Partial UK ban on cluster munitions falls short of target

Cluster Munition Coalition
Press Release

Wednesday 21 March 2007


(London) ­-- The United Kingdom's announcement yesterday that it will
ban "dumb" cluster munitions is a step in the right direction, but falls
far short of what is needed to protect civilians from the deadly effects
of these weapons, according to the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), a
group of non-governmental organizations from more than 50 countries.

The UK said that effective immediately it will no longer use its two
types of cluster munitions that do not have self-destruct devices, the
RBL 755 aerial bomb and the M26 ground rockets for Multiple Launch
Rocket Systems (MLRS). But it will continue to use its L20A1 155mm
artillery projectiles with M85 submunitions with self-destruct devices.

"The vast majority of cluster munitions in the world today do not have
self-destruct devices. The UK's decision to ban such weapons is an
important indicator that no nation should ever use them again," said
Human Rights Watch's Steve Goose, Co-Chair of the Cluster Munition
Coalition.

The UK decision will have implications for other states with stockpiles
of these weapons but that have not yet taken concrete steps to deal with
the problem. "Now that the UK has banned them, other countries with the
same weapons must also get serious about banning these obsolete cluster
munitions," said CMC Co-Chair Grethe Østern, of Norwegian
People's Aid.

The UK used these types of weapons extensively in the past, including in
Iraq in 2003, in Kosovo in 1999, and in the Gulf War in 1991. The
BL-755 is stockpiled by India, Iran, Italy, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Thailand, and United Arab Emirates. The M26 is
stockpiled by Bahrain, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy,
Japan, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States.

However, the CMC expressed concern that the M85 "dual purpose improved
conventional munition (DPICM)" submunitions with self-destruct devices
also pose unacceptable dangers to civilian populations. Israeli
versions of the same submunition failed with startling regularity in
Lebanon last summer, and also endangered civilians in Basra, Iraq in
2003 both during and after UK attacks.
Norway and Austria have already, on humanitarian grounds, declared a
moratorium on the use of the artillery cluster munitions with M85
submunitions in their arsenals. "We have seen from Norway's own
tests and from the terrible consequences in Lebanon that the technical
fix simply doesn't work. With or without self-destruct devices, cluster
munitions spread out indiscriminately over a wide area, and leave behind
too many dangerous landmine-like duds," said Simon Conway, Director of
Landmine Action and Co-Chair of the CMC.

In Oslo last month, the UK was one of 46 countries that committed to
conclude in 2008 an international treaty to "prohibit the use,
production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause
unacceptable harm to civilians." Norway is spearheading this new
process to achieve an international treaty in the wake of failed arms
talks in Geneva last year. The next meeting on the road to a cluster
munition treaty will be held in Lima, Peru from 23-25 May 2007 where
discussions are expected to begin on the shape of the new legal
instrument.

"The current UK position falls far short of what we expect out of a new
international treaty on cluster munitions, a prohibition that will put
an end to the human suffering caused by these weapons," said Thomas
Nash, Coordinator of the Cluster Munition Coalition.

-ends-

Note: March 19 Press release from Landmine Action follows below:

LANDMINE ACTION
PRESS RELEASE

Monday 19 March 2007

UK moves closer to cluster bomb ban, but keeps unacceptable weapons for
use

(London) – Less than a month after joining 45 other countries in a
commitment to ban cluster munitions by 2008, the UK has announced it is
banning the use of `dumb' cluster munitions with immediate
effect. However the UK has said that it will retain the use of its
Israeli manufactured M85 bomblets with self-destruct mechanisms, and is
claiming that these are "smart" despite the fact that the same
munitions failed in huge numbers in Lebanon in 2006.

"This new step adds the UK to the growing list of governments taking
action to back up their commitment to a new treaty banning cluster
bombs," said Thomas Nash Coordinator of the Cluster Munition
Coalition (CMC), the London-based global alliance of 200 NGOs
campaigning against these weapons. "These weapons have been killing
and injuring civilians for decades and every step like this one today
from the UK brings us closer to ending that suffering forever."

In Oslo last month the UK joined allies Germany, France, Italy, Canada
and others in committing to conclude an international treaty to
"prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster
munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians." The new
process to achieve this international treaty was spearheaded by Norway
after the failure of arms talks at the Convention on Conventional
Weapons in Geneva last November. The next meeting on the road to a
cluster bomb treaty will be held in Lima, Peru from 23-25 May 2007 where
discussions are expected to begin on the shape of the new legal
instrument.

The Cluster Munition Coalition is calling on all states to adopt a
moratorium while this treaty is negotiated. Since the initiative was
launched Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina have renounced cluster
munitions through a moratorium; Canada has announced it is destroying
its stockpile of remaining cluster munitions and Cambodia has joined the
historic initiative bringing the number of states to 47, including half
the world's producers of cluster bombs. The announcement by the
Defence Secretary that the UK will ban the use of rocket and air
delivered cluster munitions with immediate effect is highly significant,
since these same weapons have been responsible for countless civilian
deaths and injuries in the past.

"We are pleased that the UK is now taking concrete action on this
issue," said Simon Conway, Director of Landmine Action and Co-Chair
of the Cluster Munition Coalition. "However there is no agreed
definition of what constitutes dumb versus smart and if Ministers are
serious in their commitment to protect civilians they should acknowledge
that adding a self-destruct mechanism to a bomb does not makes it smart.
Southern Lebanon is littered with Israeli bomblets with self-destructs
that failed. In my view smart means precision guided and the cluster
munitions that the UK wants to retain are not precision guided. As long
as the UK retains them, the unacceptable threat to civilians will
remain."

The artillery launched cluster munitions that the UK refuses to ban were
produced by Israeli Military Industries and imported by the UK. Despite
claims by manufacturers and states that these are modern and do not pose
the same problems as other cluster munitions, the same weapons have
already taken an unacceptable toll on civilian lives and livelihoods.
Despite being fitted with self-destruct mechanisms designed to reduce
the threat after a conflict, M85 submunitions have posed problems in
every conflict in which they have been used. Human Rights Watch recorded
M85 submunitions unexploded in residential areas of Basra after being
used by US and UK forces during the war in 2003. The UN in Southern
Lebanon has stated that it has found large numbers of unexploded M85
submunitions with self-destruct mechanisms after they were used by
Israel during the conflict with Hezbollah. Civilians have been killed
and injured both in Iraq and in Lebanon in areas contaminated by M85
submunitions.

"There is no evidence that withdrawing the M85 would pose a risk to
our troops but withdrawing it from service would greatly reduce the risk
to civilians" said Conway.