Topic: 2024-Indiscriminate Weapons
Country: Mozambique
Delegate Name: Abigail Kearney
Mozambique firmly opposes the use of indiscriminate weapons in any context and urges other countries of this Committee to do so as well. This decision is due to the inherent danger these weapons pose to humanity. Indiscriminate weapons harm civilians and cause massive harm to the environment for years after their use. Due to these dangers, Mozambique believes that we must treat all indiscriminate weapons as weapons of mass destruction.
One of the most prominent issues with indiscriminate weapons is the length of time that they remain dangerous. For chemical-based indiscriminate weapons, such as poison gasses, can contaminate soils for years after they are initially used and can remain highly toxic for up to a decade. This harms more than just the region’s original inhabitants, but those yet to come. With minimal clean-up efforts, the struggles faced by those afflicted by poison gas and chemical weapons will continue. The victims of these weapons should not bear the tremendous burden placed upon them due to inadequate handling and cleanup of such weapons. As nations charged with protecting the public, we must change and adapt to best fulfill our obligations to our citizens.
Landmines are one of the most devastating and difficult to remediate indiscriminate weapons. Used consistently since World War I and World War II, landmines pose one of the greatest hidden threats to our society. Landmines are extremely hard to detect and often kill civilians due to their indiscreet nature. Landmines can also remain in an area for decades after original placement and thus harm generations who weren’t even alive when they were placed. In Syria, in 2022, seven children and fifteen adults were killed by landmines in the span of two months. Since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, 38,980 people have been killed by landmines; 66,033 more were injured by landmines. The dangers of indiscriminate weapons like landmines are obvious, and we cannot ignore the facts. Only an end to the production and an increase in clean-up efforts for such weapons can save lives like those lost in Syria and Vietnam.
Nuclear weapons are the most egregious example of indiscriminate weapons. They cannot discriminate between targets, so nuclear weapons kill innocent civilians such as children, the elderly, and the infirm. Along with massive death rates from the explosion itself, nuclear weapons create fallout that can last for decades and make land completely inhospitable. Hiroshima is a prime example of the harm of nuclear weapons on the environment and essential resources. In Hiroshima, materials from limestone to flaxseeds were absolutely annihilated, and the effects of radiation in Hiroshima lasted for five to six years. This may not seem like long, but the bomb that affected Hiroshima had only a semblance of the radiation found in nuclear weapons today. The radiation produced by nuclear weapons is deadly and can be carried through the air in ways that cause harm to more than just the original region targeted.
To prevent the spread and creation of new indiscriminate weapons as well as address the necessary clean-up efforts that are required, Mozambique proposes that the UN prioritize removal, clean-up, and extend the work of the UN peacekeeping force to focus primarily on the dangers of indiscriminate weapons. Mozambique also suggests the immediate requirement of all nations within the UN to sign and ratify The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. These extensions are necessary to protect civilians around the globe and preserve the environment.
Due to the harms that indiscriminate weapons pose to the future of this earth and all those who reside on it, Mozambique must urge nations of this committee to prioritize the eradication and clean-up of indiscriminate weapons and to work together towards the abolition of all forms of indiscriminate weapons. We have a moral obligation to uphold, and it is time we do so.
Citations:
Syria: Seven children killed by landmines in two days. (2022). Save the Children International. https://www.savethechildren.net/news/syria-seven-children-killed-landmines-two-days
Doran, B. (2015). The Human and Environmental Effects of CBRN Weapons. https://research.library.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=environ_2015
“Landmines in Vietnam.” APOPO – Training Animals to Rid the World of Landmines and Tuberculosis, 14 Aug. 2021, apopo.org/what-we-do/detecting-landmines-and-explosives/where-we-work/apopo-in-vietnam/.
ICAN. (2018). Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. ICAN; ICAN. https://www.icanw.org/hiroshima_and_nagasaki_bombings
