Use of banned weapons reaches all-time high
The worldwide use of banned explosive weapons such as landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) increased significantly in 2015, largely due to intensive and systematic bombing of populated areas in recent conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Ukraine. To mark the international day of landmine and cluster munition awareness, April 4, Handicap International is calling on the international community to strongly condemn this practice, and for an immediate end to the use of these weapons.
According to the latest Landmine Monitor Monitor report, published in November 2016, there was a sharp rise–70%–in the number of new causalities of mines and ERW. In 2015, these weapons killed or injured at least 6,461 people. This time last year, 79% of people killed and injured in such attacks were civilians. As of today, 90% are civilians.
90% OF VICTIMS ARE CIVILIANS
The Landmine Monitor reported 1,331 casualties of improvised mines, the highest number since the publication of their first annual report in 2000. Handicap International, founder of an international campaign to stop the bombing of civilians is once again calling on States and non-State armed groups to immediately end the use of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, their sale and transfer, to strongly condemn their use under any circumstances and, when they are party to a conflict, to apply pressure on their allies not to use these weapons.
The Syrian conflict has been particularly marked by the heavy and repeated use of explosive weapons. International NGO Safety Organization (INSO) reports there were 8,656 attacks using explosive weapons in Syria between Sept. 26 and Dec. 28, 2016, accounting for 72% of reported attacks—an average of 94 bombing or shelling incidents a day.
“In Iraq and Syria, the contamination has reached an unprecedented level, which will require years of mine clearance,” explains Thomas Hugonnier, head of Handicap International’s operations in Iraq. “It also makes risk education sessions vital to teach people to respond in the right way when they come across an explosive device and to avoid the risk of accidents.”
Bombing and shelling in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, and other conflict zones leave behind ERW that contaminate large area of land long after a conflict is over. “Bombing and shelling not only has a devastating impact during an attack, they also leave behind large quantities of explosive remnants of war, since a significant proportion of weapons do not explode on impact,” explains Anne Héry, director of advocacy at Handicap International.
When neighborhoods or villages are covered in ERW, it makes it difficult for society and the economy to return to normal. “These explosive remnants continue to put civilian lives at risk long after the fighting is over," Anne continues. "They pose exactly the same threat as anti-personnel mines."
According to a mine action rapid assessment published in November 2016 by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) on the level of contamination in Syria, more than 3.6 million Syrians live in areas contaminated by explosive remnants of war and improvised devices. Nearly 1.5 million people live in areas where incidents related to explosive devices have been reported and unexploded devices have been reported in 20% of the territory.
Handicap International is calling on States and non-State armed groups to immediately end the use of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, their sale and transfer, to strongly condemn their use under any circumstances and, when they are party to a conflict, to apply pressure on their allies not to use these weapons.
NOTES
- As a member of the INEW (International Network on Explosive Weapons) coalition, Handicap International has drawn up a political declaration on ending the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. It is calling on States to sign it and support it.
- Handicap International launched a global campaign on March 15, to collect one million signatures to “stop bombing civilians.” The signatures will be presented to policy makers in September 2018, urging the international community to strongly condemn this practice and to bring it to an end.
- Click here to download Handicap International’s latest crisis situation report.
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ABOUT HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL
Handicap International is an independent international aid organization. It has been working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster for 35 years. Working alongside persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, our action and testimony are focused on responding to their essential needs, improving their living conditions, and promoting respect for their dignity and basic rights. Since its founding, Handicap International has set up development programs in more than 60 countries and intervenes in numerous emergency situations. The network of eight national associations (Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States) works constantly to mobilize resources, jointly manage projects and to increase the impact of the organization’s principles and actions. Handicap International is one of six founding organizations of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), the co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997, and the winner of the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize in 2011. Handicap International takes action and campaigns in places where “living in dignity” is no easy task.
Use of banned weapons reaches record levels
The worldwide use of banned explosive weapons such as landmines and cluster bombs increased significantly in 2014 and 2015, largely due to unchecked use in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Colombia, Myanmar, and Tunisia. To mark the international day of landmine and cluster munition awareness, April 4, Handicap International is calling on the international community to strongly condemn this practice, and for an immediate end to the use of these weapons.
Banned under international law, these weapons have been used at an alarming rate in recent years. Cluster munitions use is at its highest level since 2010, when the Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force. Handicap International is calling on States and non-State armed groups to immediately end the use of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, as well as their sale, and transfer. Any use of these weapons must be unanimously and systematically condemned.
According to the latest Cluster Munition Monitor report, published in August 2015, cluster munitions were used in five countries between July 2014 and July 2015: Libya, Syria, Sudan, Ukraine, and Yemen—all States which have not signed the treaty. Not since the ban treaty entered into force in 2010, have so many States or non-State actors been involved in the use of cluster munitions. The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) has also found cluster munitions used on numerous occasions in Yemen and Syria.
In stark contrast, the Cluster Munition Monitor found only two countries impacted by the use of cluster munitions in 2011 and 2012, and three in 2013.
79% of victims are civilians
The latest Landmine Monitor report, published in November 2015, found an alarming and “significant increase” in the use of anti-personnel mines and improvised explosive devices by non-State armed groups in ten countries: Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar, Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Yemen. The last time the Monitor reported use of these weapons in ten or more countries was 2006.
The vast majority of casualties of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions are civilians—79% of reported casualties.
“The repeated use of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions reveals a total disregard for civilian lives and, in some cases, a deliberate intention to target them,” says Emmanuel Sauvage, the organization's anti-mine action regional coordinator, based in Amman, Jordan. “Cluster munitions kill and main during an attack. They also leave explosive remnants behind that function like anti-personnel mines and can cause casualties long after a conflict has ended.”
