US: Confirm or Deny Use of Cluster Munitions in Yemen

[tekisui]

Source: Cluster Munition Coalition

(Santiago, 8 June 2010) – The Cluster Munition Coalition calls on the United States to confirm or deny a reported use of US-manufactured cluster munitions in Yemen.

On 7 June 2010, Amnesty International released images of a US-manufactured Tomahawk cruise missile that carried cluster submunitions, apparently taken following an attack on an alleged al-Qaeda training camp in the community of al-Ma’jalah in the Abyan area in the south of Yemen. The 17 December 2009 attack reportedly killed 41 civilians, including women and children.

The CMC condemns any use of cluster munitions anywhere by any actor. Cluster munitions are weapons that a majority of the world has renounced.

An international treaty banning the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions becomes binding international law on 1 August 2010. A total of 106 countries have signed the treaty and 36 have ratified, and around 100 states are gathered in Santiago, Chile from 7-9 June in a global conference to plan how to implement the treaty. Neither the US nor Yemen have signed the treaty.

http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/news/?id=2301