IHRC Releases Paper on Incendiary Weapons at International Disarmament Conference
November 23, 2010- A new paper released today by the International Human Rights Clinic and Human Rights Watch calls for stronger controls of incendiary weapons, such as white phosphorus.
Bonnie Docherty, HRP Lecturer on Law and Senior Arms Researcher at HRW, presented the paper to diplomats at the meeting of states parties to the Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva. Researched and written by IHRC students, the paper launches a new campaign to minimize the harmful effects of incendiary weapons.
Incendiary weapons have killed or injured civilians in conflicts from World War I to the present; white phosphorous, for example, reaches temperatures of 1500 degrees Fahrenheit, burns easily through human flesh, and can reignite when bandages are removed.
Docherty spent the week in Geneva lobbying diplomats alongside Alan Cliff, a student in the International Human Rights Clinic. Other students on the project included Ashley Chung and Joe Phillips.
By the end of the week, several states had publicly and privately supported the paper’s call for action.