INTERNATIONAL HUMAN DISARMAMENT LAW
Do you know what international law says on the issue of disarmament?
International Humanitarian Disarmament Law is the branch of public international law that deals with disarmament and arms control in the world with a humanitarian focus. Initially, International Disarmament Law had a greater focus on issues of the balance of power between states - aiming for collective international security. International Humanitarian Disarmament Law converges with International Humanitarian Law when it adds the humanitarian element, and places non-combatants as central components of global disarmament and arms control.
Humanitarian disarmament has its origins in civil society. In the 1990s several international NGOs expressed concern about the harm caused to civilians in conflict or post-conflict areas, mainly generated by anti-personnel landmines. Due to the visibility created by these civil society entities, the Ottawa Treaty (Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction) was signed in 1997 by 157 countries; this was an important milestone for International Humanitarian Disarmament Law.
According to the NGO Humans Right Watch, the decontrol of weapons is one of the great challenges for human rights in the coming years. The development of fully autonomous weapons(Killer Robots) could mean a major threat to the civilian population and specific groups, as these weapons "profile" possible targets and could lead to a future of war and police activities beyond the control of human action. Incendiary weapons, explosive weapons in civilian areas, and cluster munitions (munitions that fragment into several explosive projectiles) cause enormous social damage, such as loss of life, mutilation and severe psychological problems.
International Humanitarian Disarmament Law is also concerned with the legal global arms trade, since often exporting states are not concerned with human rights issues and many of these weapons can be used in conflicts that put the civilian population at risk or that the population itself is the target, as occurs in genocides and crimes against humanity - in addition to arms trafficking to groups that cause serious harm to civil society. In this way, the International Humanitarian Disarmament Law emerges as an international security issue beyond the strategic bias, but with a strong humanitarian appeal.
By Luiz Leandro Garcia
Monitor of the Postgraduate Course in International Law at CEDIN
Sources: https://guiadefontes.msf.org.br/impactos-humanitarios-do-descontrole-de-armas/ https://www.hrw.org/topic/arms