Tróis Rivieres Conference (1900) (Final Text)
Lumine:
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Tróis Rivieres
1900, Empire of Québec
Her Imperial Majesty was beaming. Though moving slowly with great difficulty due to her advanced pregnancy, she had insisted on opening the inaugural session of the historic Conference, which would afterwards be left to the diplomatic delegation presided by the Foreign Minister, and to the Prince Consort for formal events. After warmly greeting Chairman Fitzgerald and several other delegates, the Empress gave a brief speech quoting from survivors of chemical weaponry, even citing among these the events of the North American War. Stressing the need to find international agreement, she encouraged delegates to spare no effort in finding a joint solution.
In a final, perhaps awkward comment, she noted that, should present diplomatic troubles in North America put the status of Québec as host into question, she'd be pleased to recommend Chairman Fitzgerald to preside instead upon request by the delegates.
Lumine:
In order to ensure an orderly process of debate, the Québecois delegation presented a draft of a possible treaty. It was noted, however, that it was merely an extremely early draft proposal, with delegates encouraged to present their own drafts, amend the present one as needed be, or discard it if need be.
Quote
DRAFT PROPOSAL,
TREATY OF TROIS-RIVIERES
ARTICLE 1
Any form of biological warfare, as well as all forms of chemical warfare with the sole exception of non-lethal tear inducing irritants for emergency domestic situations; are hereby considered to be ungentlemanly forms of warfare.
ARTICLE 2
The previously mentioned forms of ungentlemanly warfare are hereby banned within the territory of the signatures for domestic use, and for international use in terms of pre-emptive or first-use, starting on January 1st, 1901.
ARTICLE 3
The stockpiling of agents for biological and chemical warfare is hereby prohibited. All current stockpiles of such agents must be disposed of entirely once Article 6 comes into effect.
ARTICLE 4
Research on chemical and biological warfare will only be allowed for the purposes of finding countermeasures, antidotes or for purely scientific purposes. Incentives and support will be provided for experts in such fields to switch to non-lethal research. Signatures must share their findings with the Ungentlemanly Warfare Commission in order to prevent and/or deter the start of a new arms race.
ARTICLE 5
The sale of agents for chemical and biological warfare will be made illegal starting on January 1st, 1901. Companies that held a role or stake in such fields until January 1st, 1900, and who may encounter financial losses as the result of this protocol, will be reasonably compensated by their respective nation.
ARTICLE 6
The signatories will further formally renounce the right to non-first usage of chemical and biological weapons in self-defence for all time after January 1st, 1902. To enforce this renunciation, all signatories will agree to enact immediate and full economic sanctions, including an economic embargo, against any nation that engages in ungentlemanly warfare after the aforementioned date. Signatories must also pass legislation or enact decrees that ensure compliance with Article 6.
ARTICLE 7
An Ungentlemanly Warfare Commission will be established in a city belonging to a neutral power, with participants from all signatories. Delegations from the Commission will be provided full access to signatory countries to ensure compliance with the previous articles. Suspicion of non-compliance must be brought to the Commission, who will issue a report – by majority vote – within 90 days outlining whether Article 6 ought to be invoked.
KaiserDave:
The Russian Republic will send the highly respected Interim Foreign Minister Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov as Ambassador to the Tróis Rivieres Conference, and His Excellency strongly supports the Draft Proposal, in its entirety.
PSOL:
The Sublime State shall send Mirza Mohsen Khan Moshir od-Dowleh to the conference.
YPestis25:
The Kingdom of Scandinavia shall send its Foreign Minister Alfred Lagerheim as Ambassador to the Tróis Rivieres Conference. His Majesty the King-Emperor thanks Empress Wilhelmina of Quebec for her efforts in organizing the conference.
As to the draft treaty, His Majesty commends the efforts of the Quebecois delegation, though is concerned regarding a few points.
1. Regarding Article 5, what will be the source of the compensation for financial losses suffered by private actors be? Are these funds to come out of the state fisc? If not, where will these funds be raised?
2. Regarding Article 7, His Majesty wishes to raise concerns that Commission Delegations having access to signatory countries may represent an undue infringement on state sovereignty, particularly if members of the Commission Delegation are comprised of national representatives of the signatory countries. To what extent will access by Commission Delegations by limited to ensure that the principle of state sovereignty is not infringed?
3. Finally, His Majesty wishes to propose an additional article. He is concerned over this treaty becoming binding on certain states prior to becoming binding on other states. Such a situation will encourage bad faith actors to delay ratification of this treaty. As such, His Majesty proposes an additional article to read: "Article 8: This treaty shall enter into force when 3/4 of recognized and fully sovereign states ratify the treaty."
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