The Convention on Cluster Munitions takes effect on Sunday 1st August 2010, when it becomes legally binding for states that have joined around the world. Worldwide, campaigners from the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) will celebrate the entry into force of the most significant disarmament and humanitarian treaty in over a decade.
“The Convention is an important step toward ending the appalling threat that cluster munitions pose to civilians and ensuring that victims receive the assistance they need. The swift entry into force of the treaty could not have been achieved without the pressure civil society put on governments to act” said Stephanie Stuart, Director of Handicap International UK. A co-founder of the CMC, Handicap International has been working with landmine and cluster munition victims around the world since the early 1980s and has seen up close the enormous damage these weapons do to individuals, families and communities.
A significant advance in humanitarian law
“This new instrument is a major advance for the global disarmament and humanitarian agendas, and will help us to counter the widespread insecurity and suffering caused by these terrible weapons, particularly among civilians and children”, announced Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General.
Opened for signature in Oslo in December 2008, the Convention bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions and calls for the destruction of stockpiles within eight years, clearance of cluster munition-contaminated land within 10 years, and assistance to survivors and affected communities.
To date, 107 countries have signed the Convention and 37 have ratified, including the UK. Among them are former users and producers of cluster munitions, as well as countries affected by the weapons. The international stigma against cluster munitions is already taking root as the last confirmed use of cluster munitions in a major conflict met with international condemnation when both Russia and Georgia used them in August 2008.
“Work is already under way to implement the Convention’s provisions, which shows that states are serious about ending the civilian suffering caused by cluster bombs and helping survivors and affected communities to enjoy their full human rights,” said Marion Libertucci, advocacy officer at Handicap International and CMC co-chair.
Moldova, Norway and Spain have already eradicated their cluster munition stockpiles. The United Kingdom, a major former user and producer, has also started stockpile destruction. In December 2009, Albania became the first signatory country to complete clearance of submunitions on its territory.
“Only a few years ago, many people said it was an impossible dream to ban cluster bombs,” said Branislav Kapetanovic a CMC spokesperson who lost all four limbs to a submunition in Serbia. “What this treaty shows is that ordinary people, including cluster bomb survivors like me, can be a part of extraordinary changes that bring real improvements to people’s lives all over the world.”
New “Ban Advocates” film shows how survivors can bring about change
A new documentary “Ban Advocates: from Victim to Champions” shows how a group of survivors supported by Handicap International have played a crucial role in the process towards a global ban on cluster munitions. As Lynn Bradach, a Ban Advocate, explains: “Membership is painful, because to be a member you must suffer true loss: loss of a limb, your sight or a loved one. In my case it was the loss of my son Marine Cpl Travis Bradach-Nall who was killed while clearing US cluster munitions in Iraq”. She adds, “Membership also brings strength, because in order to be a member you agree that it is important to go beyond your pain and to strive to make a difference by using your voice and your experience to demand that countries stop using this inhumane weapon.”
First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention
The CMC calls on all governments to attend the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention, to be held in November in Laos PDR, the world’s most cluster-bombed country. This key meeting will bring together for the first time states parties to the treaty, UN agencies, international organisations, civil society, and cluster bomb survivors. Governments will share progress to date and draw up plans for action to implement the treaty’s lifesaving provisions within the established deadlines.
“My country joined the treaty because our people have suffered the impact of these deadly ‘bombies’ for decades,” testifies Phong, a Ban Advocate from Laos. “We’re looking forward to welcoming government representatives and campaigners later this year to show the world the immense and shocking legacy of cluster bomb use here.”
Press Contact
Tom Shelton: +44 (0)870 774 3737, tom.shelton@hi-uk.org
Beatrice Cami: +44 (0)7525 101 026, beatrice.cami@hi-uk.org
Notes for editors
About cluster munitions
A cluster munition is a weapon containing multiple – often hundreds – of small explosive submunitions. Cluster munitions are dropped from the air or fired from the ground and designed to release submunitions over a large area. They cannot discriminate between civilians and soldiers and many fail to explode on impact, posing a threat to lives and livelihoods for decades after a conflict.
About Handicap International
Handicap International works to improve the living conditions of people with disabilities in post-conflict or low-income countries around the world. Our activities include clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance, preventing mine-related accidents through education, assisting survivors with social and economic inclusion and advocating for the universal recognition of the rights of people with disabilities through national planning and advocacy. Handicap International is a co-founder of the Cluster Munition Coalition and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which was awarded the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.
More information is available at http://www.handicap-international.org.uk
A preview of the Ban Advocates film is available at http://www.handicap-international.org.uk/banadvocates.
About the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC)
The CMC is an international coalition with more than 350 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in around 100 countries to encourage urgent action against cluster bombs.
http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/
Events to celebrate the entry into force are planned in the following countries:
Africa: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Togo and Uganda; Americas: Argentina, Canada, Colombia, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela; Asia and the Pacific: Australia, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam; Europe: Albania, Arctic Ocean, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Macedonia FYR, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey and United Kingdom; and Middle East and North Africa: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait and Syria.
See complete information on CMC events worldwide at: http://www.august1.org/events
