Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity | Gas

Since ancient times, use of poison has been considered treacherous and, therefore, incompatible with honorable conduct in war. Yet, the history of mankind is blemished with numerous examples of combatants and civilians falling victim to various kinds of poisonous gases, which not only kill, but burn or paralyze the human body; singe lungs; cause blindness, malformations, cancer, and neuropsychiatric damage; or produce permanent genetic mutations, persistently affecting the health of the survivors' succeeding generations.

Use of Gas as a Method of Warfare

The history of the use of gas in the theater of war goes back to the fourth century BCE, when the belligerents in the Peloponnesian War created toxic fumes by igniting pitch and sulfur. However, it was not until the first large-scale use of poison gas by the German army in World War I (1914–1918) that the...