Forum on the Arms Trade
  • Home
  • Experts
    • View all - by location
    • View by issue expertise >
      • View all
      • US Policy and Practice >
        • Arms sales
        • Security assistance
        • Export control
        • Defense industry
      • International Instruments >
        • Arms Trade Treaty
        • CCW
        • Other instruments
      • Weapons >
        • small arms/light weapons
        • drones
        • landmines/cluster munitions
        • killer robots
        • cyber
        • explosive weapons
        • F-35
      • International Trade >
        • Global trade data/trends
        • Strategic trade control
        • Africa
        • Latin America
        • Middle East
        • Europe
        • Asia
      • Implications >
        • Harm to civilians
        • Gender
        • Child soldiers
        • Arms trafficking
        • Corruption
        • Environment
    • A to B >
      • Rasha Abdul Rahim
      • Jeff Abramson
      • Ray Acheson
      • Katherine Aguirre Tobón
      • Linda Åkerström
      • Waleed Alhariri
      • Radhya al-Mutawakel
      • Alma Taslidzan Al-Osta
      • Philip Alpers
      • Habbouba Aoun
      • Peter Asaro
      • David Atwood
      • Kathi Lynn Austin
      • Natalia Báez Zamudio
      • Deepayan Basu Ray
      • Seth Binder
      • Subindra Bogati
      • Laura Boillot
      • Matthew Breay Bolton
      • Mark Bromley
      • Martin Butcher
    • C to G >
      • Brian Castner
      • Thompson Chengeta
      • Purna Shova Chitrakar
      • Helen Close
      • Jordan Cohen
      • Magda Coss Nogueda
      • Verity Coyle
      • Anna Crowe
      • Maria Pia Devoto
      • Lode Dewaegheneire
      • Bonnie Docherty
      • Gugu Dube
      • Geoffrey L. Duke
      • Nils Duquet
      • Cindy Ebbs
      • Jennifer L. Erickson
      • Andrew Feinstein
      • Aude Fleurant
      • Denise Garcia
      • Dan Gettinger
      • Natalie Goldring
      • Colby Goodman
      • Hector Guerra
    • H to L >
      • William Hartung
      • Lisa Haugaard
      • Alexandra Hiniker
      • Erin Hunt
      • Adam Isacson
      • Roy Isbister
      • Cesar Jaramillo
      • N.R. Jenzen-Jones
      • Raza Shah Khan
      • Daryl G. Kimball
      • Adele Kirsten
      • Kate Kizer
      • Michael Klare
      • Matt Korda
      • William Kullman
      • Guy Lamb
      • Bruno Langeani
      • Edward J. Laurance
      • John Lindsay-Poland
    • M to R >
      • Daniel Mack
      • Daniel Mahanty
      • Ara Marcen Naval
      • Ivan Marques
      • Jesus Martínez
      • Montserrat Martínez Téllez
      • Nicholas Marsh
      • Shana Marshall
      • Stephen Miles
      • Elizabeth Minor
      • Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan
      • Robert Muggah
      • Wanda Muñoz
      • Folade Mutota
      • Jasmin Nario-Galace
      • Afrah Nasser
      • Amy Nelson
      • Linnet L. Wairimu Ng'ayu
      • Nancy Okail
      • Iain Overton
      • Scott Paul
      • Carlos Pérez Ricart
      • Samuel Perlo-Freeman
      • Michael Picard
      • Natália Pollachi
      • Allison Pytlak
      • Josh Ruebner
    • S to Z >
      • Wilder Alejandro Sanchez
      • Stephen Semler
      • Camilo Serna
      • Annie Shiel
      • Shobha Pradhan Shrestha
      • Stephen Mwachofi Singo
      • Frank Slijper
      • Nate Smith
      • Ayman Sorour
      • Emma Soubrier
      • Jen Spindel
      • Alexandra Stark
      • Anna Stavrianakis
      • Rachel Stohl
      • Avihai Stollar
      • Ari Tolany
      • A. Trevor Thrall
      • Sahar Vardi
      • Andrea Edoardo Varisco
      • Francesco Vignarca
      • Jodi Vittori
      • Leah Wawro
      • Eugenio Weigend Vargas
      • Doug Weir
      • Anne-Charlotte Merrell Wetterwik
      • Sarah Leah Whitson
      • Patrick Wilcken
      • Cristian Wittmann
      • Sarah Yager
      • Katherine Young
      • Elias Yousif
      • Wim Zwijnenburg
  • Emerging Experts
  • Arms Transfers to Ukraine
    • Ukraine Countries List
  • U.S. Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) Policy
  • Major Arms Sales Notifications Tracker
  • Events
  • Congressional Arms Trade Measures
  • Biden Admin's Controversial Arms Sales
  • U.S.-Saudi Arms Sales
  • U.S. Arms Sales to Taiwan
  • Biden Arms Sales To Israel
  • U.S. Arms Sales to India
  • U.S. Landmine Policy
  • Resource Page - Under Threshold Arms Sales
  • Resource Page - USML Cat I-III to Commerce
  • Journalists
  • Get on the list
  • About
  • Archives
    • All archives
    • Expert Publications
    • Blog
    • Newsletter
Bonnie Docherty
Bonnie Docherty
Director of the Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection Initiative, International Human Rights Clinic, Harvard Law School (website)
Senior Researcher, Arms Division of Human Rights Watch (website)
email: docherb [at] hrw [dot] org ; bdocherty [at] law [dot] harvard [dot] edu
phone: 
617-496-7375 || twitter @bonnie_docherty


