UNITED NATIONS, April 27 (Xinhua) -- UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock on Tuesday proposed three ways to protect indispensable civilian objects in armed conflict.

There are three ways to strengthen the protection of civilians and objects indispensable to their survival: to enhance compliance with international humanitarian law, to avoid the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas, to punish war crimes.

One way to enhance compliance with international humanitarian law is by improving the identification of indispensable civilian objects and regularly updating and complying with "no-strike" lists that include them, he told a Security Council open debate on the protection of civilian objects in armed conflict.

At the same time, there is a need to continue to leverage political dialogue, sanctions and arms transfer decisions to ensure respect for the law and the protection of civilians and the objects they depend on to survive, he said.

The use of explosive weapons in populated areas exposes large numbers of civilians to the risk of death or injury. When such weapons were used in populated areas last year, 88 percent of people killed and injured were civilians, compared to just 16 percent in other areas, said Lowcock.

The use of explosive weapons in urban areas also has a devastating toll on essential infrastructure and services, he added.

There are some good practices already being followed in this area, for example, in Afghanistan and Somalia, where multinational forces' use of certain air-delivered weapons has been restricted, or their use of artillery and other indirect fire munitions has been limited. In 2017, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs published a compilation of military policy and practice to reduce the humanitarian impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, he said.

Unless there is accountability, miscreants will draw the lesson that serious crime pays. Essentially, what's not punished is incentivized, said Lowcock. "If war crimes go unpunished, things will get worse. So ensuring accountability for serious violations of international humanitarian law is one of the greatest challenges we face in strengthening the protection of civilians. It's especially important to ensure accountability for serious violations when those violations are themselves a tactic and a deliberate choice made by perpetrators." Enditem

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