South Africa and other countries that have not yet done so should endorse a widely adopted political commitment aimed at protecting civilians from the bombing and shelling of cities and towns during wartime, Human Rights Watch said today following a regional meeting on this concern held in Johannesburg, South Africa on February 27-28, 2025.
"South Africa has taken a strong, principled position in condemning the devastating impact caused by today's armed conflicts and in supporting accountability for serious violations of the laws of war," said Ida Sawyer, crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch. "South Africa should deepen its determination to protecting civilians by endorsing the declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and by encouraging other governments in the region to follow suit."
The bombing and shelling of populated areas is one of the most serious threats to civilians in contemporary armed conflict. Recognizing the civilian harm caused and acute need for action, Austria, Ireland, and other governments initiated a political process in 2019. It resulted in the adoption of a political declaration to reduce the humanitarian consequences of this method of war, which opened for endorsement in November 2022.
A new question-and-answer document issued in advance of the regional meeting by Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic introduces the issue of explosive weapons and analyzes the provisions of the Political Declaration on the Protection of Civilians from the Use of Explosive Weapons. The new publication also details how harm can be reduced through implementation of those provisions.
A total of 88 countries have endorsed the Declaration, including Comoros, Madagascar, and Malawi. Mozambique, South Africa, and other states from Africa participated in negotiating the declaration but have yet to endorse it. While the Declaration is not legally binding, it commits its signatories to adopt and implement national policies and practices to help avoid and address civilian harm, including by restricting or refraining from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
Human Rights Watch has long reported on the foreseeable harm to civilians caused by the bombing and shelling of populated areas around the world, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gaza, Myanmar, Sudan, and Ukraine. Civilians account for the vast majority of people who are killed or injured when aerial bombs, rockets, artillery projectiles, mortar shells, and missiles are used in populated areas. The wide-area effects of some explosive weapons - which result from a broad blast or fragmentation radius, inaccuracy, and/or the delivery of multiple munitions at once - greatly exacerbate the humanitarian consequences.
The use of explosive weapons in towns and cities has long-term indirect, or "reverberating," effects on basic services, such as health care, education, electricity, water, and sanitation, that harm civilians for months or even years. The use of explosive weapons in populated areas also inflicts psychological injury, causes environmental damage, destroys cultural heritage, and displaces communities.
In 2011, Human Rights Watch cofounded the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW), a global civil society coalition that played a central role in securing support for the negotiation of the Declaration. INEW urges all states to join the Declaration and take steps to implement and interpret it.
A #StopBombingCivilians campaign initiative launched by Human Rights Watch in September 2024 together with INEW aims to increase awareness of the issue. The campaign has collected more than 22,000 signatures on a petition addressed to President Cyril Ramaphosa that calls on South Africa to endorse the Declaration.
South Africa has played a leading role on the African continent and in the world at large in the protection of civilians in armed conflict. For example, it has contributed to United Nations and African Union peacekeeping operations, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo, northern Mozambique, and elsewhere, and brought a case to the International Court of Justice against Israel related to Israel's obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
"South Africa has long placed the protection of civilians at the heart of its foreign policy," said Allan Ngari, Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "As a global leader for the protection of civilians, South Africa can further help to prevent carnage and destruction from being repeated in ongoing and future armed conflicts by joining the political declaration on explosive weapons."
