Article

Depleted uranium weapons : the next target for disarmament ?

Avril McDonald

• Forum du désarmement = Disarmament forum, 3, 2008, p. 17-24

English

Also published in Karen Hulme (ed.), Law of the environment and armed conflict, 2017. - Source : https://www.unidir.org/files/publications/pdfs/uranium-weapons-en-328.pdf (last accessed on 18.06.2020)

This article looks at the status of depleted uranium weapons under international humanitarian law, as likely candidates for a future treaty ban or restriction. It argues that, as user states seem unlikely to adhere voluntarily to a moratorium, the best way forward is for other states and civil society to make depleted uranium weapons the next target for a disarmament treaty and to vigorously campaign to that end. It notes that a disarmament campaign culminating in a ban would increase the opprobrium attached to the use of such weapons - even for non-state parties - and limit their proliferation.

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