• Incendiary weapons cause particularly cruel injuries to both civilians and combatants. They are also prone to being indiscriminate by starting fires and causing casualties over a large area without distinction. Incendiary weapons have been used at great human cost in conflicts from Africa to Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Human Rights Watch urges states parties to the Convention on Conventional Weapons to amend the 30-year-old provisions of Protocol III on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons. The protocol’s definition should be broadened to cover the most problematic modern incendiary munitions, such as white phosphorus. States should bolster the protocol’s restrictions by at least adopting measures to prohibit use of all incendiary weapons in civilian areas. A complete ban on the use of incendiary weapons would have the most humanitarian benefits and provide the strongest protection under international law.

  • Apr 26, 2013
    New Syrian government air and missile strikes are causing high civilian casualties in opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo in violation of the laws of war. A Human Rights Watch team in northern Aleppo province has investigated recent attacks that killed scores of civilians and destroyed dozens of civilian homes without damaging any apparent opposition military targets.
  • Apr 10, 2013
    The Syrian Air Force has repeatedly carried out indiscriminate, and in some cases deliberate, air strikes against civilians. These attacks are serious violations of international humanitarian law (the laws of war), and people who commit such violations with criminal intent are responsible for war crimes.

Reports

  • Deliberate and Indiscriminate Air Strikes on Civilians
  • Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza
  • Laws of War Violations and the Use of Weapons on the Israel-Lebanon Border

Incendiary Weapons

  • Apr 26, 2013
    New Syrian government air and missile strikes are causing high civilian casualties in opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo in violation of the laws of war. A Human Rights Watch team in northern Aleppo province has investigated recent attacks that killed scores of civilians and destroyed dozens of civilian homes without damaging any apparent opposition military targets.
  • Apr 16, 2013
    Life in Aleppo is not easy. People here have suffered from shortages of food, electricity and running water, and there has been little humanitarian assistance. The long, cold winter months were particularly rough. The only possible consolation was that there were fewer air strikes because of the cloudy, rainy weather. The government’s jets only seem to fly – and drop bombs – when the sky is blue.
  • Apr 10, 2013
    The Syrian Air Force has repeatedly carried out indiscriminate, and in some cases deliberate, air strikes against civilians. These attacks are serious violations of international humanitarian law (the laws of war), and people who commit such violations with criminal intent are responsible for war crimes.
  • Dec 12, 2012

    The Syrian military has used air-delivered incendiary bombs in at least fourlocations across Syria since mid-November 2012.

  • Nov 16, 2012

    Bonnie Docherty, senior researcher in the arms division of Human Rights Watch, delivered a statement on Protocol III on Incendiary Weapons of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) at the CCW Meeting of States Parties in Geneva.

  • Nov 15, 2012

    Steve Goose, arms division director at Human Rights Watch, delivered a statement on Protocol III on Incendiary Weapons of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) at the CCW Meeting of States Parties in Geneva.

  • Nov 12, 2012
    This memorandum details government positions regarding CCW Protocol III on incendiary weapons. This serves as an update to the memo on government positions and practices which was published in April 2012.
  • Oct 26, 2012
    The success of the mine ban and cluster munitions treaties show that civil society support is essential to any effort aimed at tackling disarmament challenges from a humanitarian perspective.
  • Oct 24, 2012

    Governments should increase efforts to achieve strong disarmament initiatives driven by humanitarian concerns.

  • Jun 8, 2012

    Forty years ago this week, Kim Phuc was photographed running down the road away from her burning village after a South Vietnamese plane dropped incendiary weapons.