• Incendiary Weapons

    Incendiary weapons cause extremely painful and cruel injuries to both civilians and combatants alike that are difficult to treat. They also start fires that can destroy civilian objects and infrastructure. Incendiary weapons have been used at great civilian cost in conflicts such as the one raging in Syria, where incendiary weapons are used in populated areas. More than 110 nations are party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Protocol III on Incendiary Weapons.

    Human Rights Watch urges that the incendiary weapons protocol be reviewed and strengthened by banning the use of all incendiary weapons in civilian areas and by broadening the definition in the protocol to cover white phosphorus.

  • Ukraine, Syria: Incendiary Weapons Threaten Civilians
    Nov 10, 2014
    Evidence of the use of incendiary weapons in Ukraine and Syria highlights the need for stricter law to govern these weapons, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today with Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic.
  • Syria: Widespread Use of Incendiary Weapons
    Nov 10, 2013
    Syria should immediately stop using incendiary weapons, Human Rights Watch said today in a report which documents at least 56 attacks using the weapons since November 2012. Human Rights Watch will present its concerns at the annual meeting of the Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva this week.
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Reports

  • Death from the Skies
    Deliberate and Indiscriminate Air Strikes on Civilians
  • Rain of Fire
    Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza
  • Civilian Pawns
    Laws of War Violations and the Use of Weapons on the Israel-Lebanon Border
More >>

Incendiary Weapons

  • Statement to the Conventionl on Certain Conventional Weapons Annual Meeting of States Parties on Protocol III on Incendiary Weapons
    Nov 14, 2014
  • Ukraine, Syria: Incendiary Weapons Threaten Civilians
    Nov 10, 2014
    Evidence of the use of incendiary weapons in Ukraine and Syria highlights the need for stricter law to govern these weapons, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today with Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic.
  • Incendiary Weapons: Recent Use and Growing Opposition
    Nov 10, 2014
    As states party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) convene for their annual meeting in November 2014, the matter of incendiary weapons is reaching a crossroads. Ongoing use of these exceptionally cruel weapons highlights the urgent need to take steps to prevent the civilian suffering they cause. Meanwhile, growing concern about incendiary weapons presents an opportunity to strengthen the international law governing them.
  • Is Credible Vetting of the Syrian Opposition for Human Rights Abuses Possible?
    Sep 24, 2014

    Tucked inside the continuing resolution the United States Congress passed late last week was a provision to authorize the training and equipping of “moderate, vetted” elements of the Syrian opposition. The CIA has been carrying out a covert, small-scale version of this program, according to media reports.

  • Statement to the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Convention on Conventional Weapons
    Nov 14, 2013
    Steve Goose, executive director of the arms division of Human Rights Watch, and Mary Wareham, coordinator of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots and advocacy director of the arms division of Human Rights Watch, delivered statements on Fully Autonomous Weapons at Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Meeting of States Parties in Geneva.
  • Incendiary Bombs are Killing Kids in Syria
    Nov 11, 2013
    For weeks, the Syrian Air Force had been bombing the Damascus suburb of Daraya. But on the morning of Nov. 16, 2012, something was different.
  • Syria’s Use of Incendiary Weapons
    Nov 11, 2013
    Incendiary weapons produce heat and fire through the chemical reaction of a flammable substance. These weapons cause extremely painful burns that are difficult to treat, and also start fires that can destroy objects and infrastructure. Field investigations, witness accounts, and videos and photos reviewed by Human Rights Watch indicate that the Syrian Air Force carried out at least 56 incendiary weapons attacks from November 2012 through September 2013. Human Rights Watch and the Violations Documentation Center in Syria have documented four separate incendiary weapons attacks that resulted in the deaths of at least 41 civilians and the wounding of 71 others.
  • Syria: Widespread Use of Incendiary Weapons
    Nov 10, 2013
    Syria should immediately stop using incendiary weapons, Human Rights Watch said today in a report which documents at least 56 attacks using the weapons since November 2012. Human Rights Watch will present its concerns at the annual meeting of the Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva this week.
  • Dispatches: Death From Above - Incendiary Bombs in Syria
    Aug 30, 2013
  • Israel: Strengthen White Phosphorus Phase-Out
    May 18, 2013
    Israel should strengthen an announced reduction of its military use of white phosphorus munitions by banning all use of “air-burst” white phosphorus munitions in populated areas without exception. Human Rights Watch has also urged all countries to make white phosphorus illegal when used as an incendiary weapon.
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