Mexico 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. Mexico regularly delivered statements throughout the consultations towards a Political Declaration, as well as raising concerns around explosive weapons in populated areas and expressing support for a Political Declaration in other multilateral forums.
Early in the consultation process, Mexico delivered a joint statement with seven other Latin American and Caribbean states. In this statement, states delineated key elements of a Political Declaration on explosive weapons in populated areas including: acknowledgement of the likely humanitarian consequences of the use of explosive weapons of wide area effects in populated areas; a commitment to avoid use of such weapons in populated areas and to develop military operational policies and procedures in this regard and identify, develop and exchange best practices; promote greater compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law; commit states to enable secure and sustainable humanitarian access; recognize the rights of victims and affected communities; encourage collection of disaggregated data; strengthen cooperation and partnerships with international organizations and civil society organizations to draw upon their relevant expertise and support.1 Mexico also noted that avoiding the use of explosive weapons in populated areas would contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 16, and supported the suggestion by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for the declaration to contain an unequivocal commitment by states to avoid the use of explosive weapons in populated areas as matter of policy and good practice and to operationalise their commitment through mitigation measures.
Mexico also delivered several joint statements with Chile throughout the consultation process in which it reaffirmed many of these positions2 and called for the Political Declaration to include clear delineations of existing obligations under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in order to promote adherence to them regarding explosive weapons in populated areas use.3 It asserted that the Political Declaration should strengthen compliance with IHL through the creation of new policy commitments.4 These joint statements also emphasised the importance of clarity regarding the harm caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, opposing the suggestions of other states to include qualifiers5, and spoke in favour of inclusive international cooperation and called for a transparent implementation and follow-up process to monitor progress on the commitments within the Political Declaration.6 At the fourth round of consultations, Mexico and Chile’s joint comments on the draft welcomed the removal of the caveated language throughout the text, as well as the clear acknowledgement of the multifaceted nature of the effects caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas on the civilian population. They also welcomed a proposal to include an additional paragraph that clarifies the application of international human rights law during armed conflict.
At the final consultation in June 2022, Chile and Mexico welcomed the final version of the draft, and said that although paragraph 3.3 does not reflect the language that they would have preferred (a commitment to “avoid” the use of explosive weapons in populated areas), it does establish a concrete political commitment that goes beyond the mere implementation of IHL. They said that the paragraph should be implemented as a clear-cut commitment to avoid the use of explosive weapons of wide area effects in populated areas.7
Statements and positions
Mexico has frequently spoken on explosive weapons in populated areas in multilateral forums. Mexico called for ending the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in light of its indiscriminate effects at the UN Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict in November 2010,8June 2012,9 and January 2015,10 as well as in 2019.11 During the UN Security Council Debate on the Protection of Civilians held in 2021, Mexico condemned attacks on medical facilities and personnel and noted the civilian harm caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. At the UN Security Council Open Debate War in Cities: Protection of Civilians in Urban Settings on 25 January 2022, Mexico noted that although the use of explosive weapons in populated areas isn’t expressly prohibited under international humanitarian law (IHL), because of the density of populations in urban areas it is virtually impossible for these weapons to be used without a high risk of violating the principles of discrimination and proportionality.12 It also Mexico said the Political Declaration should recognise that the use of explosive weapons in populated areas has unacceptable humanitarian consequences and acknowledge the impact such use has on the physical and mental health of people.13 During the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict on 23 May 2023, Mexico welcomed the Political Declaration and urged states to sign it.14 Similarly, at the UN General Assembly First Committee in 2023, Mexico welcomed the Political Declaration and highlighted the importance of its adoption.15
Mexico held the 62nd Annual DPI/NGO Conference, in 2009, where the outcome document, amongst many other things, endorsed a ban on the use of explosive force in populated areas.16 Mexico has also drawn attention to the humanitarian consequences of the use explosive weapons in populated areas at the UN General Assembly First Committee Debate on Conventional Weapons in 2015.17
Mexico has also repeatedly aligned with other states to deliver statements on explosive weapons in populated areas. Alongside 22 other Latin American and Caribbean states, Ecuador participated in the Santiago Regional Meeting on Protecting Civilians from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas in 2018, resulting in the Santiago Communiqué18 in which the participating states agreed to take further action on the issue. In 2018 and 2019, Mexico 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 19. At the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in May 2023, the Group of Friends of Action on Conflict and Hunger, of which Mexico is a member, strongly welcomed the Political Declaration, called on other states to join it, and said that the Oslo Conference will provide a critical opportunity to make progress in implementing the Declaration.20
It is also aligned with World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to “Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity.” This included 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.”21 Mexico also aligned with Commitment 123002 to “support the collection of data on the direct civilian harm and the reverberating effects on civilians and civilian objects resulting from the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas, and to contribute to the collection and exchange of information on good practices and lessons learned in minimizing impacts on civilians when using such weapons in populated areas. It further pledges to continue to look for effective measures to strengthen the respect for international humanitarian law in this regard, among them an international Political Declaration on the issue.”22