Armed conflicts are increasingly fought in population centers, but often with weapon systems that were originally designed for use in open battlefields. When used in populated areas, explosive weapons that have wide-area effects are very likely to have indiscriminate effects. They are a major cause of harm to civilians and of disruption of services essential for their survival. I am sharing this Facts Sheet given by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at the meeting I recently attended in Geneva for National Society Legal Advisers of Red Cross/Red Crescent. Explosive weapons are activated by the detonation of high-explosive substances creating blast and fragmentation effects.
The explosive weapons raising concerns when used in populated areas are those having wide-area effects. There is generally no cause for concern when such weapons are used in open battlefields, but when they are used against military objectives located in populated areas, their effects are often indiscriminate and devastating for civilians.
Explosive weapons might affect a wide area because of the large destruction radius of the munition used, the inaccuracy of the delivery system and/or the delivery of multiple munitions over a wide area. These categories of explosive weapons include large bombs and missiles, indirect-fire weapon systems, such as mortars, rockets and artillery, multibarrel rocket launchers and certain types of improvised explosive devices.
Most armed forces and many non-State armed groups have these kinds of weapons. While their typical effects when used in populated areas are often foreseeable, parties to armed conflicts rarely adapt their means and methods of warfare to urban environments.
The terms “densely populated areas” and “populated areas” should be understood as synonymous with “concentration of civilians,” defined in international humanitarian law (IHL) as “a city, town, village or other areas containing a similar concentration of civilian or civilians objects.”
Recent armed conflicts have shown that the use of explosive weapons that have wide-area effects in populated areas is a major cause of civilian casualties and of damage to, or destruction of, civilian homes and critical infrastructure.
The consequences on the health of civilians are not limited to death, physical injury and disability but also include long-term impacts on mental well-being. The ability of health-care facilities and services to cope with a massive influx of wounded people and the injuries they present, and to provide adequate care, is also significantly affected.
Less visible but equally devastating are the reverberating effects of an attack using explosive weapons in populated areas, as consequences of incidental damage to critical infrastructure. For example, damage to a hospital is likely to cause disruption to medical services, which, in turn, is likely to lead to the death of patients. Damage to critical infrastructure, such as water and electrical facilities and supply networks, which are particularly vulnerable to the effects of explosive weapons, can cause severe disruption to the essential services on which civilians depend for their survival, leading to the spread of diseases and further deaths.
Such effects are accentuated where there is protracted use of explosive weapons in populated areas over a prolonged period of time. Ultimately, those who survive may have no choice but to leave, increasing the number of displaced people. Although the use of explosive weapons in populated areas is not expressly regulated by IHL, any such use must in all circumstances comply with IHL rules regulating the conduct of hostilities—in particular the prohibition of direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects, the prohibition of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks and the obligation to take all feasible precautions in attack.
Indiscriminate attacks are those that strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction, notably because they employ a weapon that cannot be directed at a specific military objective or the effects of that cannot be limited as required by IHL.
Disproportionate attacks are those that may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.
Evidence arising from the recent use of explosive weapons in populated areas raises serious questions regarding how those using such weapons are interpreting and applying IHL rules. Given the foreseeable effects of explosive weapons, an attacking party’s ability to comply with IHL insofar as populated areas are concerned depends on its choice of means and methods of warfare. It must respect IHL in all circumstances, even if alternative, more discriminate weapons are used. Urban warfare, in which military objectives are intermingled with civilians and civilian objects, presents many challenges for armed forces. Too often, an enemy will deliberately shield its military activities in populated areas, thus endangering the civilian population. However, such unlawful behavior does not relieve the military commanders from their responsibility to minimize the incidental effects on civilians of an attack. Such a responsibility is heightened in densely populated areas and may require the use of alternative weapons and/or tactics.
The ICRC is calling on parties to armed conflicts, the Philippine government included, to avoid using explosive weapons that have a wide impact area in densely populated areas due to the significant likelihood of indiscriminate effects.
Our brothers in Marawi are now suffering from these indiscriminate effects. As the fighting between our government forces and non-state armed groups continues in the South, the call of ICRC is timely and urgent!