Landmark cluster bomb ban agreed by 111 countries

DUBLIN (AFP) — Delegates from 111 nations agreed Wednesday a landmark treaty to ban cluster bombs, Ireland's foreign ministry said, in a deal that lacks the backing of major producers and stockpilers of the lethal weapons.

After 10 days of painstaking negotiations at Croke Park stadium in Dublin, diplomats agreed the wording of a wide-ranging pact to outlaw the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions by its signatories.

It also provides for the welfare of victims and the clearing of areas contaminated by unexploded cluster bombs.

The agreement will be formally adopted on Friday, and signed in Oslo on December 2-3. Signatories would then need to ratify it.

"This is a very strong and ambitious text which nevertheless was able to win consensus among all delegations," said Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin. "It is a real contribution to international humanitarian law."

But crucially, the United States, Russia, China, India, Israel and Pakistan -- all major producers and stockpilers of cluster bombs -- were all absent from the Dublin talks, and thus not part of the agreement.

The Irish Department for Foreign Affairs said 111 participating states and 18 observer countries attended.

The process "has been characterised by a true determination on all sides to reach an ambitious and consensual outcome," the ministry said.

The treaty requires the destruction of stockpiled munitions within eight years -- though it leaves the door open for future, more precise generations of cluster munitions that pose less harm to civilians.

Britain was widely cited by campaigners as being at the forefront of a group of states seeking to water down the treaty.

But in a dramatic move Wednesday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced in London that Britain would withdraw all its cluster bombs from service in a bid to "break the log jam" in the Dublin talks.

"We have decided we will take all our types of cluster bombs out of service," Brown said.

The draft treaty agreed in Dublin read:

"Each state party undertakes never under any circumstances to:

"(a) Use cluster munitions;

"(b) Develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, cluster munitions;

"(c) Assist, encourage or induce anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a state party under this convention."

Much of the wrangling at Croke Park focused on what signatories could and could not do in joint operations with states still using cluster bombs.

The draft text said signatories "may engage in military cooperation and operations".

But the Cluster Munition Coalition, an umbrella group of non-governmental organisations, hopes that the treaty will stigmatise the use of cluster munitions -- as the similar Ottawa Treaty did for landmines -- and stop countries from helping others to use them.

CMC co-chair Simon Conway told AFP the treaty was a compromise but nonetheless "incredibly strong".

"We're going to end up with a strong treaty that prohibits every cluster bomb that's ever been used, with no transition periods, with strong obligations on clearance and particularly strong obligations on victim assistance," he said.

"The people that have done the most compromising are the bad guys," he added, welcoming Britain's "massive movement".

"They are giving up for all the right reasons, which is that they cause indiscriminate harm and kill civilians."

Hildegarde Vansintjan, advocacy officer for disability campaigners Handicap International, said the convention made states responsible for providing assistance to cluster bomb victims.

The treaty "would be a real step forward for the people suffering from cluster munitions all over the world," she told AFP.

The cluster munitions ban process, started by Norway in February 2007, took the same path as the 1997 Ottawa Treaty by going outside the United

Cluster bombs at a glance
By The Associated Press – 3 hours ago

WHAT IS A CLUSTER BOMB?: Fired by artillery or dropped by aircraft, cluster bombs are canisters that open in flight and eject dozens or hundreds of "bomblets" across a wide area, typically the size of one or two football fields. Bomblets are small metallic spheres or cylinders that can be as small as a flashlight battery, with about the same force as a hand grenade. The weapon is designed to slow or halt an enemy army by destroying or disabling troops and vehicles over a wide area in a single attack.
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DANGERS: An exploding bomblet sends jagged shrapnel through the air much like grenades and mines. It can kill or maim someone within 10 to 50 yards. Bomblets can be set to explode above ground or on the ground with a time delay. Usually they are set to detonate on impact, but 5 percent to 25 percent typically fail to explode, essentially creating minefields wherever they land. The unexploded "duds" are volatile and can detonate if disturbed.
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LEGALITY: No treaties specifically forbid cluster bombs. But the Geneva Conventions outline laws protecting civilians during conflict, and because bomblets often cause civilian casualties after fighting ends their use has been heavily criticized by human rights groups.
Sources: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, United Nations, Cluster Munition Coalition.