Geneva « Ministry for Disarmament

Incendiary weapons condemned again

More than a dozen states have called for international law on incendiary weapons to be reviewed and strengthened in light of civilian casualties, particularly in Syria. Despite these statements and letters, no concrete action has been undertaken yet to address incendiary weapons concerns beyond condemning their use.

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Spring meetings on killer robots

Are major powers changing their approach in acting on humanitarian disarmament concerns? It seems unlikely, but one new indicator is seen in the unanimous support given to the first multilateral discussions to be held on the topic of “lethal autonomous weapons systems.”

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Humanitarian disarmament in 2014

A busy year lies ahead for the community of activist governments, UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working to advance humanitarian disarmament. Concerns that the new Year of the Horse will see increasing turmoil look warranted as 2014 opened with armed violence taking lives in Central […]

Outrage at Syria’s incendiary weapons use

Since 2010, Human Rights Watch has been calling on governments to review the 30-year-old international protocol on incendiary weapons to better protect civilians, but its message sharpened considerably ahead of the annual meetings of the Convention on Conventional Weapons held at the United Nations in Geneva on 14-15 November 2013. “Where’s the outcry?” the […]

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.

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