Portugal has acknowledged the harm caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA) and committed to take action on this issue.
Statements
In June 2012, as part of the Group of Friends, at the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, Portugal referenced the problem of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA).[1] At the UN Security Council Open Debate War in Cities: Protection of Civilians in Urban Settings on 25 January 2022, the Group of Friends of the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, of which Portugal is a member, called on states to enhance the protection of civilians, including from the use of EWIPA, and took note of the ongoing consultations to develop a political declaration on this subject.[2]
As a member of the European Union, Portugal has acknowledged the harm caused by the use of EWIPA on several occasions, such as at the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in 2011,[3] 2012,[4] and 2013,[5] and at the UN Security Council Open Debate War in Cities: Protection of Civilians in Urban Settings on 25 January 2022.[6]
Portugal aligned with the World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ in 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.”[7]
At the 72nd UN General Assembly First Committee in 2017, the EU recognised “the challenges associated with the use of explosive weapons and munitions in densely populated areas and their potential impact on civilians and call on all parties to armed conflict to fully comply with International Humanitarian Law.”[8]
Portugal 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.[9] Portugal also endorsed the joint statement on EWIPA during the 74th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2019.[10] 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.[11]
Portugal participated at the Conference on the Protection of Civilians in Urban Warfare in October 2019 in Vienna.[12]
Political declaration
Portugal participated in the second round of consultations for a political declaration on the use of EWIPA in 2020.[13] In its written contribution,[14] Portugal highlighted several aspects that are positive in its view, such as the reaffirmation that the current international humanitarian law (IHL) contains the international legal framework applicable to the conduct of armed conflicts, being applicable to the use of explosive weapons with large-scale effects in housing areas and the reiteration of the obligations of all parties to an armed conflict to respect IHL in conducting hostilities in inhabited areas). It suggested that paragraph 4.4 include an express reference to the obligation of IHL not to impede the humanitarian access, not only from the point of view of the belligerents’ obligations regarding the well-being of the civilian population under their control, but also in relation to the ICRC’s action, which has a mandate for humanitarian action enshrined in the Geneva Conventions.
In the written contribution delivered in the following month,[15] Portugal stated that the political declaration could reflect aspects related to (1) humanitarian access and (2) negative environmental impact of these weapons for the protection of civilians. It proposed the following wording for Point 4.5. of the draft declaration (corresponding to point 4.4. of the “Political Declaration Elements Paper”): “4.5 Provide and facilitate rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian relief to all persons in need, in accordance with their obligations under International Humanitarian Law.”
In addition, Portugal suggested highlighting some of the effects that the use of wide-ranging explosive weapons has on the environment, from the point of view of the survival of the civilian population. To maintain the declaration’s focus on the protection of civilians, it suggested that this environmental reference include a note about safeguarding of natural resources essential to human life (namely as regards soil and groundwater). Thus, it proposed a 1.2.bis for the preamble: “Highlighting that the use of these weapons can pose further threats to the environment, with effects lasting well after the armed conflict has reached its end, including the contamination of air, soil and groundwater, along with other environmental resources whose conservation is indispensable for the survival and livelihood of civilian populations. This could potentially escalate into severe public health crises due to the lack of food, the rise of communicable diseases and inadequate healthcare.”
At the UN Security Council Open Debate War in Cities: Protection of Civilians in Urban Settings on 25 January 2022, Portugal welcomed the development of the political declaration and said it is a good example of encouraging best practices based on IHL.[16]
[1] INEW (2012). ‘Security Council Debate Highlights Harm From Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas’. https://dev.inew.org/security-council-debate-highlights-harm-from-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas/.
[2] 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.
[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’. 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’. http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/european_union_poc_august_2013_debate_0.pdf.
[6] 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.
[7] Agenda for Humanity. https://agendaforhumanity.org/stakeholders/commitments/242.html.
[8] Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations (2017). ‘UNGA First Committee Statement’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com17/statements/18Oct_EU.pdf.
[9] 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.
[10] 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/.
[11] Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations (2019). ‘UNGA74 First Committee Debate on Conventional Weapons: Joint Statement on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas Delivered by H.E. Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations, 2019, https://article36.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/UNGA74-joint-statement-on-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.pdf.
[12] INEW (2019). ‘Vienna Conference Marks Turning Point as States Support Negotiation of an International Political Declaration on Explosive Weapons’. https://dev.inew.org/vienna-conference-marks-turning-point-as-states-support-negotiation-of-an-international-political-declaration-on-explosive-weapons/.
[13] 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.
[14] Permanent Mission of Portugal to the United Nations (2020). ‘Written Submissions to the Consultations on EWIPA Elements Paper’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/ewipa/declaration/documents/written-submission-Portugal.pdf.
[15] Permanent Mission of Portugal to the United Nations (2020). ‘Portugal Contribution to the Project of Political Declaration on EWIPAs’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/ewipa/declaration/documents/Portugal-March2020.pdf.
[16] 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.