Spain 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. In Dublin, Spain welcomed the provisions that guarantee access to humanitarian aid teams and said that victim assistance must be a priority. Spain said it endorses the Declaration with hope it will strengthen the protection of civilians in urban conflict.1
Spain 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. In its statements, Spain regularly suggested that terms such as “wide area effects,” “reasonably foreseen,” and “reverberating effects” lack a clear definition and should be avoided or further explained.2 It also several times suggested expansions in the scope of particular provisions of the Declaration, for example advocating for the addition of a reference or new element on protection of schools and medical facilities3, and the addition of “communication networks” and “education services” to the list of direct effects in Section 1.2. Spain was also clear that it would not support any inclusion of new obligations that required states to go beyond existing international humanitarian law (IHL), but encouraged efforts to improve national policy and practice to better protect civilians. Regarding the follow-up process, Spain opined that a stand-alone fora or body would be less useful than a review princess embedded within an existing framework such as the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).
Statements and positions
Spain has frequently spoken on explosive weapons in populated areas at the UN Security Council open debates on the protection of children in armed conflict4, primarily to express concern about the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in urban areas, and urge the Security Council and states to exploit all possible means to put an end to it. It has also stressed the disproportionate impacts of explosive weapons in populated areas on women and children. At the May 2023 UN Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, Spain encouraged states to sign the Political Declaration5 and at the July 2020 open debate on children and armed conflict reiterated its commitment to the implementation of the Declaration and urged all states to sign it.6 Spain also noted ongoing discussions about the use of explosive weapons in populated areas at the Convention on Conventional Weapons Preparatory Committee meeting held in September 2021, and said states must not ignore the increasing urbanisation of warfare.7
Alongside its individual statements, Spain has repeatedly aligned with other states to deliver statements on explosive weapons in populated areas. As a member of the European Union (EU), Spain has signed onto numerous joint statements condemning the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and the harms it causes to civilians and civilian objects, as well as calling for greater IHL compliance. This includes at several UN Security Council open debates on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict 8 and at the General Debate of UN General Assembly First Committee9, as well as at the 2022 UN Security Council open debate on War in Cities where the EU expressed concern over the indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas, including near hospitals, schools, and universities.10 The EU, with Spain signing on, has also repeatedly welcomed the Political Declaration on explosive weapons in populated areas – at the 2022 Dublin Conference, the 2022 and 2023 UN General Assembly First Committee (where it highlighted the work ahead for implementing the Declaration’s commitments), and at the 2023 UN Security Council open debate on the Protection of Civilians.
Spain also aligned with the World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ as an EU member state in May 2016. 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.” 11 Spain aligned with the Joint Commitment 123002 to the World Humanitarian Summit led by Austria, in May 2016 where it pledged to minimise impacts on civilians when using explosive weapons in populated areas.12 Spain also supported Austria’s Statement to the World Humanitarian Summit Roundtable on Upholding the Norms that Safeguard Humanity, in May 2016, where it announced its efforts to strengthen international humanitarian law, including through a Political Declaration.13
As a member of the Group of Friends on Protection of Civilians, Spain has supported statements at the UN Security Council stressing the importance of respecting IHL and the need to enhance the protection of civilians from the effects of explosive weapons in populated areas 14. In 2018 and 2019, Spain 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 15.