The Clinic and Human Rights Watch have released a new fact sheet, “Incendiary Weapons: Need for Stronger Law and a New Forum,” which Bonnie Docherty —who works for both the Clinic and Human Rights Watch—is disseminating in New York at the UN General Assembly’s First Committee on Disarmament and International Security. The publication highlights the devastating impact of incendiary weapons—from the firebombings of Dresden and Tokyo eighty years ago to attacks in South Sudan and Ukraine over the past year. It documents the severe burns, destroyed homes, and long-term physical and psychological trauma caused by weapons like napalm and white phosphorus, and it examines the loopholes in international law that allow continued human suffering.
The publication calls on governments to strengthen global protections for civilians, close legal loopholes, and consider a complete ban on incendiary weapons. Human Rights Watch and the Clinic urge the international community to look beyond the stalled meetings of states parties to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and take up the issue at First Committee. To read the full list of recommendations, click to view or download the complete fact sheet.