JEWELLLW@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU (Larry W. Jewell) (03/08/91)
From: "Larry W. Jewell" <JEWELLLW@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
Below are some of the international laws on the use of "dumdum" type
bullets. A summation would be "don't". I also found some interesting
items on "incendiary" versus "tracer" type ammo, but I wasn't happy with
the discussion. Does anyone know how many "tracer" rounds can be in the
"mix"?
The quotes below are taken from "THE LAW OF WAR, A Documentary History"
edited by Leon Freidman, Random House, 1972.
This was a most impressive 2 volume set, with major treaties, signatories,
war crime trials (up to and including Calley/Medina) and I would recom-
mend it to anyone needing a comprehensive source on the laws of war. (The
section on the Geheime Staatpolizie was engrossing.
.........................................................................
Selected excerpts on types of bullets banned by international agreements:
Declaration of St. Petersburg, St.Petersburg, December, 1868
" The contracting parties engage, mutually, to renounce, in case of war
among themselves, the employment, by their military or naval forces, or any
projectile of less weight than four hundred grammes, which is explosive, or
is charged with fulminating or inflammable substances."
(This treaty was of note in that it was the first international treaty to
ban a "class" of weapons.)
Declaration of Brussels, Brussels, August 27, 1874
Article XIII;
" According to this principle are strictly forbidden;
"(e) The use of arms, projectiles, or substances which may cause
unnecessary suffering, as well as the use of projectiles prohibited by the
Declaration of St. Petersburg in 1868."
Prohibiting use of expanding bullets (Hague), IV, 2)
The Hague, July 29, 1899
" The Contracting Parties agree to abstain from the use of bullets which
expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with a hard
envelope which does not entirely cover the core, or is pierced with
incisions."
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"There's nothing like a good clean win, is there?" Gen Colin Powell
Larry W. Jewell JEWELLLW@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU