(London) - Less than a month after joining 45 other countries in a commitment to ban cluster munitions by 2008, the UK has announced it is banning the use of "dumb" cluster munitions with immediate effect. However the UK has said that it will retain the use of its Israeli manufactured M85 bomblets with self-destruct mechanisms, and is claiming that these are "smart" despite the fact that the same munitions failed in huge numbers in Lebanon in 2006.
"This new step adds the UK to the growing list of governments taking action to back up their commitment to a new treaty banning cluster bombs," said Thomas Nash Coordinator of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), the London-based global alliance of 200 NGOs campaigning against these weapons. "These weapons have been killing and injuring civilians for decades and every step like this one today from the UK brings us closer to ending that suffering forever."
In Oslo last month the UK joined allies Germany, France, Italy, Canada and others in committing to conclude an international treaty to "prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians." The new process to achieve this international treaty was spearheaded by Norway after the failure of arms talks at the Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva in November 2007. The next meeting on the road to a cluster bomb treaty will be held in Lima, Peru from 23-25 May 2007 where discussions are expected to begin on the shape of the new legal instrument.
The Cluster Munition Coalition is calling on all states to adopt a moratorium while this treaty is negotiated. Since the initiative was launched Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina have renounced cluster munitions through a moratorium; Canada has announced it is destroying its stockpile of remaining cluster munitions and Cambodia has joined the historic initiative bringing the number of states to 47, including half the world's producers of cluster bombs.
The announcement by the Defence Secretary that the UK will ban the use of rocket and air delivered cluster munitions with immediate effect is highly significant, since these same weapons have been responsible for countless civilian deaths and injuries in the past.
"We are pleased that the UK is now taking concrete action on this issue," said Simon Conway, Director of Landmine Action and Co-Chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition. "However there is no agreed definition of what constitutes dumb versus smart and if Ministers are serious in their commitment to protect civilians they should acknowledge that adding a self-destruct mechanism to a bomb does not makes it smart. Southern Lebanon is littered with Israeli bomblets with self-destructs that failed. In my view smart means precision guided and the cluster munitions that the UK wants to retain are not precision guided. As long as the UK retains them, the unacceptable threat to civilians will remain."
The artillery launched cluster munitions that the UK refuses to ban were produced by Israeli Military Industries and imported by the UK. Despite claims by manufacturers and states that these are modern and do not pose the same problems as other cluster munitions, the same weapons have already taken an unacceptable toll on civilian lives and livelihoods. Despite being fitted with self-destruct mechanisms designed to reduce the threat after a conflict, M85 submunitions have posed problems in every conflict in which they have been used. Human Rights Watch recorded M85 submunitions unexploded in residential areas of Basra after being used by US and UK forces during the war in 2003. The UN in Southern Lebanon has stated that it has found large numbers of unexploded M85 submunitions with self-destruct mechanisms after they were used by Israel during the conflict with Hezbollah. Civilians have been killed and injured both in Iraq and in Lebanon in areas contaminated by M85 submunitions.
"There is no evidence that withdrawing the M85 would pose a risk to our troops but withdrawing it from service would greatly reduce the risk to civilians" said Conway.
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NOTES FOR EDITORS:
For more information contact:
Simon Conway, Director, Landmine Action, sconway@landmineaction.org, +44 (0)7843 387 149
Thomas Nash, Coordinator, CMC, thomas@stopclustermunitions.org, +44 (0)7711 926 730
RESOURCES:
John Rodsted's footage of so-called smart cluster bombs lying unexploded in Lebanon can be viewed at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_jsyObTG8k
For broadcast quality footage contact Therese Lyras, Campaigns Manager, Landmine Action, tlyras@landmineaction.org, +44 (0)20 7820 0222
BACKGROUND:
 More than 70 countries around the world stockpile cluster munitions containing billions of submunitions, and 34 are known to have produced them. The weapon has been used extensively in recent conflicts in Lebanon (2006), Iraq (2003), Afghanistan (2001-2002), and Kosovo (1999). In Lebanon, more than 200 people have been killed or injured by unexploded submunitions since the ceasefire in August 2006.
 Belgium became the first country to ban cluster munitions in February 2006. Norway, Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina have announced national moratoria on use of the weapon. The Oslo Conference on Cluster Munitions was the first step toward a new treaty on cluster munitions. The Norwegian government hosted this international conference following the failure of talks within the framework of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in Geneva in November 2006.
 On 23 February 2007 46 states agreed in Oslo to a clear declaration committing them to conclude in 2008 a new instrument prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. The group of the 46 states includes key users, producers and stockpilers of the weapon, and a number of countries affected by cluster munitions such as Afghanistan, Lebanon and Serbia. The states also agreed to a clear roadmap for the way forward with follow up meetings in this process in Lima in May, Vienna in late 2007, and Dublin in early 2008. Since then Cambodia has joined the initiative bringing the number of states in favour of a ban to 47.
THE CLUSTER MUNITION COALITION(CMC)
 The CMC was established in November 2003 with the goal of addressing the impact of cluster munitions on civilians. The CMC has a membership of over 150 non-governmental organisations worldwide.
 The CMC is led by a Steering Committee of DanChurchAid, Handicap International, Human Rights Watch, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, IPPNW Russia, Landmine Action (UK), Landmine Resource Centre (Lebanon), Mines Action Canada, Pax Christi, Protection (Egypt) and Norwegian People's Aid.
LANDMINE ACTION:
 Landmine Action works to improve protection for civilians from the effects of conflict. Our policy, research and advocacy work focuses on establishing appropriate controls over the technology of violence.
 Landmine Action has been a member of the steering committee for the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) since it was established in 2003. The CMC has a membership of over 200 non-governmental organisations worldwide.
 Product Recall, the UK campaign to ban cluster munitions was launched in October 2006. For more information visit www.spreadingourvalues.com.
For more information, research reports, or to arrange an interview, please contact Landmine Action on +44 (0)20 7820 0222.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
