Cambridge, MA, March 7, 2025 – Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic recently released a new question-and-answer document on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The paper was published in advance of a regional meeting on the topic, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from February 27-28, 2025.
The Q&A describes the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and its consequences, examines the commitments and significance of the 2022 Political Declaration on the Protection of Civilians from the Use of Explosive Weapons, and analyzes measures to promote the Declaration’s universalization and implementation.
The bombing and shelling of cities and towns is one of the gravest threats to civilians in contemporary armed conflict. It causes death, physical injury, and psychological harm, as well as damage to and destruction of civilian structures. This use of explosive weapons also causes indirect or “reverberating” effects: damage to civilian infrastructure interferes with basic services, such as health care and education, and in turn human rights. Other harm includes destruction of cultural heritage and the environment and mass displacement.
The Declaration, endorsed by 88 states as of March 1, 2025, calls on states that have signed to pursue preventive and remedial measures to address these impacts. The Declaration, while nonbinding, goes beyond reiterating existing international law by committing endorsing states to take additional steps to protect civilians.
The regional meeting in Johannesburg, hosted by Article 36, was attended by 40 representatives of states, civil society, and international organizations. It sought to build support for the Declaration, urging more states to join. Advocates, including Human Rights Watch, particularly called for endorsement from South Africa, the site of the meeting and a leader both regionally and globally in civilian protection during armed conflicts, to join the Declaration.