Greece has acknowledged the harm caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA) and committed to take action on this issue.
Statements
Greece has condemned the use of EWIPA in numerous joint statements, including as a member of the Human Security Network at both the August 2013 UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict[1] and the 2014 UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict.[2] In these statements, the Human Security Network called for all parties to an armed conflict to refrain from using explosive weapons with a wide impact area in populated areas, emphasising that these weapons are indiscriminate within their zones of detonation and therefore pose unacceptable risks to civilians.
As a member of the European Union (EU), Greece has signed onto joint statements condemning the use of EWIPA and the harms it causes to civilians and civilian objects, including during the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in 2011,[3] 2012,[4] and 2013.[5] The EU also spoke out against the use of EWIPA during the General Debate of the 72nd UN General Assembly First Committee in 2017, recognising its potential impact on civilians and calling on all parties to armed conflict to fully comply with international humanitarian law (IHL).[6] At the UN Security Council Open Debate War in Cities: Protection of Civilians in Urban Settings on 25 January 2022, the EU expressed concern with the indiscriminate use of EWIPA, including near hospitals, schools, and universities.[7]
Greece also aligned with the World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ in both its national capacity and as an EU member state in May 2016. This included the commitment “to promote and enhance the protection of civilians and civilian objects, especially in the conduct of hostilities, for instance by working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas, and by sparing civilian infrastructure from military use in the conduct of military operations.”[8]
Political declaration
Greece has also participated in the process toward a political declaration on the use of EWIPA. In 2020, Greece participated in the consultations toward a political declaration, voicing its concern about the indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas. Greece insisted on including the phrase “disproportionate use” within the focus of the political declaration.[9]
[1] UN Security Council (2013). ‘August 2013 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Meeting Transcript’. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7019.
[2] UN Security Council (2014). ‘Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Meeting Transcript. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7109.
[3] Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations (2011). ‘EU Statement during the May 2011 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. 2011,http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/eu_poc_11may2011_0.pdf.
[4] Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations (2012). ‘EU Statement during the June 2012 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. http://www.peacewomen.org/security-council/security-council-open-debate-protection-civilians-armed-conflict-june-2012.
[5] Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations (2013). ‘EU Statement during the August 2013 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict 2013’. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7019.
[6] Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations, ‘UNGA72 First Committee Statement’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com17/statements/18Oct_EU.pdf.
[7] Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will (2022). ‘UN Security Council Debates War in Cities and the Protection of Civilians’. https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/16009-un-security-council-debates-war-in-cities-and-the-protection-of-civilians.
[8] Agenda for Humanity Archives. ‘Greece’. https://agendaforhumanity.org/stakeholder/182.html.
[9] Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will (2020). ‘Impacts, not Intentionality: The Imperative of Focusing on the Effects of Explosive Weapons in a Political Declaration’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/14658-impacts-not-intentionality-the-imperative-of-focusing-on-the-effects-of-explosive-weapons-in-a-political-declaration.