(Geneva, July 8, 2008) – Less than two months after the negotiation of an international treaty banning cluster bombs, the United States says it will continue to use its vast stockpile for another decade. According to the new policy signed by Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, the U.S. will also ship cluster bombs to other countries. The United States is the leading known user, producer, stockpiler, and exporter of cluster bombs. The new policy puts the U.S. squarely at odds with the 111 other nations—including nearly all major U.S. allies— who agreed in May of 2008 to ban the production, use, stockpiling and trade of cluster munitions. The United States did not participate in the drafting or negotiation of the new Cluster Munitions treaty, which will open for signature by all nations in Oslo in December of 2008.
Cluster bombs are large weapons that contain dozens or hundreds of smaller submunitions. It is estimated that 80 percent of the victims of cluster munitions are civilians. The broad-area effect of these weapons kills and injures civilians during strikes. In addition, many submunitions do not explode on impact, becoming de facto landmines that cause civilian casualties for months or years to come.
Safia and Fatima of Southern Lebanon describe the effects of cluster munitions on their lives: "It was horrible for us. During the war, we used to go out to gather water from the well, and people from nearby would also gather food to bring to us. But after the cluster bombardment we could not go outside for three days because bomblets were everywhere…we never saw any military activity in this area. We were the targets, the civilians." The bomblets that fell in and around their home have finally been cleared, but their fields remain unusable because they are littered with explosives. "We have lost our tobacco season and our olive season…we cannot plough our land and we cannot plant seeds for the winter."
The U.S. policy will allow unfettered use of the nearly 1 billion submunitions now in U.S. stockpiles for the next decade, almost all of which are known to have very high failure rates and to be highly inaccurate, as shown in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and in southeast Asia. After 2018, the U.S. will still use cluster munitions with a claimed failure rate of less than 1 percent, despite wide recognition that this standard will not protect civilians from harm. Countries participating in the May negotiations rejected the regulation of cluster munitions based on failure rate because the results achieved under testing conditions do not accurately reflect how the weapons perform in combat.
Survivor Corps is actively involved in the campaign to ban cluster munitions worldwide as a member of the steering committee of the Cluster Munitions Coalition. “Washington’s cluster bomb policy is too little, too late,” said Steve Goose, co-chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition and director of the arms division at Human Rights Watch. “Most key U.S. allies have already rejected cluster bombs because innocent civilians are killed and maimed, not only when the weapons are used but also months and years after that. Knowing this, how in good conscience can the U.S. wait 10 years to accept a lesser standard?”
"Survivors around the world will not accept this weak stance from the United States," says Tracey Begley of Survivor Corps. "We will continue to demand that the U.S. set an example of positive leadership by agreeing to more responsible policies on cluster munitions."
You can help – here's how.
Write to your senators urging them to cosponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594) . Should it pass, this legislation would override the policy signed by the Secretary of Defence and force to U.S. to restrict the use and transfer of cluster munitions.
Call upon the 2008 presidential candidates to join the world community in the quest for a more secure future by endorsing U.S. ratification of the international Convention on Cluster Munitions.
For key facts on the United States’ use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of cluster munitions, please visit:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/06/25/global19192.htm
For more information on cluster munitions and the newly adopted Convention on Cluster Munitions, please visit www.stopclustermunitions.org
Photo by Simon Conway. Photo and story of Fatimah and Safia courtesy of the Cluster Munitions Coalition.