Kazakhstan has not yet endorsed the Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. It did not actively participate in the negotiations towards a Political Declaration.
Statements and positions
Kazakhstan has delivered statements in multilateral forums on explosive weapons in populated areas both as an individual state and as an aligned group member. At the May 2017 UN Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict Kazakhstan noted that “about 75 per cent of all war victims are civilians, due to hostilities and the excessive use of explosives in urban areas” and emphasising the grave humanitarian impacts of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.1
As a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Kazakhstan aligned with World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ in May 2016, including the commitment “to promote and enhance the protection of civilians and civilian objects, especially in the conduct of hostilities, for instance by working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas, and by sparing civilian infrastructure from military use in the conduct of military operations.”2