Yemen is a particularly revealing example. For several months, explosive weapons have been used by all parties to the conflict on a massive scale in populated areas. Anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions have been deployed regularly. In May 2015, Human Rights Watch, for example, confirmed the use of cluster munitions in the north of the governorate of Saada, close to the border with Saudi Arabia. Cluster munitions landed less than 600 meters from several dozen homes. Anti-personnel mines were also used on several occasions this summer. In total, since March 2015, Human Rights Watch has recorded 15 incidents involving six types of cluster munitions in at least five of Yemen’s 21 governorates: Amran, Hajja, Hodaida, Saada, and Sanaa.
Handicap International is calling on States and non-State armed groups to immediately end the use of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, their sale and transfer, to strongly condemn their use under any circumstances and, when they are party to a conflict, to apply pressure on their allies not to use these weapons.
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Ukrainian conflict: intolerable use of cluster munitions
The Ukrainian army recently used cluster munitions in densely populated areas in its conflict against pro-Russian partisans, according to a recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The city of Donestsk was shelled twice, on 2 and 5 October 2014, killing one person, a Swiss employee of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and injuring six others. The report documented the “widespread use” of cluster munitions in the Ukrainian conflict, which were deployed by the various parties to the conflict at least 12 times.
“We are calling on the Ukrainian authorities to conduct a serious and comprehensive enquiry to find out who is responsible for these attacks and to put an end to the use of cluster munitions,” says Marion Libertucci, head of advocacy at Handicap International. “The parties to the conflict must refrain from using these weapons, which indiscriminately kill and maim civilians, and which have been banned under an international treaty (the Oslo Convention) since 2010. We are also calling on Member States of the European Union to unconditionally condemn the use of cluster munitions, which have been deployed for the first time on the European continent since the conflict in Kosovo in 1999, and which must not go unpunished. The EU, which is currently examining the possibility of providing Ukraine with an additional loan of two billion euros, cannot remain silent.”
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, issued an immediate response, expressing his concern at the use of cluster munitions in Ukraine and the importance of ending the use of these banned weapons.
“What makes the attacks documented in October 2014 by HRW even worse is the fact that they took place in a densely populated civilian area, the city of Donetsk, home to more than one million people, and does not appear to form part of a military strategy,” adds Libertucci. “This is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”
More than 90% of victims of cluster munitions worldwide are civilians, according to a Handicap International report. Up to 40% of these munitions do not explode on impact, endangering the lives of civilians for decades after a conflict, and disrupting the economic and social life of polluted areas.
The Oslo Convention bans the use, production, trade, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions. States Parties may not assist, encourage or incite a third party to conduct actions banned under the treaty. There are 87 States Parties to the treaty; 28 are signatories and have yet to ratify the convention.
Neither the Ukraine or Russia are signatories to the Oslo Convention, an international norm that all States are required to follow.
About Handicap International
Handicap International is an independent international aid organization. It has been working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster for more than 30 years. Working alongside persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, our action and testimony are focused on responding to their essential needs and improving their living conditions, and promoting respect for their dignity and basic rights. Since it was founded in 1982, Handicap International has set up development programs in more than 60 countries and intervenes in numerous emergency situations. The network of eight national associations (Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States) works constantly to mobilize resources, jointly manage projects and to increase the impact of the organization’s principles and actions. Handicap International is one of six founding organizations of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), the co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 and the winner of the Conrad N. Hilton Award in 2011. Handicap International takes action and campaigns in places where “standing tall” is no easy task.
Explosive Weapons
More than half of the world's countries are contaminated by explosive remnants of war, including landmines and cluster munitions.
These weapons can lie dormant for many years, claiming victims long after a conflict has ended. They are a significant cause of disability, instilling fear in whole communities, deepening poverty and acting as a lethal barrier to development.
Faced with the devastation caused by antipersonnel landmines and cluster munitions, Humanity & Inclusion realized that medical care alone would not be enough. We therefore made a commitment to work on all levels to help mine victims and their communities lead independent lives.
Stop Bombing Civilians
During recent armed conflicts, explosive weapons have been used on a massive scale, killing and injuring thousands of civilians. When explosive weapons are used in populated areas, a shocking 92% of casualties are civilians.
Humanity & Inclusion is working to build a movement to stop the bombing of civilians. Click here to join this movement.
Weapons clearance, risk education, and victim assistance
Over the years, Humanity & Inclusion has evolved into the world's most comprehensive mine action organization, working to prevent accidents through education and clearance, and to support the victims.
Our donors make it possible to train and deploy teams of deminers to identify and clear conventional and improvised weapons from the paths of civilians. We work to educate the local population, especially children, how to spot, avoid, and report the weapons they find. Such lessons are especially vital to impart to people returning home after conflict-induced displacement.
People who survive the blasts and burns of war are in desperate need of rehabilitation. Through physical therapy and psychosocial support, Humanity & Inclusion teams work to restore the physical and mental strength of survivors. When physical recovery has advanced, it's often possible to fit artificial limbs and braces to ensure that the survivor can regain their mobility, and with that independence. To smooth their reintegration into the community, our inclusion specialists work with survivors to ensure their access to education, income-generating activities and decent work, and sport.
Decades of campaigning to protect civilians
Humanity & Inclusion was created in 1982 (under the name Handicap International) in response to the horrific landmine injuries suffered by Cambodian refugees. Soon, we realized that action needed to be taken at an international level to ban these indiscriminate weapons.
Humanity & Inclusion played a key role in founding the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, for which we were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, following the signing of the Mine Ban Treaty in 1997.
We are a founding member of the Cluster Munition Coalition, and we actively support the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which came into effect on August 1, 2010.
Humanity & Inclusion is also a founder and coordinating member of Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, which monitors these two international treaties and produces annual reports on their implementation. And we are a founding member of the International Network on Explosive Weapons.
