Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection Initiative
Amid intensifying global conflict and rapid technological change, the humanitarian disarmament landscape is being reshaped by both urgent crises and renewed international engagement. The escalating conflict in the Middle East, including airstrikes on nuclear installations, devastating bombing and shelling of cities, and the reported use of AI in military targeting, has placed the field’s core concerns front and center. At the same time, states and civil society have pressed forward: momentum toward an autonomous weapons treaty grew in Geneva, Croatia celebrated becoming fully mine-free, new advocacy campaigns launched to reinvigorate treaty norms, and critical multilateral meetings laid the groundwork for major review conferences ahead.
In case you missed it:
- From March 2 through March 6, states convened in Geneva for the first meeting of the the Convention on Conventional Weapons’ Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Lethal Autonomous Weapons of 2026. The convening was timely as just two days before the Wall Street Journal published an article reporting that the US had used the AI-system Claude to help provide targeting recommendations for strikes in Iran. In Geneva, more states, including a group of African states, expressed support for moving forward with negotiations on a potential autonomous weapons treaty based on the GGE’s rolling text, bringing the total number of interested states to over 70.
- On March 9, Croatia declared itself fully mine-free, bringing the total number of states parties to the Mine Ban Treaty to have fulfilled their clearance obligations to 32. Over the course of almost 30 years Croatia had found and destroyed almost 107,000 landmines and 470,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance.
- Also on March 9 the International Network on Explosive Weapons warned of increasing harm to civilians across Iran and the broader Middle East. The organization called on the states involved to cease hostilities and the use of heavy explosive weapons in populated areas.
- Human Rights Watch published a news release on March 9 reporting that “the Israeli military unlawfully used artillery-fired white phosphorus munitions over homes on March 3, 2026 in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor.”
- The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has been covering the war in the Middle East. On March 23, the organization posted a blog titled “Tit for tat strikes against nuclear plants in Iran and Israel” in which it reported on the US and Israeli airstrikes of Iran’s nuclear installation and highlighted the risks inherent to these kinds of missions. Melissa Parke, the executive director of the ICAN, said that “any attack near a nuclear facility is playing roulette with civilian lives. Nuclear risks are not theoretical – they are immediate and human. The US, Israel and Iran must stop all military action and return to the diplomatic path.”
- On March 26, the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor 2026 was released. The report identifies two trends in tension: “nuclear arsenals are growing, even as more countries choose to reject nuclear weapons and join the ban treaty.” According to the report, there are currently 12,187 nuclear warheads existing in the world today.
- On March 30, Human Rights Watch reported that the Iranian government “has repeatedly used inherently indiscriminate cluster munitions delivered by ballistic missiles in attacks on Israel since February 28, 2026.” “At least four civilians have been killed in the strikes, which violate the laws of war and may amount to war crimes.”
- On April 1, Humanity & Inclusion and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines launched The Nobel Piece, a “global advocacy campaign to reinforce the 1997 antipersonnel Mine Ban Treaty and reenergize political support for its norms at a moment of unprecedented strain.” Part of the initiative includes sending broken-off pieces of a replica of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize to countries around the world that have withdrawn from the treaty. Each of the five broken pieces symbolizes one state party that has withdrawn.
- On April 9, Lebanon began a period of national mourning in response to an Israeli airstrike that killed more than 300 people and wounded more than 1,000 in less than 10 minutes on a single day.
- On April 9, the Conflict and Environment Observatory published an article written by Lydia Miller on the due regard principle under international humanitarian law. According to Miller, “the due regard principle reflects a modest but meaningful shift in IHL: environmental protection is not exceptional or discretionary, but an integral part of lawful conduct in warfare, requiring due care even amid uncertainty.” But without “consistent judicial practice,” the “real-world impact” of the principle depends on the political will of states.
As this period closes, the 11th Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference is set to open on April 27th at UN Headquarters in New York, running through May 22nd and chaired by Vietnam. Civil society organizations, including ICAN, have released a detailed briefing paper urging states to use the conference to recommit to disarmament.
This post expresses the views of the Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection Initiative and does not purport to represent the views of Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic or Harvard University.