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Statement by the Cluster Munition Coalition to the Group of Governmental Experts of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Geneva, Switzerland, 16 February 2009 Last December 94 states made history in Oslo when they signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, their ink sealing the fate of a discredited indiscriminate weapon that has shattered countless lives and ruined still more livelihoods. Cluster munitions are now banned and the race is on for entry into force of a new global treaty. Around two thirds of CCW states parties have already signed this treaty – as well as many outside the CCW. We urge all states parties to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions without delay. We expect rapid ratification by 30 states to bring the Convention into force. This is a crucial step towards its practical everyday implementation that will save lives, rehabilitate communities and help ensure all individuals affected can exercise fully their human rights. The CCW was negotiated in order to develop new international rules responding to suffering caused by the use of weapons in armed conflict. When agreed in the CCW these rules become part of the general fabric of international humanitarian law. They do not exist in isolation. And while not all states formally accept all instruments of IHL, each instrument remains an important part of the overall picture of how humanity has considered the limits to armed conflict. As another week of work on cluster munitions begins in the CCW delegations must have regard to the latest addition to this overall picture of IHL: is the Convention on Cluster Munitions, a categorical prohibition and comprehensive remedial instrument. We have said consistently that it could be possible for the CCW to produce an instrument compatible with the prohibitions set out in the Convention on Cluster Munitions and we welcome the European Union’s call for such compatibility here. In 2008 wide divergences between states put such a compatible agreement – for example a ban on transfers on cluster munitions – out of reach. If this remains the case in 2009, effort might better be spent pursuing a politically binding declaration. States frustrated with no progress on MOTAPM took this route in 2006 when consensus eluded them after five years of work. Surely though it is through concrete national steps that states not yet on board the Convention on Cluster Munitions can most clearly show their commitment to ending the humanitarian harm from this weapon. There is of course no good reason to stop states from putting such measures in place immediately. Indeed without such steps, it is hard to see credibility in calls to action on cluster munitions uttered by those who until recently considered the harm from this weapon unworthy of specific international action or even ‘mythical’. Signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions have an obligation to ensure the rules it sets out are upheld and promoted amongst non-signatories. Signatories must certainly never allow these rules to be undermined. Ultimately we believe the global ban will take root and be accepted even by those that do not sign immediately, as we have seen with the demise of anti-personnel landmines. UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband described this obligation when upon signature of the treaty in Oslo last December he said: “We need to tell those not here in Oslo that the world has changed and we have changed it and a new norm has been created.” Nevertheless an international agreement casting legitimacy on the future use of cluster munitions may risk delaying universal acceptance of the global norm renouncing this weapon. All signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions must work hard to prevent this. Simply put, would an agreement in the CCW allowing further use of cluster munitions make it more or less likely for states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to use the weapon in the future? Would it make these states’ future adherence to the Convention more or less likely? Those states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions should prioritise national steps such as withdrawing cluster munition systems from service as the United States has pledged to do by 2018; renouncing future production as Argentina has done; and halting exports unilaterally as Singapore has done. Multilaterally these states should work towards joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions and, meanwhile, could contribute to global efforts on cluster munitions by agreeing a political declaration for interim steps towards a ban or by negotiating a compatible agreement in the CCW such as a comprehensive ban on transfers. |
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MILLIONS OF CLUSTER BOMBS READY FOR DESTRUCTION More than 80 Governments meet in Berlin to plan weapon disposal
(Berlin 24th June 2009) – The new international convention banning cluster bombs is already delivering results as signatories plan the destruction of these indiscriminate weapons even before it has entered into force said the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) today on the eve of a major international conference in Berlin. On 25 and 26 June delegations from more than 80 countries will meet in the German capital to discuss plans for stockpile destruction.
Since the Convention on Cluster Munitions opened for signature in December 2008 in Oslo, 98 countries have already signed and 10 have ratified it. The treaty will enter into force 6 months after the 30th ratification is deposited at the United Nations in New York. Early initiatives on the implementation of the treaty are very encouraging.
“As representatives from civil society, we are thrilled to witness the continued momentum behind the ban and the desire from many countries to relegate cluster bombs to history,” said Thomas Nash, Co-ordinator of the CMC. “This meeting in Berlin and the attendance of so many countries show that the treaty is more than words on paper. Signatories are determined to implement it.” |
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The Convention obliges signatory states to destroy their stockpiles of the weapon as soon as possible but no later than 8 years after entry into force. 31 out of 32 signatories that still possess stockpiles of the weapon are expected to be in Berlin this week showing their willingness to start destruction soon and abide by the treaty deadline. More than a dozen countries have already started – and Spain has even finished – destroying their stockpiles.
“The destruction of these weapons is an illustration of the incredible evolution for many states,” said Steve Goose, director of the arms division at Human Rights Watch which co-chairs the CMC. “These weapons were once considered crucial in military arsenals and are now being reduced to inoffensive scrap metal. Every cluster bomb that is a destroyed is a cluster bomb that will not kill or maim innocent civilians in the future.”
Hundreds of millions of cluster bombs are still owned by countries outside the treaty and civil society across the globe will keep working tirelessly to make sure these countries sign and that their stockpiles end up in destruction plants and not hurting civilians.
“Cluster bombs have caused an appalling number of casualties,” said Lynn Bradach whose son, a US Marine, died in Afghanistan while clearing unexploded cluster bombs. “I hope the United States, the biggest stockpiler in the world, will soon realise that and accept that these horrible weapons belong in destruction facilities, not in military arsenals”. Ms Bradach is member of the 'Ban Advocates', a group of people who have been affected by cluster bombs which calls on all governments to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Such a mobilisation even before the treaty has entered into force should be an example for all signatories to start implementation of all treaty obligations as soon as possible. Victim assistance, land clearance, increased funding for affected countries and obviously stopping the use, production and transfer should also become a reality as soon as possible.
“We welcome the initiative of the German Government to organise such an important meeting so soon after the treaty opened for signature” said Thomas Küchenmeister, who heads the German branch of the CMC. “Gathering so many countries around the issue of stockpile destruction shows the continued commitment of the German authorities regarding the implementation of the convention. We can only urge them to keep that alive and to spread the word so that more countries sign and ratify”.
Early steps are welcome, but it is crucial that the treaty enters into force as swiftly as possible. In practice, this will mean that the clock will start ticking on the deadlines included in the treaty – 8 years for destruction and 10 years for land clearance. 20 more ratifications need to happen as soon as possible to give to the treaty its full power. |