United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

38 countries will start observing the Convention on Cluster Munitions as of August, only two years after the treaty was first announced.

“This new instrument is a major advance for the global disarmament and humanitarian agendas, and will help us to counter the widespread insecurity and suffering caused by these terrible weapons, particularly among civilians and children,” noted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Cluster munitions explode in mid-air to release dozens – sometimes hundreds – of smaller “bomblets” across large areas. Because the final location of these scattered smaller bombs is difficult to control, they can cause large numbers of civilian casualties.

Bomblets that fail to explode immediately may also lay dormant, potentially acting as landmines and killing or maiming civilians long after a conflict is ended. Children are known to be particularly at risk from dud cluster munitions since they are often attracted to the shiny objects and less aware of their dangers. Since the countdown towards enforcement started in February, the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), a civil society campaign, has been raising public awareness and encouraging countries to adhere to the “most significant disarmament and humanitarian treaty in over a decade”.

“Our activities more recently have been aimed at trying to get an early entry into force, getting to the 30 ratifications necessary to do this,” Stephen Goose, one of the founders and co-chair of the CMC and director of the Arms Division at Human Rights Watch (HRW), told IPS. “It is quite unusual for so many countries to have already completed their ratification procedures.” After 1 August, more countries are expected to join the current list of 38. “Many of the states who signed but not yet ratified are very close to ratifying it, most of them awaiting completion of their national domestic law procedures,” an official with the Office for Disarmament Affaires (ODA) at the United Nations told IPS.

Appeal to hesitant countries

So far, 107 countries have signed. Others remain hesitant. For example, Thailand, a leader in the adoption of the landmark Mine Ban Treaty in 1997, has not yet become a signatory. The CMC has been lobbying its Foreign Ministry to join the treaty, and called for Thailand to attend the First Meeting of States Parties from 9 to 12 November in Laos. “Although Thailand possesses cluster munition stockpiles, this should not be a barrier to joining this important agreement,” reads a recent letter sent by the CMC. “Thailand has already announced that it does not intend to use cluster munitions and its stockpiles are outdated. The Convention also contains an eight year period in which States Parties need to complete the destruction of stockpiles.”

The letter was one of many sent to governments around the world as part of the “Countdown to Entry Into Force” campaign led by the coalition that appealed to governments in Morocco, Slovakia, and Sudan, among others. “The Convention will have a stigmatising effect even for countries that haven’t joined,” Conor Fortune, a media officer with the CMC, told IPS.

In the West, the United States has also been a focus of the coalition’s efforts. “At the moment the Barack Obama Administration is engaged in a very in-depth review of their landmine policy to see if they want to join the convention,” Goose explained. “The US has already acknowledged that cluster munitions should be banned at some point in the future.” Meanwhile, the Pentagon declared that the US will restrain from using cluster munitions with a failure rate of more than one per cent, which would include all but a small fraction, by the end of 2018. “[The US] should not wait another eight years to stop using cluster munitions; it should ban them now,” Goose declared.

Prohibition of cluster munitions, however, is just a part of what the convention stands for. The treaty also requires destruction of stockpiles within eight years and clearance of contaminated land within 10 years. It also recognises the rights of individuals affected by these weapons to receive assistance and compels all countries to support states in fulfilling their obligations. “Assistance could be provided either bilaterally or through the UN, international and regional organisations, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and NGOs, and could take the form of financial, technical and other assistance,” according to ODA.

LEHTIKUVA / AFP / MARIO TAMA
ESTHER BANALES - IPS