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Most casualties caused by explosive weapons in populated areas are civilians – the UK has a duty to protect them

Political declarations aren’t going to fix the problem immediately, but they are the first step that countries can take towards making a change. And that is something

Bel Trew
Sunday 09 February 2020 14:20 GMT
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Syria war: ‘Massacre’ as rescue workers say nearly 160 bombs kill 20 civilians in single day

It is hard to truly describe what it looks like, what it feels like, what it smells like to walk through a busy neighbourhood of a city that has been bombed in a war.

The conflicts may be vastly different and the combatants, too. But across the battlegrounds that I have covered, the destruction so often looks and sounds the same: body parts scattered amid ashen-grey concrete slabs folded on top of each other as though they had melted. Wind whistling through the bleached ribs of the few structures that are still standing. The yawning craters layered with whatever made it through the bombardment: once in Gaza it was a kitten, once in Libya it was a chicken. That smell of burning or bloated flesh.

And through the haze, the pain of the civilians – whose worlds were swallowed up by this rage of war – is so intense that it is physically tangible. There are no words to say to grieving mothers and fathers, to orphaned children, to the injured left behind.

In the villages, the towns, and the cities in conflicts across the world, it is always the normal people who suffer the most.

In fact, the UK-based group Action on Armed Violence found recently that over the last eight years of monitoring conflict, 90 per cent of the casualties in populated areas caused by explosive weapons by bombs were civilians.

According to their figures, these explosions have killed nearly a quarter of a million civilians worldwide since 2011. That doesn’t even begin to capture the totality of the damage done.

But this could change.

The bombs, rockets, shells and mortars that kill people and destroy their homes are of the kind that countries are banding together tomorrow to limit in cities, towns, and villages.

Dozens of states and civil-society groups will attend a meeting in Geneva on Monday, led by Ireland and Austria, to hash out the language of an important political declaration against the use of explosive weapons that have wide-area effects in populated areas.

British defence officials, who are expected to be there, are in a prime position to lead that discussion. And they should.

Political declarations, which aren’t legally binding, may sound a bit vague and pointless. Certainly, they aren’t going to fix the problem immediately. That said, they are the first step that countries can take in committing to make a change.

They can help clarify what constitutes legal conduct and establish a framework for best practices and reform. The UK signed a similar political declaration on Safe Schools in 2018, in which it pledged to strengthen the protection of education and limit the use of school facilities from use during war.

Now the UK needs to help write, and sign, this declaration.

There have been some positive murmurings. In a 2016 debate at the United Nations, the UK emphasised the need to limit the damage from explosive weapons in populated areas. It has consistently acknowledged the harm done by these weapons. It should carry this concern forward and support stronger language in Monday’s discussions.

Human-rights and humanitarian groups such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Oxfam as part of the International Network on Explosive Weapons, have repeatedly called for the UK and others to ensure that this declaration is drafted and that it has certain core features.

In a report released on Thursday, HRW wrote about the devastation that explosive weapons have had on neighbourhoods in countries such as Ukraine, Libya, Gaza, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

“Ten years of research shows explosive weapons in populated areas maim and kill civilians, cause displacement and destroy critical civilian infrastructure,” wrote Lama Fakih, HRW’s crisis and conflict director.

“On Monday, states should develop a strong political declaration pledging to avoid their use.”

At minimum, HRW says the UK should be prepared to demand that any future declaration does this, echoing an appeal by the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN secretary-general.

It should also urge states to provide assistance for those affected by the use of explosive weapons, and collect data to help protect millions of vulnerable civilians at risk in future conflicts. Making these commitments couldn’t be more urgent.

Millions are at risk right now in cities and towns where large bombs dropped from aircraft, large artillery, barrel bombs and multiple barrel rocket launchers rain explosives down over thousands of square metres.

Homes are often wrecked, schools torn apart, and the basic infrastructure of roads, water pipes, sewage and electricity damaged, causing a domino of problems – including epidemics and, in some cases, even famine.

Neighbourhoods are often left riddled with bombs that didn’t go off, preventing families from trying to return or rebuild, and destroying livelihoods and lives even if people survive the fighting.

The use of these weapons is not confined to armed groups and so-called rogue states. While the UK has expressed concerns about the use of these weapons in populated areas, it too has deployed these weapons in cities and towns. In its fight to defeat Isis, thousands of munitions were dropped in Iraq and Syria.

Even if we are to believe the dubious assertion by the Ministry of Defence that in all its strikes it only killed one civilian, the damage done to civilian infrastructure in the places where it operated with the US-led coalition remains. Mosul is making a slow recovery and Raqqa, a city destroyed by constant aerial and ground-launched weapons, is still in ruins.

After 10 years of bloodshed and devastation, states have finally put pen to paper to make a clear commitment to change the culture of use of these weapons. Now is the time for the UK to lead the way in shaping these commitments and pave the way for the increased protection of people everywhere who are caught in the crossfire.

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