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46 nations to ban cluster bombs
23/02/2007 19:26 - (SA)
Oslo - Forty-six nations adopted a declaration on Friday calling for a 2008 treaty banning cluster bombs, said officials for the Norwegian government and two non-governmental groups.
Of the 49 nations attending a conference in Oslo on cluster bombs, Poland, Romania and Japan did not approve the final declaration, said Norway's deputy foreign minister Raymond Johansen and officials for Human Rights Watch and the Cluster Munition Coalition.
The gathering was snubbed by some key arms makers - including the US, Russia, Israel and China - but organisers said other nations needed to forge ahead regardless to avoid a potential humanitarian disaster posed by unexploded cluster munitions.
A declaration presented on the last day of the meeting urged nations to "conclude by 2008 a legally binding international instrument" to ban cluster bombs.
The treaty would "prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of those cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians," said the declaration.
Cluster bombs are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles which scatter them over vast areas, with some failing to explode immediately. The unexploded bombs can then lie dormant for years after conflicts end until they are disturbed, often by civilians.
As many as 60% of the victims in Southeast Asia are children, said the Cluster Munition Coalition.
Children attracted to unexploded bombs
The weapons have recently been used Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon, it said. The UN estimated that Israel dropped as many as four million bombs in southern Lebanon during last year's war with Hezbollah, with as many 40% failing to explode on impact.
Children can be attracted to the unexploded bombs by their small size, shape and bright colours, activists say.
Friday's declaration urged countries take steps at a national level before the treaty takes effect. Norway has already done so, while Austria announced a moratorium on cluster bombs at the start of the conference.
"It is non-binding. It is not a legal document. But it is a statement of political will," Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch said of the declaration.
Norway hopes the treaty would be similar to one outlawing anti-personnel mines, negotiated in Oslo in 1997.
The US, China and Russia have refused to sign the landmine treaty and oppose the Norwegian initiative on cluster bombs. They did not send representatives to the meeting.
Australia, Israel, India and Pakistan also did not attend. Those nations say the weapons should be dealt with in other arenas, such as the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons, known as CCW.
Goose said the major powers don't need to be involved for the treaties to have an impact. Activists say the point is to stigmatise the weapons.
"If you need proof that you can conclude a treaty without the United States, Russia and China, look at the landmine treaty," he said.
Goose said even though major powers have rejected the treaty, they have stopped deploying land mines, and that the number of civilian casualties have been cut in half since 1997.
- AP
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