Group seeks ban on cluster bombs

Leader Post
Wednesday, 19 September 2007
By Kerry Benjoe

Although Saskatchewan hasn't experienced the devastating effects of cluster bombs, Mines Action Canada (MAC) is hoping people in Regina will care about those a world away.

MAC and the Saskatchewan Council for International Co-operation (SCIC) joined together to host a public forum at the Regina Public Library Theatre on Tuesday.

Janis Grychowski, community mobilization and training co-ordinator with MAC, wants people in Saskatchewan to start talking about the issue of cluster bombs and support MAC's work to ban cluster bombs.

"Canadians should care because Canada is a multicultural country and many in Canada are from countries that have been affected by cluster bombs," said Grychowski.

Similar forums were held in four cities in Eastern Canada and some of the strategies identified in those meetings includes taking a grassroots approach and using technology to get MAC's message out, she said.

"The citizens' forums are an opportunity for people in Regina to take part in a national dialogue," said Grychowski.

She added it's important to raise awareness now because this December will mark the 10th anniversary of an international humanitarian law signed by 122 countries to ban anti-personnel land mines. MAC is now working to keep the pressure on Canada to continue its promise to develop a new treaty that would address the production, stockpiling, transfer and use of cluster bombs.

"With this leadership experience in land mines it makes sense that our government be actively engaged in this process to stop cluster bombs," said Grychowski.

She explained that cluster bombs differ from land mines in that they are smaller, more powerful, and more volatile. Land mines are bombs placed into the ground or lie on top of the ground, just waiting for something to set them off.

"Cluster bombs are generally dropped from airplanes and fall. They are intended to explode when they hit the ground or a truck. In many cases they don't," Grychowski said, adding cluster bombs have a 40-per-cent failure rate.

She said there are currently 29 countries where cluster bombs have been used, which means the unexploded ones are still active.

She said the new treaty would call for assistance to victims and their families whether it's psychological, social, economic or physical rehabilitation. It also calls for mine risk education so that people know what to look for and what to do if they find a cluster bomb.

Lori Latta, executive director of SCIC, works to help raise the standard of living for people around the world. She said SCIC recognizes the adverse effects militarization and weapons are having on communities to sustain themselves. She said SCIC's membership is actively involved in the land mines issue and the work MAC is doing fits SCIC's own mandate.