killer robots | landmines and cluster munitions | harm to civilians | CCW | explosive weapons in populated areas

Bonnie Docherty is a senior researcher in the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch and a lecturer on law at Harvard Law School, where she is Director of the Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection Initiative in the International Human Rights Clinic. Since 2001, she has played an active role, as both lawyer and field researcher, in humanitarian disarmament and the protection of civilians in armed conflict. Docherty participated in negotiations for the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions and conducted field investigations on cluster munition use in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Georgia. She has documented the civilian effects of armed conflict more broadly in Gaza, Israel, Libya, Nepal, and Ukraine.
 
In recent years, Docherty has contributed to the campaign for a new treaty on fully autonomous weapons, or "killer robots," by publishing extensively on the legal and moral threats they pose. She has done additional research and advocacy surrounding incendiary weapons and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. She was also part of the negotiations of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
 
Docherty received her bachelor's degree and law degree from Harvard University. 


Recent Publications:​
  • ​"Latin America and Caribbean Nations Rally Against Autonomous Weapons Systems," Just Security, March 6, 2023.*
  • "The origins and influence of victim assistance: Contributions of the Mine Ban Treaty, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Convention on Cluster Munitions," International Review of the Red Cross, November 2022. ​​
  • "Over 80 Countries Committed to Curb Use of Explosive Weapons, Now Comes the Hard Part," Just Security, November 23, 2022.
  • "An Agenda for Action: Alternative Processes for Negotiating a Killer Robots Treaty," Human Rights Watch and the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic, November 10, 2022.
  • ​"First Committee briefing book 2022" Reaching Critical Will, September 16, 2022.*
  • "Russia’s Use of Cluster Munitions and Other Explosive Weapons Shows Need for Stronger Civilian Protections," Just Security, March 21, 2022.
  • "Humanitarian Disarmament in 2022: Negotiations, Implementation, and a Fresh Start," Disarmament Dialogue, February 8, 2022.
  • "Countering Consensus through Humanitarian Disarmament: Incendiary Weapons and Killer Robots," Humanitarian Disarmament blog, December 21, 2021.
  • "Put Out the Fire: Strengthening International Law and Divestment Policies on Incendiary Weapons," PAX, December 9, 2021.*
  • "Crunch Time on Killer Robots: Why New Law is Needed and How It Can Be Achieved," Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic, December 1, 2021.*
  • "First Committee Briefing Book 2021," Reaching Critical Will, September 2021.*
  • "CCW Report Vol 9 Issue 3," Reaching Critical Will, August 8, 2021.*
  • "Areas of Alignment: Common Visions for a Killer Robots Treaty," Human Rights Watch/Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC), August 2, 2021.
  • "Statement on the 'Emergence of Convergence' to the CCW informal meeting on lethal autonomous weapons systems," Human Rights Watch, June 30, 2021.
  • "Key Developments in Humanitarian Disarmament: Honoring Humanitarian Workers," Disarmament Dialogue blog, June 16, 2021.
  • "Lockdown Diplomacy: Reflections and Recommendations from a Humanitarian Disarmament Survey," June 2021.*
  • "The Case for Condemnation: Denouncing All Use of Cluster Munitions," Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic, April 2021.
  • “Implementing the Convention on Cluster Munitions: Components of Strong Law and Supporting Examples,” Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC), November 25, 2020.
  • "'They Burn Through Everything': The Human Cost of Incendiary Weapons and the Limits of International Law," Human Rights Watch and the International Human Rights Clinic, November 2020.
  • "New Weapons, Proven Precedent Elements of and Models for a Treaty on Killer Robots," Human Rights Watch and International Human Rights Clinic, October 20, 2020.
  • ​"Confronting Conflict Pollution: Principles for Assisting Victims of Toxic Remnants of War," Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic and Conflict and Environment Observatory, September 30, 2020.*
  • "COVID-19: The Threats and Opportunities for Humanitarian Disarmament," Disarmament Dialogue blog, April 14, 2020.

​* indicates additional authors
Proudly powered by Weebly