Friday, 11 January 2008
New Early Day Motion on cluster munitions opens for signature
With input from UNA-UK, Martin Caton MP has put forward a new Early Day Motion (EDM) calling for a comprehensive ban on cluster munitions.
UNA-UK encourages its members to write to their MPs asking them to support this early day motion. Read the text of the EDM below, and find out which MPs have not yet signed it. For details on how to contact your MP can be found here.
Text of Early Day Motion 602
"That this House welcomes the progress made at the Vienna International Conference, the most recent stage in the Oslo process, launched in February 2007 with the aim of agreeing a new treaty banning cluster munitions; recognises that this process is, now, supported by 138 countries and has the full backing of the United Nations; applauds the position taken by the vast majority of these nations who support a comprehensive treaty banning all forms of cluster munitions; is concerned, however, that a number of countries that currently stockpile cluster bombs, including the United Kingdom, are seeking to water down the treaty by introducing an exemption for cluster munitions that have self-destruct mechanisms, such as the Israeli manufactured M85; points to the most recent evidence from Lebanon showing that the M85 self-destruct mechanism has a failure rate close to 10 per cent. rather than the 1 per cent. rate claimed by manufacturers; and therefore calls on the Government to work for a robust treaty that will ban all cluster bombs."
Read the list of MPs who have signed EDM 602.
What are cluster munitions?
- Cluster munitions are weapons which consist of large numbers of submunitions.
- They are either dropped by aircraft or fired from the ground.
- They are intended to detonate on impact and disperse shrapnel over a 50-metre radius.
- The total 'footprint' of each munition can reach up to one square kilometre.
- The military rationale for cluster munitions rests on their ‘economy of fire’, which theoretically reduces the financial, logistical and human cost of operations by enabling forces to engage a larger enemy.
Warfare has changed in ways which undermine the military utility of cluster munitions. The latest armoured tanks can withstand the weapon, and modern conflicts are often located in civilian areas, making the humanitarian cost of using cluster munitions illegitimately steep.
Impact on civilians
Cluster munitions have both immediate and long-term consequences for civilians. In addition to the death and maiming caused during actual attacks, post-conflict effects include:
- preventing the return of displaced civilians and hampering reconstruction and development
- lingering risk to civilians returning to affected areas, especially children who are almost five times more likely to suffer casualties due to the submunitions’ resemblance to toys
- obstructing humanitarian agencies and peacekeepers from carrying out their duties
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