Curbing explosive weapons in populated areas

Over the past year, the Syrian government has used missiles, air-dropped bombs, mortars, rockets, artillery and other explosive weapons with wide-area effects, causing multiple civilian casualties and destroying homes and communities. Due to the nature of the weapons and the locations targeted, these kinds of attacks kill and injure civilians, damage infrastructure, and leave […]

United Nations the next stop for killer robots

Less than one week after the launch of a new international Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, a new UN report has called for a moratorium on “Lethal Autonomous Robotics,” weapons that would be able to select and attack targets without any human intervention.

[…]

Busting consensus while staying in the UN

Something remarkable happened at the United Nations in New York on Thursday evening (March 28), when member states failed to adopt a long-sought treaty to regulate the arms trade. Politicians “deplored” the way in which agreement on the Arms Trade Treaty text had been “thwarted” by three of the world’s most abusive regimes: Iran, […]

The humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons

On 4-5 March 2013, a highly-anticipated conference to consider the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons was convened by Norway in Oslo. This write-up covers some of the highlights from this latest humanitarian disarmament initiative, which seeks to reframe the debate on nuclear weapons in humanitarian terms and initiate swift action by like-minded states in […]

Advancing humanitarian disarmament in 2013

2013 looks set to be a busy year (as always) for the community of governments and non-state actors seeking to advance humanitarian disarmament, with events including the final Arms Trade Treaty negotiations, a conference to consider the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, and the launch of a new campaign to stop killer robots. They […]

Le désarmement humanitaire en France

On 16 January 2013, representatives of French NGOs working in the field of humanitarian disarmament held a day-long seminar in Paris to discuss on this new approach to international diplomacy and campaigning. Panel discussions looked at lessons learned and challenges ahead, impacts of the campaigns to ban landmines and cluster bombs, and France’s role. […]

Humanitarian Disarmament Campaigns Summit

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, 90 representatives from non-governmental organizations and global coalitions gathered in New York for a Humanitarian Disarmament Campaigns Summit convened by Human Rights Watch. The Summit Communiqué issued by 31 signatories calls for strong disarmament initiatives driven by humanitarian imperatives to […]

A decade on, any action on arms transfers ?

On Monday, disarmament diplomats are convening in the basement of the United Nations in New York to discuss arms transfers for the second time this summer, this time for the Second Review Conference of the 2001 UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and All Its […]

Weak law sets bad precedent on cluster bombs

Australia’s long-awaited ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions came a step closer on Tuesday, 21 August 2012, when the Senate approved legislation to implement the convention. The Criminal Code Amendment (Cluster Munitions Prohibition) Bill 2010 passed the Senate by a vote of 29 to 10 and is expected to be signed into law […]

Leadership requested on nuclear weapons ban

Survivors, or “Hibakusha,” of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II are now aged in their 80s and 90s, but they are still traveling the world to promote their call for a nuclear-free Japan and for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Over the past week, New Zealanders have marked […]