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WORLD’S MOST CLUSTER BOMBED REGION PREPARES FOR BAN NEGOTIATIONS IN DUBLIN |
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Tuesday, 29 April 2008 |
Three weeks before major negotiations start in Dublin for an
international treaty to ban cluster munitions, Southeast Asian
countries have met under the auspices of the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC) in Bangkok 24-25 April to share views on the draft
treaty and the weapon that has affected their region so severely.
The contamination caused by the use of cluster munitions in South East
Asia is the most severe and widespread of any region on earth. Laos,
Vietnam and Cambodia have dealt with the human, social and economic
impacts of cluster munitions for four decades.
Cluster munitions with at least 380 million bomblets were scattered
across these countries in the Vietnam War and according to the best
estimates available at least 115 million of these were left on the
ground unexploded and are maiming and killing civilians to this day.
"These weapons cause unacceptable harm and must be banned" said Alfredo
Lubang, member of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC)
and regional representative of Nonviolence International in Thailand.
"Hundreds of millions of bomblets from cluster bombs were dropped
decades ago in the Vietnam war, but still continue to kill and maim
civilians as they work in the fields or try to lead normal lives" he
added.
Laos and Cambodia are keen to ensure that other countries do not
experience the same problems they have and will be active participants
in the ban negotiations in Dublin 19-30 May. Malaysia, Indonesia,
Brunei and the Philippines have also confirmed that they will be going
to Dublin. Other countries in the region, for instance Thailand and
Vietnam, are actively considering participation.
Cluster bombs have and continue to cause unacceptable harm in the
region.
The CMC believe it is vital for cluster munition affected
countries to be well represented in Dublin. The CMC encourages
countries in South East Asia to play an active role in the
negotiations.
"We hope that Vietnam as a severely affected country will join Laos and
Cambodia in showing international leadership on this issue. We also
hope that Thailand as a stockpiler of cluster munitions will show
solidarity with its affected neighbours and work for a ban on these
weapons" says Grethe Østern, Co-Chair of the Cluster Munitions
Coalition (CMC).
The state representatives at the ICRC meeting agreed that countries in
Southeast Asia have a unique historical experience with cluster
munitions that should be actively reflected in all multilateral
discussions on this issue.
The state participants discussed key issues for the Dublin
negotiations. Several of them emphasized the urgency of including
specific commitments to victim assistance in the future treaty.
In particular, there was a strong support among the participants for
the idea that user countries should have a special responsibility to
help solve the problems they have caused, by funding and assisting
activities in the areas of victim assistance and clearance of
unexploded bomblets that continue to claim lives every year.
The
Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) is an international network of
over 250 civil society organisations in 60 countries committed to
protecting civilians from the effects of cluster munitions and support
governments to conclude a new international treaty banning cluster
munitions by 2008.
Members of the CMC network have been invited by ICRC
to participate in the regional meeting. More information on the CMC is
available online at http://www.stopclustermunitions.org
For further information please call CMC representatives Grethe Ostern
(NPA) on + 47900 78208, James Turton (Austcare) on +66 404114712 ,
Susan B Walker (ICBL) on +66 8602 44977 (in Bangkok), Daniel Barty on ,
+61 2 9565 9104, Samantha Bolton +41 79 2392366.
Notes to Editors
What are cluster bombs?
Cluster munitions are large weapons which are deployed from the air or
from the ground 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."
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.
Secondly, 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 however 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, 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 a 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.
for more information please visit: www.stopclustermunition.org
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 April 2008 )
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