Topic: 2024-Indiscriminate Weapons
Country: Colombia
Delegate Name: Brody McDonald
Indiscriminate weapons are weapons that cannot be distinguished between military targets and civilian populations. International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is a set of laws designed to protect civilians and civilian infrastructures during armed conflict. Indiscriminate weapons, such as cluster munitions, landmines, and chemical weapons, remain a series of concerns in international law in humanitarian work. A series of treaties and conventions regulate them to limit their use of reducing civilian casualties during and after conflict. Colombia is focused on the Geneva Conventions – Particurillary Protocol II. Protocol II of the Geneva Convention focuses on regulating the conduct of armed forces and reducing the number of civilian casualties. Despite these legal frameworks, enforcement remains challenging, particularly in disputes involving non-signatory states or non-state actors.
Columbia’s history with indiscriminate weapons is deeply tied to the prolonged armed conflicts. The Colombian Conflict primarily involved the government, various paramilitary groups, and left-wing guerrilla organizations, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). Over the years, indiscriminate weapons like landmines, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), and even more forms of cluster have been used extensively in the conflict, causing immense harm to villains and civilian infrastructures. The 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and FARC marked a turning point in the conflict in the use of indiscriminate weapons. The 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and FARC marked a turning point because it helped set a precedent for peacebuilding in Colombia. Peacebuilding set a precedent because the 2016 peace agreement helped end Colombia’s long-running internal conflict.
Colombia’s current approach to indiscriminate weapons, particularly landmines, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), and cluster munitions, has evolved significantly, especially following the 2016 peace agreement with the Revolution Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC), because of the 2016 peace agreement Colombia was able to end the internal conflict inside of the country of Colombia, start peacebuilding, focus on the safety and humanitarian of the civilians, and help the rural development of the country. According to the Colombian campaign against mines CCCM, over 60% of the Mindfields in the country have been cleared by 2021, with the total number of land victims significantly decreasing. However, many regions, especially in rural areas, remain contaminated with the armed groups still placed in mind to control territories.
With the support of international organizations, Colombia is committed to further reducing the threat of indiscriminate weapons. Still, the ongoing conflict in fragmented territory control remains a substantial hurdle for the Colombian government. Colombia has evolved and is trying to become a country that shifts its point of view to become more focused on the humanitarian aspects for the people of Colombia. Once we start resolutions and hear from the countries that also want to concentrate more on their civilians, we will have a working paper that will align with Colombia’s new forward way of thinking.
Work Cited
International Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munition Coalition (ICBL-CMC). International Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munition Coalition. International Campaign to Ban Landmines, www.icblcmc.org/ Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Geneva Conventions and Their Commentaries. International Committee of the Red Cross, www.icrc.org/en/law-and-policy/geneva-conventions-and-their-commentaries Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.
United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS). United Nations Mine Action Service. United Nations, www.unmas.org/en Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.
