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.

However, the new instrument is not enough. This Protocol was negotiated against the background of civil society concern over cluster munitions, yet governments at the time failed to include specific obligations on cluster munitions limiting the accord to generic post-conflict effects of ERW. Even if the new protocol V does result in improvements for countries affected by explosive remnants of war, it contains no specific obligations on cluster munitions – a main source of ERW – and allows their use to continue.

“A new treaty is needed urgently to prohibit cluster munitions, weapons that have caused documented and unacceptable harm for over 40 years. The devastation in Lebanon is just the latest example of what happens when people use this weapon. Despite this harm no international law currently exists to curb the use of cluster munitions,” said Thomas Nash, Coordinator of the Cluster Munition Coalition.

The Cluster Munition Coalition has noted positive developments in this regard over the past months. Belgium banned the weapon in February 2006. Norway adopted a moratorium in June 2006. In a fresh international initiative, Sweden proposed a negotiating mandate on cluster munitions last week at the Review Conference of the Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva. Within the first week of the conference support for this proposal for negotiations jumped from 6 states to 18 and the number is growing. However, several key countries are not yet in favour of negotiations and are refusing to support work towards a new instrument on cluster munitions.

There is a growing momentum in parliaments and within governments for a new instrument to be negotiated on cluster munitions in the wake of the widespread problem from cluster munitions used in the latest war in Lebanon and Israel. States have until Friday 17 November to support negotiations in Geneva. If this opportunity is missed then a new process on cluster munitions must be initiated along the lines of the 1997 negotiations to ban anti-personnel landmines.

• The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) was established in November 2003 with the goal of addressing the impact of cluster munitions on civilians. The CMC has a membership of over 180 non-governmental organisations in 50 countries worldwide.

• The CMC is led by a Steering Committee of DanChurchAid, Handicap International, Human Rights Watch, IPPNW Russia, Landmine Action (UK), Landmine Resource Centre (Lebanon), Mines Action Canada, Pax Christi, Protection (Egypt) and Norwegian People’s Aid.

For more information contact:

Deborah Morris-Travers, CMC representative in New Zealand 06 364 6338 or 0274 544 299

Thomas Nash, Coordinator for the Cluster Munition Coalition on +44 (0)7711 926 730, or visit the website at http://:www.stopclustermunitions.org