Libya has acknowledged the harm caused by the use of EWIPA as a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and has participated in the process for a political declaration on this issue.

Statements 

As a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Libya aligned with World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ in May 2016, including 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.”[1]

Political declaration 

Libya was present at the second round of consultations in Geneva in 2020[2] and at the Vienna Conference on the Protection of Civilians in Urban Warfare in 2019. At the 2019 Vienna Conference, Libya stressed the importance of an implementation mechanism to the measures adopted in the declaration.[3]

It is worth highlighting that although the country is not actively involved in the negotiations for a political declaration, in 2020 Libya was one of the four most affected countries by the use of EWIPA.[4]

[1] Agenda for Humanity. ‘Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)’. https://agendaforhumanity.org/stakeholder/233.html. 

[2] Laura Boillot, Article 36 (2020). ‘More than 70 States Engage in Discussions on Political Declaration’. https://article36.org/updates/more-than-70-states-engage-in-discussions-on-political-declaration/. 

[3] Reaching Critical Will (2019). ‘States Commit to Take Political Action on Explosive Weapons at Vienna conference’.  https://reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/14061-states-commit-to-take-political-action-on-explosive-weapons-at-vienna-conference. 

[4] INEW (2021). ‘Press Release: States to Resume Negotiations on Political Declaration on Protecting Civilians from Shelling and Bombing in Towns and Cities”, INEW, March 2021, https://www.inew.org/press-release-states-to-resume-negotiations-on-political-declaration-on-protecting-civilians-from-shelling-and-bombing-in-towns-and-cities/.