INEW

Open menu

Austria

  • State
  • Acknowledged harm
  • Committed to action

Austria is a vocal advocate against the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA). It has long acknowledged the harm caused by the use of EWIPA and committed to action on the issue. 

Statements

Austria has spoken against the use of EWIPA at the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in 2010, 2012,[1] 2014,[2] 2015,[3] 2016 (in both January[4] and July[5]), 2017,[6] and 2019.[7] These statements have largely focused on raising awareness of the devastating humanitarian consequences of the use of EWIPA on civilians. Austria also delivered numerous similar statements in various intergovernmental fora, bringing attention to the urgent need to end the use of EWIPA. During the UN General Assembly First Committee in 2021, Austria delivered a statement reiterating these devastating humanitarian consequences and noting its strong support and continued engagement in the process toward a political declaration on the use of EWIPA.[8]

Austria has delivered statements in its national capacity on the topic at the following fora:

  • 69th UN General Assembly First Committee Debate on Conventional Weapons Debate (2014)[9]
  • 69th UN General Assembly First Committee General Debate (2014)[10]
  • The UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict (2015)[11]
  • 70th UN General Assembly First Committee Debate on Conventional Weapons (2015)[12]
  • 70th UN General Assembly First Committee General Debate (2015)[13]
  • The Meeting of High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (2015)[14]
  • The World Humanitarian Summit Roundtable on Upholding the Norms that Safeguard Humanity (May 2016)[15]
  • 71st UN General Assembly (2016)
  • 71st UN General Assembly First Committee General Debate (October 2016)[16]
  • 71st UN General Assembly First Committee Debate on Conventional Weapons (2016)[17]
  • 72nd UN General Assembly First Committee General Debate (2017)[18]
  • 73rd UN General Assembly First Committee General Debate (2018) [19]
  • The Annual Meeting of High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (2018)[20]
  • The UN Security Council Open Debate on War in Cities: Protection of Civilians in Urban Settings (2022).[21]

Austria has signed onto numerous joint statements condemning EWIPA use, including the following:

  • The EU statement during the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (2011)[22]
  • The EU statement during the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (2012)[23]
  • The joint statement during the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict on behalf of the Human Security Network, of which Austria is a member (2013)[24]
  • The EU statement during the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (2013)[25]
  • The joint statement during the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict on behalf of the Human Security Network (2014)[26]
  • The joint commitment 123002 to the World Humanitarian Summit led by Austria, with Costa Rica, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Mozambique, Spain, and Zambia (2016)[27]
  • The EU statement during the 72nd UN General Assembly First Committee General Debate (2017)[28]
  • The joint statement on EWIPA during the 73rd UN General Assembly First Committee (2018)[29]
  • The EU statement[30] and the statement by the Group of Friends of the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict[31] at the UN Security Council Open Debate War in Cities: Protection of Civilians in Urban Settings (2022).

Austria also aligned with the World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ in both 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.”[32]

Austria has hosted numerous events on EWIPA and relevant issues. In 2014, Austria and the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW) co-hosted a side event during the 69th UN General Assembly First Committee Conventional Weapons Debate on protecting civilians from EWIPA use.[33] In 2015 and 2019, Austria’s Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs hosted the Vienna Conference on Protecting Civilians in Urban Warfare, which discussed the various forms of harm caused by the use of EWIPA, their legal context, and examples of military practices.[34]

Political declaration

Austria is actively involved in the process for a political declaration on the use of EWIPA. It has delivered multiple statements during each consultation of the political declaration in 2019, 2020, and 2021.[35] In its 2019 statement, Austria delineated elements that should be present in a political declaration on the use of EWIPA and the commitments of its signatories. It detailed the following commitments:

