Convention on Cluster Munitions Celebrates Second Anniversary: Campaigners Call on U.S. to Attend Upcoming Treaty Meeting

Washington, D.C.— August 1 marked the second anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In recognition of the day, campaigners in the United States have written to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to urge that the United States participate as an observer at the upcoming Third Meeting of States Parties to the Convention which will take place in Oslo, Norway, from September 11-14, 2012.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions comprehensively bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions and places obligations on countries to clear affected areas, assist victims and destroy stockpiles. To date, 111 states have joined the treaty, including most of the U.S.’s closest allies.

“While only two years old, the treaty banning cluster bombs is already creating a powerful effect in stigmatizing the weapon, so that even those countries like the United States that have not yet joined will not be able to use cluster bombs without facing widespread international condemnation,” said Zach Hudson, coordinator of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Cluster Bombs. 

Thousands Worldwide Call on U.S. and Other Outliers to Join Mine Ban Treaty

(Washington, D.C.) April 4, 2012 —  In celebration of the United Nations’ International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action today, thousands of people in more than 70 countries are rolling up their pant leg and standing side-by-side with survivors and landmine-affected communities to call for a full stop to the harm landmines still cause.

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA and the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL) joins the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) in the Lend Your Leg initiative to demand an end to the scourge of antipersonnel mines, and to once again call on the Obama administration to announce the conclusion of the landmine policy review launched in 2009 and to join the Mine Ban Treaty without further delay.

Lend Your Leg 2012, officially partnered with the ICBL and the United Nations with support from the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, and was launched on March 1—the 13th anniversary of the Mine Ban Treaty—by landmine survivors from all over the world joined by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Since then United Nations officials, politicians, celebrities, journalists and ordinary people everywhere have pledged to “lend their legs” to speak out against this indiscriminate weapon that continues to impair people’s lives every day.

Thirteenth Anniversary of the Mine Ban Treaty: What Is President Obama Waiting For?

(Washington, D.C.) MARCH 1, 2012 — As the Mine Ban Treaty celebrates its thirteenth anniversary March 1, the United States Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL) once again calls on President Obama to finally announce the conclusion of the landmine policy review and join the treaty without delay.

The Obama administration initiated a comprehensive interagency review of its landmine policy in late 2009. Over the past two years, Obama and his administration have received letters of support for the Mine Ban Treaty from 68 Senators, nearly 100 leaders of prominent U.S. nongovernmental organizations, key NATO allies, retired senior military officers, 16 Nobel Peace Prize recipients, landmine survivors and countless citizens from around the world.

“The U.S. has still not announced its decision to join the Mine Ban Treaty,” said Zach Hudson, USCBL Coordinator. “U.S. citizens, landmine survivors and campaigners from every corner of the globe have been calling on the U.S. to join the treaty for the last fifteen years. The world has waited long enough.”

Humanitarian concerns ignored as talks continue on cluster munitions

(Geneva) November 21, 2011 — As negotiations on a new law that would expressly allow some countries to continue to use cluster munitions enter the crucial final week, the voice of concerned governments , campaigners, and more than half a million global citizens continues to be ignored.

The draft law, a proposed protocol to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), is being pushed as an alternative to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which comprehensively bans all use, production, trade, and stockpiling of all cluster munitions.  The United States is the main proponent of the draft law, and has support from others that have not yet joined the ban convention, such as China, India, Israel, and Russia.

After a week of talks which clearly demonstrated a lack of consensus and strong opposition to the current proposal, the Chairman of the negotiations, French Ambassador Eric Danon, presented a new draft protocol text at the end of the day on Friday.

“After a week of formal negotiations, nothing in the draft text has really changed for the better,” said Steve Goose, chair of the Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC). “The revisions have been minimal in number and marginal in substance. As drafted, the protocol will do more humanitarian harm than good, and will fail to address the dangers to civilians posed by cluster munitions,” said Goose. “Any international law that promotes the use of millions of cluster munitions with hundreds of millions of submunitions, like this one does, is a bad law.”

The United States told delegates on Friday that it was going to make a major concession to move the negotiations forward, but then only offered to move one provision — allowing the use of cluster munitions with a failure rate of 1% or less — from one part of the protocol to another. The CMC immediately told delegates that this was “no big deal, no real concession, and devoid of any substantial humanitarian impact,” because those cluster munitions could still be used forever without any restrictions.

