On 26th of October, a new report was launched by Airwars and Pax – our partners in the International Network on Explosive Weapons.
Dr. Klaus Lederer, Mayor of Berlin and Senator, Dr. Inez Kipfer-Didavi, Managing Director of Handicap International Germany, and Nivin Almaksour, Syrian survivor of explosive weapons, laid a wreath at the “Memorial for Unknown Civilians” in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
The use of heavy explosive weapons in the cities of Ganja and Stepanakert, and other towns and populated areas in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is killing and injuring civilians, and destroying vital infrastructure.
At the eve of a new military deployment of four Belgian F16 fighter jets in Iraq and Syria, 11 Belgian and international organisations* urge the Belgian government to take immediate steps to improve its level of transparency and accountability for potential civilian casualties.
Six months after the global ceasefire appeal issued by UN Secretary General Guterres, HI together with other aid organisations warns about the lack of progress towards peace globally, which is leaving millions suffering from the impacts of both war and the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The global pandemic has halted the diplomatic negotiations, while it has also exacerbated the human suffering caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. On September 7th 2020, Ireland invited States’ representatives, UN agencies, international organizations and civil society to a webinar on the Protection of Civilians in Urban Warfare.
Today, 28 July 2020, the Yemeni disability rights activist Dr. Raja Abdullah Almasabi, chairwoman of the Arab Human Rights Foundation in Yemen, has briefed the United Nations Security Council on the situation of persons with disabilities in Yemen.
Eight international non-governmental organisations working in Yemen, including HI, strongly condemn the reprehensible attack that took place yesterday in the north of Yemen, killing 13 civilians – including four children.
In 5 years of war, Yemen has been devastated by the use of explosive weapons. HI is releasing a new report to demonstrate the long-term effects of this pattern of violence and to denounce its devastating and indiscriminate effects on civilians.