July 25, 2024
Adedeji Ebo, Director and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, delivered remarks on behalf of Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.
He said that, since the last briefing on the same topic on 14 June, the provision of military assistance and transfers of arms and ammunition to the armed forces of Ukraine has continued in the context of the full-scale invasion of that country by the Russian Federation on 24 February 2022, in violation of the Charter of the United Nations and international law.
He expressed concern about civilian casualties caused by the use of cluster munitions and widespread contamination with mines and explosive remnants of war in Ukraine and called for universal participation in and the full implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, and the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons.
Preventing the diversion of arms and ammunition requires supply-chain transparency and cooperation and information exchange between importing, transit and exporting States, he said, noting that in June, States met to review progress made in the implementation of the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons and its International Tracing Instrument. States adopted — by consensus — action-oriented measures for 2024-2030 to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons throughout their life cycle. All States should now implement these and other related commitments, including those in the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management, as well as the obligations under all instruments to which they are a party, such as the Arms Trade Treaty and the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, their Parts and Components and Ammunition.
According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), 72 per cent of civilian casualties in June occurred because of artillery shelling, multiple-launch rocket systems and aerial bombardments, while 26 per cent were caused by missile and loitering munitions strikes. The number of casualties among children during that month is the highest in 2024. He went on to condemn the 8 July missile attacks by the Russian Federation hitting residential and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine, which reportedly killed dozens of civilians, including children, and injured over 150 more. The incidents in which missiles hit the Okhmatdyt National Children’s Specialized Hospital in Kyiv, the largest paediatrics facility in Ukraine, and at another medical facility in the capital’s Dniprovskyi district, “are particularly shocking”.
In addition, he cited reports of an increasing number of cross-border strikes using missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles by Ukraine inside the Russian Federation, with some, according to the Russian authorities, reportedly resulting in civilian casualties. “Just like any other weapons or weapons systems, armed uncrewed aerial vehicles and missiles must not be used in a manner inconsistent with international humanitarian law,” he warned. All parties to an armed conflict should refrain from any actions that could endanger civilians, including by avoiding the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, and ultimately should aim to take combat out of urban areas altogether. The Organization will continue working towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine in line with international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, and relevant General Assembly resolutions.