“The negotiations began at a standstill, are still deadlocked, and should stay that way. The protocol is bad news for civilians that will suffer from future use, and bad news for international humanitarian law,” said Goose.  The CMC and International Committee of the Red Cross have said the protocol would be a terrible precedent in international humanitarian law, with states for the first time adopting a treaty with lower standards than one already agreed to by a majority of nations.

Some of the changes give a rhetorical nod to the ban convention as a goal to be strived for, but the CMC finds that none will help to reduce urgently the unacceptable humanitarian harm cluster munitions cause. The revised protocol still allows indefinite use of cluster munitions with one so-called safeguard, such as a self-destruct device, even though such cluster munitions have been demonstrated time and again to cause large numbers of civilian casualties. It still contains a 12-year deferral period where armed forces can use cluster munitions without any safeguard, even though States Parties have agreed these are so dangerous to civilians they must be banned. The revised protocol still does not address in any way one of the gravest dangers of cluster munitions: their indiscriminate, wide-area affect at the time of use.

The negotiations Chairman, Amb. Danon, has indicated that he intends to prepare another revised draft text by the end of the day on Tuesday. States would then have Wednesday, and possibly Thursday, to try to reach final agreement, before the conference concludes on Friday.

“It does not appear possible to us that negotiators will be able to bridge the vast divides that still exist,” said Goose. “Minor tweaks and band-aid fixes such as we saw in the latest revised protocol will not do the trick.  Only a major overhaul could turn this into a law that could have humanitarian benefit,” he said.

Seventy-four of 114 countries that are States Parties of the Convention on Conventional Weapons have already banned cluster munitions by signing or ratifying the Convention on Cluster Munitions.  The CMC is urging these states not to back off the ban, and to oppose the adoption of this protocol because, as currently drafted, it would still do more harm than good.

The CMC has been disturbed by the degree to which a number of the ban convention countries have been trying to facilitate the adoption of this weak, counter-productive protocol, including Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland.  The United Kingdom appears to be active behind the scenes.

On Monday morning, as the revised draft was being discussed, cluster bomb survivor and CMC spokesperson Branislav Kapetanovic handed a petition of 581,237 signatures to Amb. Danon, showing  that the world is watching as these talks continue. The petition, launched by Avaaz and the CMC, has been signed by citizens in almost every country. It calls on governments to align any new agreement with the existing ban under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, ensuring this indiscriminate weapon continues to be comprehensively banned, and innocent lives protected.

 

Treaty banning cluster bombs marks one year anniversary

(London) August 1, 2011 — Campaigners are calling on all countries to join the treaty banning cluster bombs, marking one year after it became binding international law.

“The best way to stop cluster bombs from being used is to join this treaty and do so now,” said Laura Cheeseman, director of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC). “We are winning the battle against cluster bombs, but need all states to join the team against these deadly weapons.”

A total of 109 countries are now on board the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In the 12 months since it  entered into force internationally, 21 countries that previously signed the treaty have ratified it, and one country has acceded (a one-step process of signing and ratifying).

“An impressive amount has been achieved in the cluster bomb ban treaty’s first year of life,” said Laura Cheeseman, director of the Cluster Muition Coalition (CMC).“Stockpiles are being destroyed and contaminated land is being cleared, preventing thousands more lives being lost as a result of these weapons,” she added.

Countries urged to commit to a world free of cluster bombs

Countries urged to commit to a world free of cluster bombs at landmark meeting on Convention on Cluster Munitions

(Geneva) June 27, 2011 — At least 60 countries will meet this week at the first four-day “inter-sessional” meeting on the Convention on Cluster Munitions to advance their commitments to a world free of cluster bombs.

It is deemed an inter-sessional meeting because it takes place in between the required annual meetings of States Parties.

“This is the first meeting of its kind. Nearly one year since we celebrated the entry into force of this lifesaving ban, states must now report on progress they have made to implement the ban, and outline the steps they plan to take in the future,” said CMC Director Laura Cheeseman.

Countries need to stop bombing civilians

The International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW) calls on States and international organisations to use the opportunity provided by the UN Security Council debate on the Protection of Civilians to:

• Acknowledge that use of explosive weapons in populated areas tends to cause severe harm to individuals and communities and furthers suffering by damaging vital infrastructure;

•  Support the call of the UN Secretary-General for further work by States, UN agencies, international organisations and NGOs to better understand the impact of explosive weapons in populated areas and to develop mechanisms for improving civilian protection.

