Peru
Practice Relating to Rule 73. Biological Weapons
Peru’s IHL Manual (2004) states that “biological weapons” are prohibited weapons.
The manual also states that war crimes include the “use of prohibited means or methods of warfare ([including] … biological … weapons)”.
Peru’s IHL and Human Rights Manual (2010) states that “biological weapons” are prohibited weapons.
The manual also states that war crimes include the “use of prohibited means or methods of warfare ([including] … bacteriological … weapons)”.
The manual further states with respect to air warfare that “using asphyxiating or toxic gases or bacteriological means of warfare” is prohibited.
Peru’s Code of Military and Police Justice (2006) states:
A member of the military or police shall be imprisoned for a period of no less than eight and no more than 15 years if he or she in the context of an international or non-international armed conflict:
…
2. Uses biological … weapons.
This article is no longer in force. Along with certain other articles in this legislation, it was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court (en banc decision for case file No. 0012-2006-PI-TC, 8 January 2007) because it does not stipulate a crime committed in the line of duty that would fall under the jurisdiction of a military court pursuant to Article 173 of Peru’s Constitution.
Peru’s Military and Police Criminal Code (2010), in a chapter entitled “Crimes involving the use of prohibited means in the conduct of hostilities”, states:
A member of the military or the police shall be punished with deprivation of liberty of not less than eight years and not more than fifteen years if, in a state of emergency and when the Armed Forces assume control of the internal order, he or she:
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2. Uses biological weapons.
In 1991, during a debate in the First Committee of the UN General Assembly, Peru stated that it had invited the countries of the Rio Group to reach an agreement on the prohibition of biological weapons.