Bonnie Docherty  is a senior arms adviser 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 of the 2022 political declaration on explosive weapons in populated areas and the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions and continues to work on the implementation of these instruments. She conducted field investigations on cluster munition use in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Georgia as well as on the civilian effects of armed conflict more broadly in Gaza, Israel, Libya, Nepal, and Ukraine.   Docherty has contributed to the campaign for a new treaty on autonomous weapons systems, or "killer robots," by publishing extensively on the legal and moral threats they pose. She has spearheaded efforts to strengthen international law on incendiary weapons. Docherty was also part of the negotiations and has worked for strong implementation of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.   Docherty received her bachelor's degree and law degree from Harvard University. ​