Sign the petition to protect them
Sign the petition to protect them

CIVILIANS ARE THE FIRST VICTIMS OF MASS BOMBINGS AND THE USE OF BANNED WEAPONS

90% of victims of explosive weapons in populated areas are civilians

In 2022, explosive weapons were responsible for 92% of all incidents involving the death and mutilation of children in Syria. And in the same year, at least 75% of child casualties in conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen and Ukraine were attributed to explosive weapons in 2023. 

Children are also seven times more likely to die from blast injuries than adults.

Children are also at risk from the impact of banned weapons: they will account for almost half of all victims of mines, cluster munitions and explosive remnants of war in 2022 or 2023.

AN ALARMING INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

In 2023, in at least 75 countries, civilians were severely affected by the use of explosive weapons, disrupting access to healthcare, education and humanitarian aid. The number of civilian casualties rose by 67%, and civilian deaths jumped by 130% compared to 2022.

Although international humanitarian law, through the Geneva Conventions and the Ottawa and Oslo Treaties, aims to protect civilians, these efforts are under threat. Lithuania’s withdrawal from the Oslo Convention weakens this protection.

Faced with the growing use of explosive weapons in conflicts such as those in Ukraine and Syria, it is urgent to step up international mobilization to defend civilians. Let’s get involved!

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By signing the Ottawa and Oslo Conventions and the Dublin Declaration, many states, including Luxembourg, have committed themselves to:

  • Put an end to the practice of mass bombardment in populated areas, and to the use, production or transfer of anti-personnel mines and cluster bombs,
  • Guarantee affected populations access to humanitarian aid and assistance for victims.

In spite of this, civilian casualties from explosive weapons in urban environments continue to rise appallingly, underlining the urgency of taking action and fulfilling commitments made.

«

Everything was completely destroyed… nothing but ruins, smoke and stones. When the war started, I had only one mission in my life: to protect my children. I wish I could have been with them when the house was hit. My body survived, but my spirit died with my children, crushed under the rubble with them.

Ahmad Nasman, Rafah, Gaza
»

Protect civilians from explosive weapons during conflicts!

As a citizen, you can encourage Luxembourg to pursue and strengthen its commitment by signing the petition to support the protection of civilians against explosive weapons in conflicts. 

In view of the unacceptable suffering that explosive weapons used in populated areas continue to cause civilians. In view of the growing number of civilian victims of explosive weapons. In view of the inaction or disengagement of certain signatory states to the Ottawa and Oslo treaties banning the use of anti-personnel mines and cluster bombs respectively, and to the International Declaration on Bombing in Populated Areas signed in Dublin. Because recent conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere show the urgent need for action.

Handicap International :

  1. Calls on States to join without delay these three essential instruments of international law for the protection of civilians (the Oslo and Ottawa Treaties and the Declaration on the Protection of Civilians during Bombardments in Populated Areas).

  2. Calls on Luxembourg and other signatory states to reinforce their commitments under these three instruments by:

    • By reinforcing their efforts to protect civilians from the consequences of mass bombardment in populated areas, and the use of anti-personnel mines and cluster bombs.
    • By supporting access for affected populations to humanitarian aid and assistance for victims.

  3. Calls on Luxembourg to condemn systematically and unequivocally any attack on civilian populations in violation of International Humanitarian Law, and any disengagement by signatory states from their obligations, pointing out the risks that such disengagement poses to civilians and international security.

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