Sudan: Explosive Weapons Harming Civilians
Limited Access to Water, Electricity, Medical Care Fuels Humanitarian Crisis
Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas
Two types of explosive weapons—antipersonnel landmines and cluster munitions—have been prohibited outright due to their indiscriminate and devastating effect on civilians but the use of explosive weapons causing wide-area effects in populated areas requires urgent attention too. Today, victims of war are all too often civilians in populated areas, as air strikes, rocket attacks, and artillery shelling in Gaza, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine and elsewhere show. Civilians in towns and cities in these conflicts are often killed directly by the strike, crushed by the buildings it flattens, or maimed by the unexploded ordnance left behind. The use of imprecise weapons in urban areas has highly destructive consequences. Explosive weapons with wide-area effects should be avoided in populated areas due to the foreseeable harm to civilians.
Human Rights Watch is a founding member of the International Network on Explosive Weapons.
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Afghanistan: ISIS Group Targets Religious Minorities
Taliban Need to Protect, Assist Hazara, Other At-Risk Communities
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Ukraine: Unlawful Russian Attacks in Kharkiv
Russian Forces Use Widely Banned Cluster Munitions, Damage Hospitals
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Ukraine: Russian Strikes Killed Scores of Civilians in Chernihiv
Both Sides Obligated to Minimize Civilian Harm
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Myanmar: Enhanced Blast Strike Likely War Crime
‘Thermobaric’ Attack in Sagaing Region Killed More than 160
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Sudan: Explosive Weapons Harming Civilians
Limited Access to Water, Electricity, Medical Care Fuels Humanitarian Crisis
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Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan: Apparent War Crimes in Border Conflict
Justice Needed for Lethal Attacks on Civilians
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Ukraine: Izium Apartment Victims Need Justice
Digital Reconstruction Highlights Russian Forces' Deadly Attack
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Japan Parliament Inquiry on "Building a New International Order – War, Peace, and Solution in the 21st Century"
Testimony on the subtheme of "Disarmament and Non-Proliferation" by Kanae Doi, Human Rights Watch on 22 February 2023
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Thailand: Car Bombing at Police Apartments in South
Alleged Insurgent Attack Unlawfully Targets Civilian Compound
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Landmark Global Declaration on Explosive Weapons
Eighty-two Countries Pledge to Avoid Use in Populated Areas
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Statement to Endorsement Conference for Political Declaration on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas
Delivered by Bonnie Docherty, Senior Researcher, in Dublin, Ireland
