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EXPLAINER: What are cluster bombs?
Written by: Cluster Munition Coalition
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A cluster bomb in a field in southern Lebanon. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
On Feb. 18, governments and activists will meet in Wellington, New Zealand, to try to hammer out a global treaty banning the use of deadly cluster munitions. This FAQ by the Cluster Munition Coalition explains the background. What are cluster bombs? Cluster bombs are weapons deployed from the air by aircraft including fighters, bombers and helicopters. They open in mid-air, scattering dozens or hundreds of smaller bomblets over an area the size of two or three soccer pitches. Cluster bombs can also be shot out of artillery rockets or by missile systems on the ground. What's the problem with cluster bombs? Cluster bombs are by nature indiscriminate. They don't distinguish between military targets and civilians, so the humanitarian impact can be extreme when the weapon is used in or near populated areas. 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 more lethal than antipersonnel mines; incidents involving submunition duds are much more likely to cause death than injury. Who uses cluster bombs? At least 14 countries have used cluster munitions: Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Israel, Morocco, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Russia (USSR), Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Britain, the United States and former Yugoslavia. A small number of non-state armed groups have used the weapon, including Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006. Billions of submunitions are stockpiled by some 75 countries. Thirty-four states are known to have produced more than 210 different types of cluster bomb. At least 24 countries have been affected by the use of cluster bombs, including Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chad, Croatia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Uganda, and Vietnam. Why do activists want them banned? Cluster bombs kill and injure too many civilians. The weapon caused more civilian casualties in Iraq in 2003 and Kosovo in 1999 than any other weapons system. Cluster bombs stand out as the weapon that poses the gravest dangers to civilians since antipersonnel mines, which were banned in 1997. Yet there is no provision in international law to specifically address problems caused by cluster bombs. Israel's massive use of the weapon in Lebanon in August 2006 resulted in more than 200 civilian casualties in the year after 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, 46 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. They also wanted to ensure adequate resources to assist survivors and clear contaminated areas. Two subsequent Oslo Process meetings in Peru (May 2007) and Austria (December 2007) increased the number of countries endorsing the Oslo Process treaty objective to more than 90 by the end of 2007. The Feb. 18-22 conference in Wellington is the last chance for governments to make their positions known before a final conference in May 2008, where a treaty will be finalised.
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1 response to “EXPLAINER: What are cluster bombs?”
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19 Feb 2008 09:30:23 GMT
Only barbarians would use such a brutal, indiscriminate weapon. To see the United States on the list of countries that uses cluster bombs is an embarrasment. But then since Bush has been President, we are use to being embarrassed.