Stop Bombing Civilians: Email your member of Congress

What to include in your message

Need some help? Here are some guidelines to help you write an effective message to your member of Congress.

• Please be polite and concise.
• Introduce yourself as a constituent. Many members of Congress will only respond to emails from their constituents so you could say what street you live on.
• Explain that you are writing about Humanity & Inclusion’s Stop Bombing Civilians campaign, which is calling on the UK and all States worldwide to better protect civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

Key points to make

• Modern wars are increasingly taking place in populated areas. Parties to conflicts use explosive weapons such as bombs, missiles, and rockets on a massive scale.
• The use of explosive weapons in populated areas is devastating. For the last decade, 90% of the victims of these weapons have been civilians in conflict areas such as Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. Entire cities are destroyed, leaving survivors in desolation. More than 11,056 civilians were killed or injured by explosive weapons in 2020.
• With major international discussions continuing in the coming months, now is an historic moment to take action. Following an international conference on the protection of civilians in urban warfare in 2019, negotiations between States have been taking place to draft an agreement. After a break due to Covid-19, the process continues. members of Congress still have the opportunity to enter into discussions at this very important time.
• Together, we must convince governments to draft, adopt, and implement a strong international commitment to end the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas, and to provide non-discriminatory assistance to the victims, both as individuals and communities.
• We ask you to call on the UK Government to actively support this diplomatic process against the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The UK government has has been present at the negotiations so far. Pressure must be maintained to ensure that a strongly worded agreement, including the points above, is agreed to. The UK has recognized that there are humanitarian concerns over the use of explosive weapons in populated areas but it can and should increase its efforts to protect civilians. 

What else can members of Congress do?

• Endorse the International Congressary Appeal to protect civilians. This is an initiative launched by the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW) and supported by Humanity & Inclusion (HI).
• Meet you to discuss the issue and what they can do, either at one of their Constituency Surgeries or in Congress with a representative from Humanity & Inclusion. members of Congress can contact [email protected] for more information.