  • “Fully respect existing obligations under international humanitarian law when using explosive weapons in populated areas
  • Adopt and review for this purpose policies and practices that will enhance the protection of civilians when explosive weapons are used in populated areas, including policies and practices to avoid the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, when there is strong likelihood of indiscriminate effects
  • Implement, review, and where needed, develop or improve national policy and practice, including doctrine and rules of engagement
  • Identify, share and support the implementation of good policy and practices, as well as lessons learned, on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, and strengthen international cooperation and assistance in that regard
  • Train armed forces and conduct exercises on the protection of civilians from the use explosive weapons in populated areas and urban warfare in general
  • Make every effort at a national level to collect or support the collection of reliable and relevant data, including disaggregated data, on the civilian harm caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas
  • Provide assistance to victims of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in a non-discriminatory manner
  • Investigate allegations of violations of applicable national and international law in the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and, where appropriate, duly prosecute perpetrators
  • Work to raise awareness of the humanitarian concern caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and urban warfare in general
  • Promote this Declaration and seek the adherence of the greatest possible number of States
  • Meet on a regular basis, inviting also relevant international organisations and civil society, to review the implementation of this Declaration.”[36]

Austria has been a participant in the process in its entirety, attending each meeting and offering written comments on proposed drafts of the political declaration.[37]

In the 2019 consultations for a political declaration, Austria specified that the declaration should recognise the humanitarian impacts of EWIPA use, especially of explosive weapons with wide area effects. As part of this recognition, the declaration should address indirect, long-term, and reverberating effects of EWIPA, such as displacement, disruption of essential services, increased poverty, destruction of the environment, contamination through explosive remnants of war, psychological trauma, disabilities, and similar issues. Austria also argued that there should be a focus on promoting existing international humanitarian law (IHL), as strengthening compliance with IHL would be useful to effectively regulate the use of EWIPA without needing to create new obligations. Austria also called for the provision of timely and adequate victim assistance in a non-discriminatory manner, the consideration of non-state actors in the declaration, and the investigation of allegations of the use of EWIPA that is in violation of IHL, and, where appropriate, for the due prosecution of perpetrators.[38]

Austria reaffirmed many of these positions during the second consultations for a political declaration in February 2020. It reasserted the need for the political declaration to reflect the reverberating effects of the use of EWIPA (including its environmental effects), to focus on strengthening adherence to IHL including for non-state actors, and to include follow-up mechanisms that would allow states to meet on a regular basis, inviting relevant international organisations and civil society.[39]

During the March 2021 consultations, Austria emphasised that a political declaration is not law, and should therefore be ambitious. It laid out its expectations for a more ambitious approach to the declaration. Austria spoke to the importance of clearly focusing on populated areas in the declaration, including the notion of reverberating effects on humanitarian access and socioeconomic development, and ensuring that the political declaration enhances compliance with IHL through political commitment and practical measures. Austria made a textual proposal that reflects the fact that many militaries have sophisticated policies but that the realities in the battlefield show that further improvements are necessary. It emphasised the importance of data collection, particularly disaggregated data collection, to more clearly represent the realities of EWIPA use. Austria also spoke in favour of inclusive international cooperation that goes beyond military-to-military exchanges and consistently reserves space for civil society actors. It called for a transparent implementation and follow-up process to monitor progress on the commitments within the political declaration.[40]

 

[1] INEW (2012). ‘Security Council Debate Highlights Harm From Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas’. https://www.inew.org/security-council-debate-highlights-harm-from-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas/.

[2] UN Security Council (2014). ‘Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Meeting Transcript. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7109.

[3] UN Security Council (2015). ‘UN Security Council Debate on Children and Armed Conflict Transcript.’ https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7466.

[4] UN Security Council (2016). ‘Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Meeting Transcript’. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7606.

[5] UN Security Council, S/PV.7711 (2016). ‘UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians Meeting Transcript.’ https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7711.

[6] UN Security Council (2017). ‘UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Meeting Transcript’. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7951

[7] UN Security Council, S/PV.8534 (2019). ‘UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Transcript’. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.8534.

[8] Permanent Mission of Austria (2021). ‘First Committee Statement’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com21/statements/6Oct_Austria.pdf.

[9] Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations (2014). ‘UNGA69 First Committee Conventional Weapons Cluster Statement’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com14/statements/22Oct_Austria.pdf

[10] Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations (2014). ‘UNGA69 First Committee General Debate Statement’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com14/statements/13Oct_Austria.pdf.

[11] UN Security Council, S/PV.7466 (2015). ‘UN Security Council Open Debate on Children in Armed Conflict Meeting Transcript.’ https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7466.

