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Ireland
Major players absent from cluster bomb treaty
Article published on the 2008-05-29 Latest update 2008-05-29 18:12 TU
An Afghani cluster bomb victim with Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin.
(Photo : AFP)
One hundred and eleven countries agreed in principle to the text of a treaty banning cluster bombs Tuesday, though the world’s major producers and users of these arms were notably absent from the list. After 10 days of negotiations in Dublin, a principle text outlawing the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions was hammered out, though the United States, China, Russia, Pakistan, India and Israel were not present.
Under the treaty, existing stockpiles of cluster munitions would have to be completely destroyed within eight years, though the text did not rule out future generations of cluster weapons that pose less of a threat to civilians.
Reactions were ambiguous, with the International Federation of the Red Cross (IRCC) urging countries that didn’t participate in the negotiations to nevertheless sign the treaty.
Handicap International, a non-governmental organisation that has been lobbying for a cluster bomb ban, is enthusiastic about the future prospects for the treaty, saying that the agreement follows in the tradition of the Ottawa treaty banning landmines.
Hildegarde Vansintjan of Handicap International
"More than 100 countries will adopt this treaty, so we can say that the international community doesn't accept this weapon. And I think it will be very difficult for the [United] States to use them in the future."
A surprise moment during the discussions came on Wednesday when British Prime Minister Gordon Brown – whose negotiators had been accused of working to water-down the treaty – announced that the UK would withdraw all its cluster bombs from service in order to ‘break the log jam’ at the Dublin talks.
The treaty will be formally announced on Friday, and is scheduled to be signed December 2-3 in Olso, though it will not have the weight of law until it is ratified by its signatories.
Cluster munitions have been criticised for leaving many tiny explosive devices scattered in war zones, waiting to maim passersby. Often these ordinances are brightly coloured and attract curious children. Large amounts of cluster munitions were recently dropped by the Israeli air force during operations in Lebanon in the summer of 2006.
