18 states call for a new treaty on cluster munitions
Momentum is growing in Geneva for new negotiations towards a new international law on cluster munitions. Support for this new cluster munition treaty has jumped from 6 to 18 states in the first week of the Conventional Weapons Review Conference and comes as a new accord will enter into force on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) that does not sufficiently address the problem of cluster munitions.
The Cluster Munition Coalition welcomes the entry into force of Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) on Sunday 12 November which will oblige states to provide information on ERW and to clear up the weapons they leave littered around after conflicts should help prevent further human suffering from unexploded ordnance.
Cluster munitions: ICRC calls for urgent international action
Geneva (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today called for an immediate end to the use of inaccurate and unreliable cluster munitions and renewed its call for a prohibition on the use of all cluster munitions in populated areas. The announcement was made on the eve of the Third Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in Geneva (7-17 November 2006), where States are expected to discuss further steps to address this issue. The ICRC also offered to host an international meeting of experts in 2007 to discuss future rules of international humanitarian law that would better protect civilians from the effects of such weapons.