November 22, 2017

Meeting of High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW)

As Pope Francis recently recalled: “Despite the praiseworthy attempt to lessen, through codification of humanitarian law, the negative consequences of hostilities on the civilian population, all too often we receive, from various theatres of war, evidence of atrocious crimes and grave offences against individuals and their dignity, perpetrated with utter disregard for the most elementary consideration of their humanity. The flexibility of the CCW and its “open-door” nature for further developments in IHL must take into account adequately the nature of “modern armed conflicts and the physical, moral and spiritual sufferings that accompany them”. This is the mandate of the CCW. Reinforcing and respecting the rules of IHL are its contribution to a culture of dialogue and peace. The CCW is efficacious to the degree that this mandate is truly fulfilled.
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