Prelate calls for action to mitigate civilian suffering in war
December 14, 2016
Addressing a conference devoted to the review of an international conventional weapons treaty, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, decried the effects of weapons on innocent civilians.
“Civilians always bear the highest price of war while the weapons industries profit from it,” Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic said on December 12. “Until this unfortunate logic is changed, it is incumbent upon us to reduce at least the human suffering caused by armed conflicts.”
The prelate emphasized that incendiary weapons should be “regulated or prohibited, regardless of the purpose for which the weapons are primarily designed.”
Referring to the use of explosive weapons in urban areas, Archbishop Jurkovic called upon the international community to “make bold decisions aiming to safeguard civilian infrastructures.” He also repeated the Holy See’s call for a ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems, also known as killer robots.
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