A BAN ON CLUSTER BOMBS

By Jonas Gahr Store and - - Reprint | | Print |

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OSLO, May 1 2007 (IPS) - According to a new report from Handicap International an estimated 400 million people in 25 countries are directly or indirectly affected by unexploded cluster munitions, writes Jonas Gahr Store, Foreign Minister of Norway. In this article, the author writes that wars and conflicts always hit civilian populations hardest. Certain types of weapons, such as landmines and cluster munitions, affect civilians particularly severely. While an international ban on landmines has been introduced, there is as yet no corresponding ban on cluster munitions. This we need to change, because unexploded munitions from cluster bombs is really anti-personnel landmines in disguise. According to the United Nations Development Programme, 27 countries are currently affected by cluster munitions. Such munitions create severe humanitarian and development problems, besides maiming and killing civilians: agricultural areas cannot be cultivated without risk to life and health, and refugees are unable to return to the homes from which they fled. As a first step towards an international ban on cluster munitions, Norway hosted an international conference in Oslo on 22 and 23 February 2007. A total of 46 of the 49 participating countries endorsed the Oslo Declaration on cluster munitions, which advocates a ban on cluster munitions by the end of 2008.

As a first step towards an international ban on cluster munitions, Norway hosted an international conference in Oslo on 22 and 23 February 2007. A total of 46 of the 49 participating countries endorsed the Oslo Declaration on cluster munitions, which advocates a ban on cluster munitions by the end of 2008. The next gathering took place from 23 to 25 May 2007 in Lima, Peru, where additional countries joined the process, bringing the total to more than 70. New ambitions were announced, such Peru’s goal of making Latin America the world’s first zone free from cluster munitions. Real progress has been made in the span of only three months.

Wars and conflicts always hit civilian populations hardest. Certain types of weapons, such as landmines and cluster munitions, affect civilians particularly severely. While an international ban on landmines has been introduced, there is as yet no corresponding ban on cluster munitions. This we need to change, because unexploded munitions from cluster bombs is really anti-personnel landmines in disguise.

According to the United Nations Development Programme, 27 countries are currently affected by cluster munitions. Such munitions create severe humanitarian and development problems, besides maiming and killing civilians: agricultural areas cannot be cultivated without risk to life and health, and refugees are unable to return to the homes from which they fled. Some countries, such as Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, continue to experience these kinds of problems more than 30 years after cluster munitions were used in their territories. More recently, the use of cluster munitions in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon has demonstrated the devastating consequences such weapons have for civilian populations.

The efforts over many years of humanitarian and human rights organisations that support clearance programmes and provide assistance to victims have helped to put this issue on the international agenda. Norway is one of the countries now calling for a solution to this humanitarian problem.

There is currently no specific prohibition against the use of cluster munitions, though general principles of international law require that a distinction must be made between military objectives and civilians during attacks and prohibit the use of weapons that cause excessive injury or unnecessary suffering. A number of measures to control the use of cluster munitions have been discussed internationally for many years, but this has not led to concrete steps being taken.

In its policy platform, the Norwegian government stated its commitment to working for an international ban on cluster munitions that mirrors the ban on landmines. In order to get the process underway, I invited United Nations and humanitarian organisations, including the International Red Cross, and nearly 50 countries to the Oslo conference in February 2007 to launch a process towards an international ban.

The most important result of the conference was the Oslo declaration, which contains a commitment to negotiate a new international agreement that prohibits the use of cluster munitions with unacceptable humanitarian consequences, prevents their proliferation, and secures help for people and states affected by them.

Our aim is that this process will lead to an international agreement that bans cluster munitions by the end of 2008. We are aware of the fact that a number of countries are opposed to such a ban, especially those who are large producers or have large stocks of cluster munitions in their arsenal.

So, will it be possible to reach agreement? We believe it is.

Anti-personnel mines presented a similar humanitarian problem. Humanitarian organisations, together with a strong alliance of mine-affected countries and countries engaged in the humanitarian field, succeeded in starting a process that resulted in an international ban on anti-personnel mines in 1997. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Mine Ban Convention, which 153 countries have ratified or acceded to so far. Anti-personnel mines are now hardly used, large areas have been cleared of mines, and thousands of mine victims and their societies have been helped.

Norway believes that a corresponding international ban on cluster munitions can be achieved through a similar process. This process has begun. With common resolve we will help bring it to a successful end. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)