[12] Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations (2015). ‘UNGA70 First Committee Conventional Weapons Cluster Statement’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com15/statements/26October_Austria.pdf.

[13] Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations (2015). ‘UNGA70 First Committee General Debate Statement’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com15/statements/13October_Austria.pdf

[14] Reaching Critical Will (2015). ‘Bombing, Burning, and Killer Robots: Report from the 2015 CCW Meeting of High Contracting Parties’. https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/10627-bombing-burning-and-killer-robots-report-from-the-2015-ccw-meeting-of-high-contracting-parties.

[15] Austria (2016). ‘Statement at the World Humanitarian Summit Roundtable on Upholding the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’. https://agendaforhumanity.org/sites/default/files/resources/2017/Jul/Statement_by_the_Government_of_Austria_Roundtable_Uphold_the_Norms_that_Safeguard_Humanity.pdf.

[16] Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations (2016). ‘UNGA71 First Committee General Debate Statement’. https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com16/statements/4Oct_Austria.pdf.

[17] Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations (2016). ‘UNGA71 First Committee Conventional Weapons Cluster Statement’. https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com16/statements/21Oct_Austria.pdf.

[18] Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations (2017). ‘UNGA72 First Committee General Debate Statement’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com17/statements/3Oct_Austria.pdf.

[19] Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations (2018). ‘UNGA73 First Committee General Debate Statement’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com18/statements/8Oct_Austria.pdf.

[20] Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations (2018). ‘Statement to the CCW Meeting of High Contracting Parties’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/ccw/2018/hcp-meeting/statements/22Nov_Austria2.pdf.

[21] Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will (2022). ‘UN Security Council debates war in cities and the protection of civilians.’//www.reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/16009-un-security-council-debates-war-in-cities-and-the-protection-of-civilians.

[22] 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.

[23] 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/.

[24] Human Security Network (2013). ‘Statement to the August UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/chile_poc_august_2013_debate__0.pdf. 

[25] Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations (2013). ‘EU Statement during the August 2013 UN 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.

[26] Human Security Network (2014). Statement to the February UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/statement_-_slovenia__human_security_network__0.pdf. 

[27] Agenda for Humanity. https://agendaforhumanity.org/stakeholders/commitments/123.html. 

[28] Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations (2017). ‘UNGA72 First Committee Statement’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com17/statements/18Oct_EU.pdf.

[29] 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.

[30] 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.

[31] Ibid.

[32] Austria (2016). ‘Agenda for Humanity Archives’. https://agendaforhumanity.org/stakeholder/123.html.

[33] Permanent Mission of Austria and INEW (2014). ‘Protecting civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas’–side event invitation.’https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com14/events/ewipa.pdf.

[34] Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (2019). ‘Vienna Conference on Protecting Civilians in Urban Warfare’. https://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/european-foreign-policy/disarmament/conventional-arms/explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas/protecting-civilians-in-urban-warfare/protecting-civilians-in-urban-warfare/. ; Reaching Critical Will (2015). ‘Vienna conference on protecting civilians in urban warfare’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/disarmament-fora/ewipa/vienna-2015.

[35] Reaching Critical Will. ‘Statements – Political Declaration Process’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/disarmament-fora/ewipa/political-declaration/statements.

[36] Austria (2019). ‘Elements for a Political Declaration’. https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/ourrolepolicies/peaceandsecurity/ewipa/Austria-Written-Submission-18-November-2019.pdf.

[37] Austria (2020). ‘Draft Political Declaration circulated by Ireland on 17 March 2020 – Written Comments by Austria’.https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/ourrolepolicies/peaceandsecurity/ewipa/Austria-Written-Submission—17-March-2020.pdf.

[38] Reaching Critical Will (2019). ‘Towards a political declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas: states need to ensure that expressed commitments translate into real impacts on the ground’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/14451-towards-a-political-declaration-on-the-use-of-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas-states-need-to-ensure-that-expressed-commitments-translate-into-real-impacts-on-the-ground.

[39] 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.

[40] Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will (2021). ‘Report on the March 2021 consultations on a political declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/15213-report-on-the-march-2021-consultations-on-a-political-declaration-on-the-use-of-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.

Website by David Abbott Projects