Question 19243 — foreign policy

Summary

Mrs Sandrine Mörch questions the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs about the current diplomatic process which aims to put an end to the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact radius in populated areas. This year will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the UN Security Council resolution on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. This is a particularly important issue at a time when civilians are becoming the main victims of contemporary armed conflicts: in Yemen, Syria, Libya and Ukraine, the Geneva Conventions are regularly flouted. The protection of civilians is particularly undermined by military practices contrary to the founding principles of international humanitarian law, in particular by the massive use of explosive weapons with a wide impact radius in populated areas. However, the report of the Office of UN Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) “Reducing the humanitarian impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas” highlights how the implementation of good military practices by several armed forces can lead to better protection of civilians while meeting the imperative of efficiency. According to several humanitarian NGOs including Handicap International, in 2018 and for the eighth consecutive year, more than 90 % of victims of explosive weapons used in cities and urban areas are civilians. To combat the devastating consequences of these bombings in populated areas (deaths, mutilations, hundreds of thousands of forced displacements, vital infrastructure destroyed and entire regions massively contaminated by explosive remnants of war), a growing number of States, supported by the UN Secretary General and the ICRC, is working on the development of an international political declaration which aims to protect civilians from the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact radius in populated areas (“EWIPA process”). In October 2018, more than 50 states supported a joint declaration from Ireland to this effect, with 26 European countries including Germany, but not France, whose recent position seems increasingly closed to this diplomatic process. crucial, despite Emmanuel Macron's campaign commitment. Furthermore, 93 deputies ahead of the Peace Forum in Paris called on France to join this process. Consequently, she wishes to obtain information on France's position towards this process, which is particularly important in this diplomatic year dedicated to the protection of civilians.

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