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Conflict without casualties … a note of caution: non-lethal weapons and international humanitarian law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2013

Eve Massingham
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Abstract

In the last decade considerable expense has been invested in non-lethal weapons development programmes, including by the United States military and other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and members of the European Working Group Non-Lethal Weapons. This paper acknowledges the potential suitability of non-lethal weapons for specific situations arising on the battlefield, but cautions against those who advocate for any weakening of existing international humanitarian law frameworks to provide for greater employment of non-lethal technologies.

Keywords

non-lethal weaponsdistinctionproportionalityprecaution
Type
New Technologies and the Law
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 94 , Issue 886: New Technologies and Warfare , June 2012 , pp. 673 - 685
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2013 

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