INEW

Open menu

New data shows civilians bore brunt of bombings in 2011

Press release from Action on Armed Violence

For immediate release

(London, 27 March 2012) UK organisation Action on Armed Violence released a report today which shows that in 2011, 84% of casualties from bombings in populated areas were civilians. The report analyses 2,522 incidents of explosive weapons use in 68 countries and territories, with 21,499 civilians reported killed and injured over the 12-month period.

Explosive weapons kill and injure far too many civilians. They are being used in locations where civilians should be able to feel safe: markets, schools, churches, mosques, and their own homes. It’s time states took action to tighten controls around these types of attacks,” said Steve Smith, CEO of Action on Armed Violence (AOAV).

Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya and Somalia were the worst affected countries. Casualties were caused by both conventional military explosive weapons such as mortars, rockets and artillery as well as by improvised explosive devices such as car bombs and “suicide” bombs.

Nine out of ten casualties from mortars were civilians, indicating that weapons with wide area effects are especially prone to causing harm to innocent people. “The question is why are states using these types of weapons in areas where they know civilians are present? The data we have gathered makes a very clear case that mortars, artillery and rockets are unacceptable for use in populated areas,” said Katherine Harrison, Policy and Research Manager at AOAV and editor of the report.

More than half of all civilian casualties (61%) caused by explosive weapons were caused by IEDs – or improvised explosive devices, primarily used by non-state armed groups and often home-made. These include car bombs, suicide bombs and roadside bombs. “We hear with grim regularity about bombs going off in marketplaces, outside mosques and on roads. But the rhetoric about terrorist attacks masks the fact that IEDs constitute a major humanitarian problem, beyond being a serious military and security threat,” said Smith who is a former British Army Colonel.

AOAV is a founding member of the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW), which is a coalition NGOs working to prevent the suffering caused by explosive weapons. INEW has been calling on states to address this issue at the UN Security Council debates on Protection of Civilians.

Towns and cities are being bombed on a daily basis and thousands of civilians are getting killed and maimed. There’s a moral outrage gap here, where this is somehow seen as an inevitable part of conflict. We need stronger rules to stop the bombing and bombardment of populated areas and to protect vulnerable populations,” said Thomas Nash, joint Coordinator of the International Network on Explosive Weapons.

The report data is drawn from over 500 different English-language media sources on all continents. It presents what is almost certainly a low estimate of the real extent of the suffering caused by explosive weapons.

The report will be launched at an event hosted by the International Network on Explosive Weapons and Action on Armed Violence at 7pm, Tuesday 27 March at the Commonwealth Club, 25 Northumberland Avenue, WC2N 5AP. Journalists wishing to attend please contact Thomas Nash: thomas@article36.org or 0771 192 6730.

Contact:           Thomas Nash: thomas@article36.org or UK mobile: 0771 192 6730

Steve Smith: ssmith@aoav.org.uk or UK mobile: 07525323652

NOTES TO EDITORS

The full report is available online at: www.aoav.org.uk/changing-policy.

What is Action on Armed Violence?

Action on Armed Violence (formerly Landmine Action) is a UK-based charitable organization working to reduce the incidence of armed violence and its impact on vulnerable populations around the world. Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) carries out research, advocacy and field programmes towards a single goal – reducing the incidence and impact of armed violence. It has a successful track record in developing international law, global civil society networks, and local programmes for weapons’ control, armed violence reduction, and civilian protection.

What are explosive weapons?

Explosive weapons include improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as well as explosive ordnance such as mortars, artillery shells and aircraft bombs. These weapons use blast and fragmentation to kill and injure people in the area around the point of detonation. When used in public places, this area-effect means that innocent people are often severely affected. Data indicate that between 80 and 90% of those killed and injured by explosive weapons when used in populated areas are civilians; still more are affected when there is damage to vital infrastructure (such as schools, hospitals, housing and water and sanitation systems).

Report methodology

Since 1 October 2010, AOAV has been collecting data on incidents of explosive weapons use through the Explosive Violence Monitoring Project (EVMP). The methodology for the EVMP is an adaptation of the incident based methodology used by Landmine Action and Medact in 2009, which in turn was based on the Robin Coupland and Nathan Taback model.  Data on explosive violence incidents is gathered from English-language media reports on: the date, time, and location of the incident; the number and status of people killed and injured; the weapon type; the reported user and target; the detonation method and whether displacement or damage to the location was reported. The EVMP is not an attempt to comprehensively capture all incidents of explosive violence around the world but to serve as a useful indicator of the scale and pattern of harm. No claims are made that this data captures every incident or casualty of explosive violence in 2011.

Further facts and figures

  • Overall, 71% of all casualties from explosive weapons were civilians.
  • More than half the incidents of explosive violence recorded by the EVMP took place in populated areas. The EVMP recorded 4,807 civilian casualties worldwide from 200 incidents in places of worship, markets, and public gatherings.
  • Nearly-three quarters of incidents involving car bombs were recorded in populated areas. These incidents caused an average number of civilian casualties per incident that was nearly ten times that of roadside bombs, which were often specifically used to target single vehicles.
  • 79% of all incidents of the use of manufactured explosive weapons in populated areas were ground-launched, compared to 20% identified as air-delivered.

What is the International Network on Explosive Weapons?

The International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW) was established in Geneva on 29 March, 2011 by Action on Armed Violence, Handicap International, Human Rights Watch, IKV/Pax Christi, Medact, Norwegian People’s Aid, Oxfam International, and Save the Children UK. INEW calls on States and other actors to acknowledge and strive to avoid the severe harm caused by explosive weapons use in populated areas; to gather and make available relevant data; to realize the rights of victims; and to develop stronger international standards in this area.

 

Website by David Abbott Projects