Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection Initiative
As the international community remembered the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 79 years ago this month, certain states reiterated their commitment to nuclear deterrence and blocked progress on nuclear disarmament at a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty meeting. The Convention on Cluster Munitions, a well-established humanitarian disarmament treaty, has faced a new threat, and arms sales to Israel continue as the war in Gaza rages on. At the same time, states, international organizations, civil society, and even individual government officials have actively condemned these developments. In addition, a UN secretary-general’s report has increased momentum toward a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.
In case you missed it:
- From June 18-28, states and civil society organizations met in New York for the Fourth Review Conference of the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons. The conference resulted in an outcome document affirming participants’ “renewed commitment to … preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.” The 2024 declaration goes on to present specific goals related to such topics as: national, subregional, regional, and global implementation of the Programme of Action; mitigating the differential impacts of small arms and light weapons on women, men, girls, and boys; and strengthening the International Tracing Instrument between now and 2030. For a detailed report of the conference, see Reaching Critical Will’s Small Arms Monitor.
- On July 5, Reuters reported on Russian mobile nuclear missile launcher drills in two different regions in Russia, which were carried out just weeks after Russia and Belarus conducted joint tactical nuclear weapons drills. The Russian Defense Ministry announced that “[s]imilar exercises” would be held “in the near future.”
- In advance of the July 9 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Washington, D.C., the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) gathered signatures from former NATO heads of state, government ministers, and military leaders, calling on NATO to remove US nuclear weapons from Europe. This summit, held on NATO’s 75th anniversary, produced a declaration reiterating that “[n]uclear deterrence is the cornerstone of Alliance security.”
- From July 22 to August 2, the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty met in Geneva, Switzerland, for its second session. The committee was able to adopt a procedural report but failed to achieve consensus regarding the chair’s summary, which was adopted only as a working paper. The chair’s summary acknowledged a call by some states parties for the “transparent, irreversible and internationally verifiable” reduction and ultimate elimination of nuclear arsenals around the world. In its response to the meeting, ICAN stated: “The unfortunate paralysis of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is not an excuse for inaction. It is further proof that action must urgently be taken elsewhere.” The Preparatory Committee’s third session will be held in New York from April 28 to May 9, 2025. For more information on the Preparatory Committee meeting, see Reaching Critical Will’s NPT News in Review.
- On July 25, Radio New Zealand confirmed that the work of New Zealand’s Autonomous Weapons Systems Working Group had been “paused” due to “resourcing constraints.” Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs Todd McClay attributed the pause to “the disappointing lack of international progress on rules and limits.”
- On July 26, after receiving parliamentary and presidential approval, the Lithuanian government submitted to the United Nations in Geneva its decision to withdraw from the Convention on Cluster Munitions, to which Lithuania became a state party in 2011. The withdrawal will only take effect six months after Lithuania submits an instrument of withdrawal to the UN secretary-general. Lithuania’s announcement attracted strong opposition from states parties, international organizations, and civil society, including the Cluster Munition Coalition. Norway, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and others stressed the need to uphold disarmament and international humanitarian law treaties during times of armed conflict, as well as times of peace. A list of responses to Lithuania’s announcement to date can be found here.
- On August 6, the UN secretary-general publically released a report synthesizing written submissions from member states and observer states, as well as international, regional, and nongovernmental organizations, on how to address the “humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical” challenges posed by lethal autonomous weapons systems. These submissions were solicited in response to UN General Assembly Resolution 78/241, which placed the issue of lethal autonomous weapons systems on the agenda for the upcoming 79th session of the General Assembly. The report highlighted “the widespread recognition of the deleterious effects lethal autonomous weapons systems could have,” “the need for human control over the use of force,” and “the strong sense that time is running out for the international community to take preventative action on this issue.” The secretary-general, therefore, repeated his call for a new legally binding instrument with prohibitions and regulations on the weapons by 2026.
- On August 9, the Stop Killer Robots campaign welcomed the conclusions of the UN secretary-general’s report on lethal autonomous weapons and noted that the UN General Assembly would be an effective and inclusive forum for discussions of autonomous weapons systems. A week later, Automated Decision Research, which is affiliated with the campaign, released an in-depth analysis of the submissions to the secretary-general.
- On August 13, the Associated Press reported that the United States approved another $20 billion in weapons sales to Israel. The weapons would reportedly be delivered over the coming years, with the first arriving no earlier than 2026.
- On August 18, British Foreign Office official Mark Smith resigned in protests against UK arms sales to Israel, believing that the United Kingdom “may be complicit in war crimes,” reported the BBC.
- From August 19-23, the 10th Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty convened in Geneva. The conference, whose priority theme was interagency cooperation, issued a final report. For more information, see Reaching Critical Will’s ATT Monitor.
Looking ahead, the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems is meeting in Geneva for its second session of the year from August 26-30. The 12th Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions will convene, also in Geneva, from September 10-13. Finally, the 79th session of the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Debate is slated to open on September 24, and Reaching Critical Will will be tracking all references to disarmament and arms control here.