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Speedy Ratification of the Treaty Banning Cluster Weapons
an article by Rene Wadlow, Representative of the Association of World Citzens to the United Nations, Geneva
In a remarkable combination of civil society pressure and
leadership from a small number of progressive States, a strong ban on
the use, manufacture, and stocking of cluster bombs was signed in Oslo,
Norway on 3 December 2008. However, all bright sunlight casts a dark
shadow, and in this case the shadow is the fact that the major makers
and users of cluster munitions were deliberately not there: Brazil,
China, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, USA.
Yet as arms negotiations go, the cluster bomb ban has been
swift. They began in Oslo, Norway in February 2007 and were thus often
called the “Oslo Process.” The negotiations were a justified reaction
to their wide use by Israel in Lebanon during the July-August 2006
conflict. The UN Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC) working in
southern Lebanon reported that their density there is higher than in
Kosovo and Iraq, especially in built up areas, posing a constant threat
to hundreds of thousands of people, as well as to UN peacemakers. It is
estimated that one million cluster bombs were fired on south Lebanon
during the 34 days of war, many during the last two days of war when a
ceasefire was a real possibility. The Hezbollah militia also shot off
rockets with cluster bombs into northern Israel.
[See Discussion
for further details on deadly effects of cluster bombs, as well as
their use in Vietnam, Laos, Kosovo and more recently in Georgia]]
The indiscriminate impact of cluster bombs was raised in 1979
with the support of the Swedish government by the representative of the
Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva and myself. My NGO text of
August 1979 for the citizens of the world on “Anti-Personnel
Fragmentation Weapons” called for a ban based on the 1868 St Petersburg
Declaration and recommended that “permanent verification and
dispute-settlement procedures be established which may investigate all
charges of the use of prohibited weapons whether in inter-State or
internal conflicts, and that such a permanent body include a
consultative committee of experts who could begin their work without a
prior resolution of the UN Security Council.”
States signed the treaty on 3 December in Oslo where the
negotiations began. If the momentum can be kept up, parliaments should
ratify the treaty quickly, and it could come into force by mid-2009. It
is important for supporters to contact members of parliament indicating
approval of the ban and asking for swift ratification. A more difficult
task will be to convince those States addicted to cluster bombs— the
Outlaw Seven: Brazil, China, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, USA. The
ban may discourage their use by these States and the USA has a recent
export ban on the sale of most cluster weapons, but a signature by them
would be an important sign of respect for international agreements and
world law. Pressure must be kept up for speedy ratification and for
signature on those States outside the law.
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DISCUSSION
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What have been the effects of cluster bombs?
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DISARMAMENT
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Additional text from the article by Rene Wadlow, Speedy Ratification of the Treaty Banning Cluster Weapons:
Cluster
munitions are warheads that scatter scores of smaller bombs. Many
of these sub-munitions fail to detonate on impact, leaving them
scattered on the ground, ready to kill and maim when disturbed or
handled. Reports from humanitarian organizations and
mine-clearing groups have shown that civilians make up the vast
majority of the victims of cluster bombs, especially children attracted
by their small size and often bright colors.
The failure rate of
cluster munitions is high, ranging from 30 to 80 per cent. But
“failure” may be the wrong word. They may, in fact, be designed
to kill later. The large number of unexploded cluster bombs means
that farm lands and forests cannot be used or used with great danger.. . ...more.
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