Statement on Incendiary Weapons, UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security

Thank you, President. Use of incendiary weapons in populated areas continues, and international action is needed to prevent their cruel effects. In May–June 2019 alone, Human Rights Watch identified 27 incendiary weapon attacks by the Syrian-Russian military alliance in Syria. These strikes, most of which took place in Idlib governorate, endangered civilians and scorched valuable agricultural areas. Use of incendiary weapons on May 25 in Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib, for example, left approximately 175,000 square meters of burned farmland. Since November 2012, Human Rights Watch has used open-source material…

© Human Rights Watch - vendredi 18 octobre 2019