties;also "international custorn as evidence
of a general practice accepted as law" and 'the general
principles of law recognised by civilized nations".
Over 150 states parties to the NPT by rejecting the
possession of nuclear weapons as a means of self-defence
have established through state ptactice, an important
nom supportive of the proposition, that any use of
nuclear weapons will be contrary to general principles
of law recognised by the international community of
nations.
.-
Customary law principles which have evolved in the
field of armed conflict prohibit the use of weapons and
the rnethods of warfare of a nature- to cause superfluous
theuryuse or ofnecweapons thatferfail toThediscriminatelity betweenof
military and civilian personnel is finnly established as
a fundamental principle of international humanitarian
law. These principles which prohibit indiscriminate
killing and make the fundamental distinction between
inmbathets body anofnotreatyatantlaw whichhave haveso beenund incorporated
in a series of international conventions, from'about the
time of the 1899 Hague Peace Conference and culminating
with the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its Additional
Protocols of 19.77.
Furthermore, a series of UNGA resolutions with
substantial legal content and adopted with a wide
measure of support of the international community of
States, more particularly. the United Nations General
Assembly Resolution 1653(XVI) of 24th November 1961
declaring that the use of nuclear and thermonuclear
weapons to be :
a) contrary to the spirit, letter and aims of the
United .Nations and as ,such a direct violation of the
Charter of the United' listions;
b) contra?, to the rules of international law and
to the laws of humanity; and
c) a crime against mankind and civilisation.
--
is evidence of the international consensus on the
illegality of the use of nuclear weapons. A substantial majority of scholarly opinions of
jurists from different parts of the world also support
the proposition that the use of nuclear weapons violates
international humanitarian law.
The protection of the environment in times of armed
conflict has also emerged as an established principle of
international law. The 1963 .Treaty Banning Nuclear
Weapons Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and
Under Water, the 1976 Convention on the Prohibition of
Military or any other Hostile Use of ,Environmental
Modification Techniques, the Outer Space Treaty (1967)
the Sea-Bed Treaty (1971) are some of the relevant
treaties in this field. More recently, the 1992 Rio
Declaration on Environment and Development provided :
"Warfare is inherently destructive of sustainable
development. States shall therefore respect ~-
international law providing protection for the
environment in times of armed conflict and co-
operate in its further development, as necessary".
. .
These principles are further developed in the 1992
Convention on Biological Diversity and the 1992
Convention on :.:-:.Climatic Change.
Taking into account these fundamental principles of
international humanitarian law as reflected in treaty
mankind'statemoralracticeresponsibilitys ogivenuristthe devastating' as
effects even a limited nuclear conflict could cause to
the very survival of humanity and the natural
environment, it is respectfully submitted that the
International Court of Justice confirm that the use of
nuclear weapons by a State, in war. or other armed
conflict is a clear breach of its obligations under
international law.
Written Statement of the Government of Sri Lanka