INEW ~ Week 2 Report on First Committee

Many states and international and civil society organisations referred to the devastating humanitarian consequences of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas during the second week of the First Committee’s general debate. Sierra Leone, for example, stated that the use of explosive weapons in populated areas “poses complex and … grave danger for the protection of civilians.”

Both the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) made clear that the use of heavy explosive weapons in populated areas continues to be a major cause of harm to civilians in armed conflict. Brazil, Georgia, Israel, Myanmar, Republic of Korea, State of Palestine, and the United States all gave examples of this devastation in current conflicts, including in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Myanmar. The League of Arab States also referred to the use of heavy explosive weapons in conflict.

INEW reflected on the way in which civilians experience explosive weapons use in conflict and recalled that of Nujeen Mustafa, a survivor activist who fled Aleppo, Syria, who, in her wheelchair, “was pushed, pulled and carried across eight country borders to Germany when it became clear that the bombing, which continues today, would not stop.”

During an exchange with the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, the Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Adedeji Ebo, noted the need to increase the protection of civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas aims to do just this.

France and Kiribati shared that they endorsed the political declaration and encouraged other states to
do so.

Endorsing states should expeditiously begin work to implement the political declaration’s commitments ahead of the Oslo Conference next year. The ICRC reminded states of one such commitment, “restricting or refraining from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, where such use may cause civilian harm, and … considering the indirect or reverberating effects, notably on essential services, when planning and conducting military operations.”

INEW outlined key areas of implementation, which include:

Developing national policy and practice to restrict or refrain from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas;
Developing national policy and practice to protect civilians from the foreseeable direct and indirect effects of military operations;
Establishing capacities to gather and share data to better understand the humanitarian consequences of military operations; and
Assisting victims, their families, and affected communities, and facilitating humanitarian access to civilians in need.

Statements delivered by other civil society organisations and coalitions also included references to the political declaration and the harm to civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The joint civil society statement on humanitarian disarmament highlighted the endorsement of the political declaration by 83 states as a key accomplishment of the past year. Statements on the protection of the environment in armed conflict and landmines referenced harm to civilians and the environment from damage and destruction caused by armed conflict in towns and cities, as well as contamination from landmines and other explosive ordnance.

INEW welcomes calls to action by states and civil society and international organisations to address the full of harm to civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. It encourages states to endorse the political declaration and to work to implement its commitments without delay.