Malaysia has been a vocal advocate against the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA). It has acknowledged the harm caused by the use of EWIPA and committed to action on the issue.
Statements
Malaysia has issued statements on EWIPA during UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in February 2013,[1] in August 2013.[2] At the UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict in June 2015, Malaysia reminded that in various countries across the world “children are losing their lives as the result of air strikes and the use of explosive weapons in densely populated settings.”[3]
In addition, as a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Malaysia aligned with World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity.’ 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.”[4]
Malaysia endorsed the joint statement on EWIPA during 73th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2018. The statement, delivered by Ireland, called attention to the devastating and long-lasting humanitarian impact of the use of EWIPA and urging states to reverse the trend of high levels of civilian harm.[5] Malaysia also endorsed the joint statement on EWIPA during the 74th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2019.[6] The statement, also delivered by Ireland, encouraged states to participate in international efforts to address the impacts of the use of EWIPA on civilians, including by working towards the creation of an international political declaration on this issue.[7]
Political declaration
Regarding the negotiations for a political declaration on the issue, Malaysia actively participated in the consultations held between 2019 and 2021. On the first occasion, Malaysia issued a statement affirming the need for the declaration to address the nature of the physical and psychological harm towards human beings, but also the harm on civilian infrastructure, on the environment, and longer-term effects.[8] It also stressed the need to reinforce and reaffirm international humanitarian law (IHL), as well as to collect better data in order to develop further studies about the impacts of urban warfare. Malaysia argued that the declaration should include the assistance to victims in a non-discriminatory manner. The country also said that the declaration should not “stigmatise” certain types of weapons and demonstrated support for a follow up mechanism.[9]
In the consultation meeting held in February 2020, Malaysia reaffirmed all the elements of the statement previously made and added that the political declaration must not weaken IHL by being selective in references or abbreviating or restating it.[10] The country also reinforced the need for the document to reflect the reverberating effects of the use of EWIPA.[11]
At the consultation held online in March 2021, Malaysia supported the inclusion of provisions regarding long-term environmental challenges and public health risks caused by explosive weapons.[12] The country also defended that provisions on victim’s assistance should be strengthened, by better defining its scope and taking into account families and others affected. In its written submission as a response to the proposed draft[13], Malaysia added the destruction of agricultural areas and grazing land as actions that aggravate civilian suffering (in addition to the destruction of schools and housing, which were already included in the original draft).
[1] UN Security Council (2013). ‘UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.6917(Resumption1).
[2] UN Security Council (2013). ‘UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7019.
[3] INEW (2015). ‘States Acknowledge Impact of Explosive Weapons at UN Debate, Austria to Host Meeting”, https://dev.inew.org/caac-2015/.
[4] Agenda for Humanity. ‘Malaysia’. https://agendaforhumanity.org/stakeholders/commitments/212.html.
[5] Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations (2018). ‘UNGA73 First Committee Joint Statement on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA)’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com18/statements/25Oct_EWIPA.pdf.
[6] INEW (2019). ‘Seventy-one States call for Action on Impact of Explosive Weapons in Joint Statement to UN General Assembly’. https://dev.inew.org/seventy-one-states-call-for-action-on-impact-of-explosive-weapons-in-joint-statement-to-un-general-assembly/.
[7] Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations (2019). ‘UNGA74 First Committee Conventional Weapons Debate Joint Statement’. https://article36.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/UNGA74-joint-statement-on-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.pdf.
[8] Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations (2019). ‘Statement’. https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/ourrolepolicies/peaceandsecurity/ewipa/Malaysia-Written-Submission–18-November-2019.pdf.
[9] Reaching Critical Will (2019). ‘Towards a Political Declaration on the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas: States Need to Ensure that Expressed Commitments Translate into Real Impacts on the Ground’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/14451-towards-a-political-declaration-on-the-use-of-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas-states-need-to-ensure-that-expressed-commitments-translate-into-real-impacts-on-the-ground.
[10] Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations (2020). ‘Written Submission’. https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/ourrolepolicies/peaceandsecurity/ewipa/Malaysia-Written-Submission—10-February-2020.pdf.
[11] 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.
[12] Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will (2021). ‘Report on the March 2021 Consultations on a Political Declaration on the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/15213-report-on-the-march-2021-consultations-on-a-political-declaration-on-the-use-of-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.
[13] Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations (2020). ‘Inputs to the Draft Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from Humanitarian Harm Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas’. https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/ourrolepolicies/peaceandsecurity/ewipa/Malaysia-Written-Submission—17-March-2020.pdf.