What are
cluster bombs?
Cluster
munitions are large weapons which are deployed from the air by aircraft
including fighters, bombers and helicopters and release dozens or hundreds
of smaller submunitions. Submunitions released by air-dropped cluster bombs
are most often called "bomblets,” while those delivered from the ground are
usually referred to as "grenades.". First, their wide-area effect virtually
guarantees civilian casualties when they are used in populated areas.
Second, many of the submunitions do not explode on impact as designed,
causing civilian casualties for months or years to come.
What's
the problem with this weapon?
Air-dropped
or ground-launched, they cause two major humanitarian problems and risks to
civilians. First, their widespread deployment means they cannot distinguish
between military targets and civilians so the humanitarian impact can be
extreme when the weapon is used in or near populated areas.
Many
bomblets fail to detonate on impact and become de facto antipersonnel mines
killing and maiming people long after the conflict has ended. These duds are
more lethal than antipersonnel mines; incidents involving submunition duds
are much more likely to cause death than injury.
Who has
used cluster munitions?
At least 14
countries have used cluster munitions: Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Israel,
Morocco, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Russia (USSR), Saudi Arabia, Sudan,
Tajikistan, UK, US, and FR Yugoslavia. A small number of non-state armed
groups have used the weapon (such as Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006). Billions
of submunitions are stockpiled by some 76 countries. A total of 34 states
are known to have produced over 210 different types cluster munitions. At
least 24 countries have been affected by the use of cluster munitions
including Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Cambodia, Chad, Croatia, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait,
Laos, Lebanon, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria,
Tajikistan, Uganda, and Vietnam.
Why is a
ban on cluster munitions necessary?
Simply put,
cluster munitions kill and injure too many civilians. The weapon caused more
civilian casualties in Iraq in 2003 and Kosovo in 1999 than any other weapon
system.
Cluster
munitions stand out as the weapon that poses the gravest dangers to
civilians since antipersonnel mines, which were banned in 1997. Yet there is
currently no provision in international law to specifically address problems
caused by cluster munitions. Israel's massive use of the weapon in Lebanon
in August 2006 resulted in more than 200 civilian casualties in the year
following the ceasefire and served as the catalyst that has propelled
governments to attempt to secure a legally-binding international instrument
tackling cluster munitions in 2008.
What is
the Oslo Process?
In February
2007, forty-six governments met in Oslo to endorse a call by Norwegian
Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to conclude a new legally binding
instrument in 2008 that prohibits the use, production, transfer and
stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm TO CIVILIANS
and provides adequate resources to assist survivors and clear contaminated
areas.
Subsequent
International Oslo Process meetings were held in Peru (May 2007), Austria
(December 2007), and New Zealand (February 2008). Nearly 90 countries have
committed to participate in the final negotiations in Ireland in May. A
number that will surely growhttp://clusterprocess.org/
Who is the Cluster Munition Coalition?
The Cluster
Munition Coalition (CMC) is a global network of over 250 civil society
organisations working in 70 countries to end the harm caused by cluster
bombs. Founding members include Human Rights Watch and other leaders from
the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines which
secured the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Launched November 2003, the CMC is
campaigning for the diplomatic Oslo Process to result in a strong
international treaty prohibiting cluster munitions.
http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/
What
happens next?
Over 100
countries are expected to negotiate the cluster munition treaty in Dublin,
Ireland from 19-30 May 2008. At the negotiations, they will agree to the
final language of the treaty, which will then be opened for signature on 2-3
December 2008 in Oslo, Norway (where the process began). The cluster
munition treaty will represent the most significant advance in the field of
disarmament since the achievement of the 1997 treaty prohibiting
antipersonnel mines.
For more
information on CMC:
www.stopclustermunitions.org
