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Guatemala

HAS ENDORSED THE POLITICAL DECLARATION

Guatemala was actively involved in the process to develop a Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, and was among the first group of states to endorse the Political Declaration in Dublin in November 2022. During the consultations to develop the Declaration, Guatemala said that the urbanisation of war and the rapid development of weapons technologies are major causes of harm to civilians in today's armed conflicts, especially when the effects of these weapons are long-range and designed for open battlefields and not for urban areas. It also expressed concern about the risks of short or long term damage, whether direct or indirect, personal or material, resulting from war in urban contexts, including the destruction of critical infrastructure that prolongs suffering.1

Statements and positions

Guatemala has frequently spoken on explosive weapons in populated areas in multilateral forums, primarily to highlight the harms caused to civilians and call for action to better protect civilians as well as greater compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL). At the 2013 UN Security Council Debate on Children and Armed Conflict, Guatemala expressed its concern with the use of “explosives of ample coverage in dense population centers or areas where populations converge”2 and again in 2015 condemned the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, “because this increases the vulnerability of children, resulting in an increased number of deaths and incidents of mutilation, as well as prolonged suffering, destruction and chaos.”3 This was echoed in Guatemala’s statements to the UN Security Council’s open debates on the protection of civilians in armed conflict in 20194 and in 2023, when Guatemala said that “experience has shown us that the use of explosive weapons in populated areas causes serious harm to civilians and affects services essential to their survival,” and called the attention of all States to their commitment to the application of international humanitarian law in armed conflict 5. Guatemala has also raised the issue of explosive weapons in populated areas at the UN General Assembly First Committee in 20156, 2022 7 and in 2023 when Guatemala again acknowledged the pattern of harm caused by explosive weapons in populated areas.8

Alongside 22 other Latin American and Caribbean states, Guatemala participated in the Santiago Regional Meeting on Protecting Civilians from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas in 2018, resulting in the Santiago Communiqué 9 in which the participating states agreed to take further action on the issue. In 2019, Guatemalajoined 71 states to endorse a joint statement on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas at the UN General Assembly First Committee, calling attention to the devastating and long-lasting humanitarian impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and urging states to reverse the trend of high levels of civilian harm 10. In 2018 and 2019, Germany joined some 50 and 71 states respectively to endorse joint statements on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas at the UN General Assembly First Committee, calling attention to the devastating and long-lasting humanitarian impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and urging states to reverse the trend of high levels of civilian harm.11

  1. Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. ‘Watch Back: Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas: Consultations – Morning’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6kJVfHdXSc.

  2. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.6917. 12 February 2013. Available from:https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.6917(Resumption1).

  3. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.7466. 18 June 2015. Available from: https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7466.

  4. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.8534. 23 May 2019. Available from: https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.8534.

  5. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.9327. 23 May 2023. Available from: https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.9327(Resumption1).

  6. ‘UNGA70 First Committee Statement Conventional Weapons Debate’. Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the United Nations. 27 October 2015. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com15/statements/27October_Guatemala.pdf.

  7. Young, K. 2022. ‘First Committee Monitor, Vol.20, No.4’. Reaching Critical Will. 22 October 2022. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/FCM22/FCM-2022-No4.pdf. 

  8. Young, K. 2023. ‘First Committee Monitor, Vol.21, No.5’. Reaching Critical Will. 4 November 2023. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/FCM23/FCM-2023-No5.pdf.  

  9. Santiago Communiqué from the Regional Meeting on Protecting Civilians from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (Santiago, Chile)’. INEW. December 2018. Available from:  https://www.inew.org/communique-from-regional-meeting-on-protecting-civilians-from-the-use-of-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas-santiago-chile.

  10. ‘Seventy-one States call for Action on Impact of Explosive Weapons in Joint Statement to UN General Assembly’. International Network on Explosive Weapons. October 2019. Available from: https://www.inew.org/seventy-one-states-call-for-action-on-impact-of-explosive-weapons-in-joint-statement-to-un-general-assembly/.

  11. ‘UNGA73 First Committee Joint Statement on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (explosive weapons in populated areas)’. Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations. 25 October 2018. .https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com18/statements/25Oct_explosive weapons in populated areas.pdf; ‘UNGA74 First Committee Joint Statement on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas’. Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations. 24 October 2019. Available from https://article36.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/UNGA74-joint-statement-on-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.pdf.

Other State Positions