But Handicap International urges States to resist U.S. pressure
Dublin, 26 May 2008. Four days before the adoption of a new international treaty banning cluster munitions, cluster munition survivors from around the world welcome groundbreaking progress on victim assistance. The victim assistance provisions that will be adopted include a very broad definition of "cluster munition victims," covering affected individuals as well as their families and communities. According to the text currently being negotiated, States have an obligation to provide medical care, physical rehabilitation, socio-economic and psychological support to cluster munition victims, as well as to collect data on the victims. In addition, the text that will be adopted includes a detailed list of concrete actions that States shall have to take in order to support the victims. "This list is of crucial importance to ensure that this treaty is not just a piece of paper," said Dejan Dikic a cluster bomb survivor and Ban Advocate from Serbia. "It has the potential to make a huge difference on the ground, but it will still require careful and determined follow-up by the victims themselves in order to measure concrete progress." "Survivors from all affected countries should have access to victim assistance," added Youern Sam En, a cluster bomb survivor and Ban Advocate from Cambodia. "One hundred million cluster bomblets were dropped on Vietnam, and up to 30 per cent did not explode," said Pham Quy Thi a cluster bomb survivor and Ban Advocate from Vietnam. "More than thirty years after the war, cluster munitions still kill and injure civilians. Therefore I call on all countries to make the treaty a reality," he added.it will still require careful and determined follow-up by the victims themselves in order to measure concrete progress." "Survivors from all affected countries should have access to victim assistance," added Youern Sam En, a cluster bomb survivor and Ban Advocate from Cambodia. "One hundred million cluster bomblets were dropped on Vietnam, and up to 30 per cent did not explode," said Pham Quy Thi a cluster bomb survivor and Ban Advocate from Vietnam. "More than thirty years after the war, cluster munitions still kill and injure civilians. Therefore I call on all countries to make the treaty a reality," he added.
However, a lot of work remains to be done, in particular on the issue of joint operations with States not party to the Cluster Munition Treaty. According to the current draft treaty, "assisting" other States in the use of cluster munitions is forbidden. "We understand that a number of States received letters from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice urging them to remove this provision from the treaty. But this would enable States that are banning cluster munitions to assist the U.S. to continue using cluster munitions. This is completely unacceptable as it would undermine the entire purpose of the treaty," said Stan Brabant, Head of Policy at Handicap International in Belgium. "States should say no to attempts by the U.S. to undermine the treaty," said Raed Mokaled a Ban Advocate from Lebanon whose five-year old son was killed by a cluster bomblet.
In addition, States still need to agree on how far reaching the definition of cluster munitions is going to be. "States should not seek to develop a new generation of cluster munitions," said Raed Mokaled. "Instead they should ban them immediately." "States have a unique opportunity to save lives and limbs for generations to come and to make history - they should seize it now," said Marc Joolen, Director General of Handicap International in Belgium.
For the Ban Advocates' own words, go to www.banadvocates.org
The Ban Advocates are a group of individuals from communities affected by cluster munitions. They were able to influence discussions on all major topics discussed during the Oslo process and actively lobbied government delegates present at the Dublin Conference.
Notes to editors:
Cluster munitions are weapons that can disperse up to several hundreds of smaller submunitions - sometimes referred to as "bomblets" - over wide areas. They have indiscriminate wide area effects that kill and injure victims during and even years after a strike. They pose an enormous economic, social and psychological threat to civilians. 98 % of all confirmed cluster munition casualties are civilians. As of today, Handicap International has collected individual and detailed records on nearly 14,000 casualties in more than 25 countries and 5 areas.
In May 2007, Handicap International released "Circle of Impact," the first comprehensive study systematically analyzing the impact of cluster munitions on civilian populations through casualty data and socio-economic profiles. Circle of Impact can be found on http://en.handicapinternational.be/index.php?action=article&numero=467
Handicap International is a founding member of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), a coalition of over 270 NGOs from all over the world that campaign together for an international ban on cluster munitions.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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