INEW statement to First Committee 

29 October 2012

I am speaking on behalf of the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW) – an NGO partnership calling for immediate action to prevent human suffering from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

The humanitarian problem

Explosive weapons use blast and fragmentation to kill and injure people in the area where they detonate, as well as to damage objects, buildings and infrastructure. When used in populated areas they tend to cause high levels of harm to individuals and communities.

Using data gathered on the use of explosive weapons around the world in 2011, INEW member organisation Action on Armed Violence found that at least 21,499 civilians had been killed or injured by such weapons.

2012 has provided further stark examples of the problem.  The use of heavy explosive weapons, such as artillery, rockets and aircraft bombs, as well as IEDs, in villages, towns and cities has been an issue of major international concern.

And beyond the direct deaths and injuries, the destruction of infrastructure vital to the civilian population, including water and sanitation, housing, schools and hospitals, results in a pattern of wider, long term suffering and displacement.

Recognition of the challenge

Whilst the humanitarian problem is grave, recent years have seen growing recognition of the need for action to enhance humanitarian protection from the effects of explosive weapons in populated areas.

• The International Network on Explosive Weapons was formed in 2011 by NGOs committed to preventing harm to civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. In 2012, INEW called for a halt to all use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas.
• In 2011, the International Committee of the Red Cross stated that “due to the significant likelihood of indiscriminate effects and despite the absence of an express legal prohibition for specific types of weapons, the ICRC considers that explosive weapons with a wide impact area should be avoided in densely populated areas.”[1]
• This concern was echoed by the UN Secretary General, whose 2012 Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict urged parties to conflict to refrain from using explosive weapons with a wide area impact in densely populated areas.[2]
• Concern on this issue has been articulated by states and regional organisations in fora relating to Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, Children in Armed Conflict, Human Rights and under instruments concerned with specific weapons.

Actions needed

As a community of states, international organisations and civil society, we need to take action together to curb the suffering and long term damage caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

• Action is needed to better understand the problem, through stronger recording of the direct casualties and of the wider human and social costs of this violence.
• Action is needed to ensure the rights of the victims of this violence.
• And for the future, we must set new standards that can better protect civilian populations, in particular to stop the use in populated areas of explosive weapons with wide-area effects.

We stand ready to work with states and other international partners, to address these needs – both through national-level engagement with key stakeholders, and at the multi-lateral level as we move towards specific discussions in the future.

NB: The following statement was distributed in written form only to facilitate the reduced schedule for First Committee brought about by Hurricane Sandy.