The last UN SG’s report on protection of civilians in armed conflict, 11 Nov 2010, highlighted the humanitarian impact of explosive weapons when used in populated areas (paras 48-51). It urged Member States to respond by providing information on both the pattern of harm and the policies in place to limit that impact. Since then, external events have provided further evidence of the need for action on this issue:

•  In March 2011, in Libya the sustained shelling and bombardment of areas populated by civilians was identified by the UN Humanitarian Chief as causing “widespread suffering”;1

• In the same month, the shelling of a market in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire highlighted the “dreadful humanitarian impact of explosive weapons when used in populated areas”;2

• In the period since the last UN Protection of Civilians report, civilians have continued to be killed and injured as a result of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas of Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Gaza, Pakistan, Somalia and elsewhere. Based on media monitoring by the NGO AOAV during the five months following the report, a minimum of 8,168 people have been reported killed and injured from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas,

with approximately 90% of these being civilians.3

Background: Explosive weapons include artillery shells, multiple launch rocket systems, air-dropped bombs, grenades and improvised explosives devices (IEDs), amongst others. The blast and fragmentation from these weapons kills and injures men, women and children in an area around the explosion, and can destroy vital infrastructure. When used within a concentration of civilians this often causes high levels of long-term harm to people who should be protected.4

The International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW) calls for immediate action to prevent human suffering from explosive weapons in populated areas. Founding members include Action on Armed Violence, Handicap International, Human Rights Watch, IKV Pax Christi, Medact, Norwegian People’s Aid, Oxfam and Save the Children UK.

1 UN OCHA: http://ochanet.unocha.org/p/Documents/USG%20Amos%20Statement%20Libya%2017March2011.pdf 2 UN OCHA: http://ochanet.unocha.org/p/Documents/USG%20Amos%20Statement%20CDI%2018March2011.pdf 3 AOAV methodology, background and previous data: http://www.landmineaction.org/issues/page.asp?PLID=1017&pageID=1068 4 For background, see NGO reports online at: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/assets/images/Devastating_Impact_low_res_(3).pdf http://www.landmineaction.org/resources/Explosive%20violence.pdf http://www.ikvpaxchristi.nl/files/Documenten/Veiligheid%20en%20Ontwapening/Explosive%20weapons%20policy%20brief%201%20low %20res.pdf

ICBL Condemns Libyan Land Mine Use

Nobel Peace Laureate Campaign Condemns Libyan Antipersonnel Mine Use

(Geneva) March 31, 2011 — The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) strongly condemns the reported use of antipersonnel mines by the Libyan Armed Forces in recent fighting with rebels in eastern Libya.

On March 28,more than 50 antipersonnel and antivehicle mines were discovered near power pylons outside the town of Ajdabiya by electrical technicians. A Human Rights Watch investigation reported that the mines had recently been laid. The Libyan Armed Forces controlled the area from 17-27 March.

“The use of these inherently indiscriminate weapons poses a great threat to civilians,” said Kasia Derlicka, ICBL Director. “Landmines must not be used by anyone, anywhere, under any circumstances.”

12th Anniversary of the Mine Ban Treaty: The U.S. Should Join Now

Washington, D.C.—As the Mine Ban Treaty celebrates its twelfth anniversary today, March 1, the United States should decide to join the treaty without delay and ban antipersonnel landmines forever, the United States Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL) said.

The Obama administration initiated a comprehensive interagency review of its landmine policy in late 2009. “U.S. citizens and other campaigners from around the world have been calling on the U.S. to join the Mine Ban Treaty since it was negotiated in 1997,” said Zach Hudson, USCBL Coordinator. “Since the policy review began this outcry has only intensified. The administration has received letters of support for the Mine Ban Treaty from 68 Senators, NGO leaders, key NATO allies, 16 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, victims of U.S. landmines, and countless concerned Americans. Enough is enough—it’s time to join.”

By joining the treaty, the U.S. would help send a clear signal that all types of antipersonnel mines are unacceptable weapons and would ensure that these weapons are never used again by the U.S. or anyone else. Joining would also encourage other remaining outliers to accede and strengthen international security.

The United States and the International Ban on Landmines

As the U.S. landmine policy review by the Obama Administration enters its second year, come hear from our panel of experts – all with first-hand experience with these weapons – and learn about their mission to convince the United States to relinquish antipersonnel landmines and accede to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.

Panelists include:

Professor Ken Rutherford (S’91, G’00), Director of the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery, James Madison University

Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Laureate (1997)

Stephen D. Goose, Executive Director of the Arms Division, Human Rights Watch

RSVP here.