The United Nations Secretary General and his new Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict have called for action on explosive weapons in populated areas at meetings in Geneva and Oslo this week.
On 10 September the Annual Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict to the Human Rights Council was presented in Geneva. The report includes a section on explosive weapons in populated areas, noting that they “touch on four of the six grave violations against children and armed conflict, including killing or maiming.” The report also recommends that “when dealing with country-specific situations where parties to conflict are listed by the Secretary-General for patterns of killing and maiming children, and attacks on schools and hospitals, action plans to end these violations should tackle the issue of explosive weapons.”
On 11 September the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions opened in Oslo, with the UN Secretary General calling for states to “urgently address” the harm caused by explosive weapons in populated areas. The Secretary General called on states to end the use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas and called for “specific discussions on this issue to advance progress.”
The references by the Secretary General and the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict are included below.
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Extract from the Annual Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict to the Human Rights Council (dated 28 June 2012)
VII. Explosive weapons: an emerging concern
47. An emerging concern is the use of explosive weapons by Governments and non-State actors, especially in populated areas, which has a devastating impact on civilians, including children. A particular cause for concern has been the use of heavy explosive weapons that can have wide-area effects, such as multiple-launch rockets, high-explosive artillery and mortars, car bombs and other improvised explosive devices.
48. Explosive weapons touch on four of the six grave violations against children and armed conflict, including killing or maiming. They are also used for direct and physical attacks on schools and hospitals, where they may result in forced closure or compromised functioning. Children recruited and used as suicide bombers and victim bombers both carry explosive weapons. In some country situations, children are denied humanitarian access because of the presence of explosive remnants of war. Recent developments in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, the Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic, where thousands of children have been killed and maimed, have confirmed the gravity of the issue.
49. Recognition of the distinct and specific problems associated with explosive weapons is growing. Acknowledgment that the use of explosive weapons in populated areas causes severe harm to civilians and is a serious concern for the protection of children in armed conflict has to be further strengthened, however. Systematic data collection and analysis of the human cost of these weapons is critical to this end. In addition, the humanitarian principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution must always guide the use of explosive weapons in compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law. When dealing with country-specific situations where parties to conflict are listed by the Secretary-General for patterns of killing and maiming children, and attacks on schools and hospitals, action plans to end these violations should tackle the issue of explosive weapons.
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Extract form the UN Secretary General’s Message to the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Oslo 11-14 September 2012.
“We must urgently address the harm caused when explosive weapons are used in communities where people live. I urge all States to end the use of these arms in densely populated areas, and I call for specific discussions on this issue to advance progress.”
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