Cluster Bombs Banned

[grassfed]

JOHANNESBURG, 17 February 2010 (IRIN) - The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), which seeks to ban the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of these weapons, has been ratified and will enter into force on 1 August 2010.

The convention agreed in December 2008 in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, requires ratification by 30 countries to become binding in international law; on 16 February 2010, legislation enacted by Burkina Faso and Moldova fulfilled this stipulation. So far 104 countries have signed and are in various stages of adopting the convention - also known as the Oslo Process - in their legislation.

"The rapid pace of reaching 30 ratifications - only 15 months - reflects the strong global commitment to get rid of these weapons urgently," said Steve Goose, director of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch and co-chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), an international civil society umbrella body representing 350 CMC organisations in about 90 countries, in a statement.

Cluster munitions, or cluster bombs, are indiscriminate weapons dropped from the air or deployed by ground-based delivery systems that often distribute hundreds of bomblets, or submunitions, that can cover an area the size of several football fields. Many of the bomblets fail to explode - by design or flaw - and remain a threat to lives and livelihoods many years after the conflict has ended.
more http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88142

(snip)
The first 30 countries to ratify the convention
Albania (16 June 2009), Austria (2 April 2009), Belgium (22 December 2009), Burkina Faso (16 February 2010), Burundi (25 September 2009), Croatia (17 August 2009), Denmark (12 February 2010), The Vatican (3 December 2008), France (25 September 2009), Germany (8 July 2009), Ireland (3 December 2008), Japan (14 July 2009), Lao PDR (18 March 2009), Luxembourg (10 July 2009), Macedonia (8 October 2009), Malawi (7 October 2009), Malta (24 September 2009), Mexico (6 May 2009), Moldova (16 February 2010), Montenegro (25 January 2010), New Zealand (22 December 2009), Nicaragua (6 November 2009), Niger (2 June 2009), Norway (3 December 2008), San Marino (10 July 2009), Sierra Leone (3 December 2008), Slovenia (19 August 2009), Spain (17 June 2009), Uruguay (24 September 2009), Zambia (12 August 2009). Source CMC

The following 104 countries have signed the convention
Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, DR Congo, Republic of Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte D'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, The Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar , Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tomé and Principe, St Vincent and Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Zambia. Source CMC

[Don Caballero]

1. Where are we?

[obxhead]

2. In the factories building more of them. nt

[annm4peace]

3. check out Alliant Action. They protest Alliant Tech

Alliant Tech makes the cluster bombs in good ol' MN. Might want to ask Sen Franken and Sen Klobuchar about that.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. Why? It does not apply to the US

We did not sign up to it.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

4. Be aware that it is not binding on non-signatories

It will ignored by the nations that have them including most parts of the former Soviet Union, US, both Koreas, Israel, etc. The UK and France have them in inventory and the French manufacturer them as well. Have to wonder if they are really going to walk away from the only effective weapon for certain tactical situation.

[Violet_Crumble]

8. Why doesn't it surprise me that you'd support the use of cluster bombs?

Do you have any comprehension of why there's a convention to ban their use? Or isn't the random maiming and killing of civilians by them not a concern as long as you think they're 'effective'?

[Go2Peace]

6. Dam, at first I thought Obama had banned them. I was in a happy shock!

But I should have known.

[Violet_Crumble]

7. I'm glad my country has signed the convention and hope the US follows suit...

I still find it impossible to comprehend why anyone would support their continued use...