UN Ratifies Ban On Cluster Bombs, but US Still Has Not Signed Agreement

EDITH M. LEDERER | 02/16/10 10:18 PM | AP

UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced Tuesday that the international convention banning cluster bombs has received the 30 ratifications required and the UN will enter the convention into force on Aug. 1.

Cluster bomblets or flechettes are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles, which scatter them over vast areas. Some fail to explode immediately and can lie dormant for years until they are disturbed. These weapons often are picked up by children who are attracted by their small size and bright colors. A bomblet can kill or maim someone within 10 to 50 yards (meters).

The convention prohibits all use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster munitions, sets strict deadlines for the destruction of stockpiles and clearance of contaminated land, and obliges states to support survivors and affected communities.

Only those countries that have ratified the convention will be bound by its provisions.

Ban said the United Nations received the 30th instrument of ratification for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on Tuesday. The conventionwill be in force on Aug. 1 according to a statement from the U.N. spokesman.

The U.N. chief said "the world's collective revulsion at the impact of these terrible weapons" which are "unreliable and inaccurate" and kill and maim civilians long after conflicts end, the statement said.

The group Handicap International says 98 percent of cluster-bomb victims are civilians, and nearly a third are children.

Ban urged all countries to sign and ratify the convention.

But some of the world's top military powers – including the U.S., Russia and China – and big users like Israel, India and Pakistan, have refused to support the convention, arguing that cluster bombs have legitimate military uses.

Faced with growing international pressure, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced tow years ago that the United States would reduce its inventory of cluster bombs that don't meet new safety requirements.

The London-based Cluster Munition Coalition said Burkina Faso and Moldova ratified the convention on Tuesday, bringing the total number of ratifications to the required 30.

The 28 other countries that have ratified the convention are:

Norway, Austria, Holy See, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Albania, Croatia, Laos, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Burundi, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Malta, Nicaragua, Niger, San Marino and Uruguay.

see the rest of the story at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/17/un-ratifies-ban-on-cluste_n_465022.html
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