Cluster bomb ban treaty reaches 30th ratification milestone
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund welcomes the announcement that Burkina Faso and Moldova yesterday ratified the international Convention banning cluster munitions[1]. This brings the total number of ratifications to 30 and triggers entry into force on 1 August 2010, when the Convention will become binding international law.
The Fund has supported the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC)[2], a group of 350 non-governmental organisations from over 85 countries, who have worked tirelessly since 2003 to achieve the Convention, which was signed by 104 states in Oslo in December 2008[3], and to get the 30 ratifications needed for entry into force.
‘We are absolutely delighted that we are now such a significant step closer to ending the suffering that cluster munitions have caused to civilians for decades,' said Andrew Cooper, Programme and Policy Officer at the Fund.
‘That the ratification of the Convention has been achieved just 15 months after the signature of the treaty in Oslo is a huge testament to the commitment and effectiveness of all the campaigners involved.'
Notes
[1] Cluster bombs have killed and injured large numbers of civilians for more than four decades. Fired from the ground or dropped from aircraft, cluster bombs break open in mid-air, scattering hundreds of ‘bomblets' over wide areas and littering the ground with explosives and shrapnel. Notoriously unreliable, many don't explode on impact and are later detonated by local people going about their daily lives - ordinary passers-by, farmers and often, inquisitive children. Unexploded cluster bombs threaten life and limb, hamper the provision of immediate aid and impede development for years after a conflict has ended.
[2] The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions and requires countries to clear affected areas within ten years and destroy stockpiles of the weapon within eight. The Convention includes groundbreaking provisions requiring assistance to victims and affected communities. Signed in Oslo in December 2008, it is the most significant international disarmament treaty since the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty banning antipersonnel landmines.
[3] The following 104 countries have signed the Convention: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, DR Congo, Republic of Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte D'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, The Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar , Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tomé and Principe, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Zambia.
17/02/2010
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