Authors

Mea Sucato

Class Year

2007

Document Type

Feature

Publication Date

Spring 2006

Abstract

A study conducted in Halabja of the long-term effects of chemical weapons exposure showed that “[t]hese chemicals seriously affected people’s eyes, and respitory and neurological systems. Children are dying ... of leukemia and lymphomas ... [there is a] large proportion of pregnancies [with] major malformations ... [which] suggest[s] that the effects from these chemical warfare agents are transmitted to succeeding generations.” This indicates that chemical weapons exposure causes “long-term damage to the DNA” and can affect the ability of an ethnic group to produce healthy off-spring. By affecting the reproductive health of an ethnic group, countries that use chemical weapons, particularly against civilian populations, arguably commit crimes against humanity that rise to the level of genocide.

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