Cluster Munitions

June 2008 Update: New treaty to ban cluster bombs proposed

In May, representatives of 110 nations met in Dublin, Ireland, and hammered out a draft Convention on Cluster Munitions, a new international treaty that commits their governments to stop using cluster munitions and to destroy their existing stockpiles within eight years.

More than 100 states formally committed to support the Convention, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Spain and Belgium. The formal signing of the treaty will take place in Oslo in early December 2008. For the treaty to enter into force, it must be ratified by 30 countries.

UNICEF welcomed the adoption of the treaty. "This is an important treaty and UNICEF calls on all governments to sign and ratify it as quickly as possible," said Hilde F. Johnson, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director.

The U.S. Government did not attend the negotiations. The best way to show the U.S. Government and the world that American citizens care about preventing casualties from cluster bombs is by asking their Members of Congress to support the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act.

A poster in Arabic, part of a UNICEF public awareness campaign, provides information to returning displaced and refugee families about the dangers of unexploded ordnance.

Cluster bombs are canisters containing numerous small explosive devices (sub-munitions, bomblets or "bombies") that open in mid-air, scattering them over a wide area. The bomblets may be delivered by aircraft, rocket or by artillery projectiles. They come in a variety of colors and shapes.

Cluster munitions have a wide dispersal pattern on the ground resulting in an area of impact or "footprint." These deadly bombs are intended for use in combat zones—but in practice, they pose a real threat to the safety of civilians in post-conflict situations when the bomblets fail to detonate. Duds become de facto landmines, capable of exploding much later when touched.

What's worse, the bomblets come in interesting shapes that attract children's curiosity. Some cluster munitions look like tiny bottles with short ribbons; some are yellow with tissue parachutes; some look like little gray tennis balls; some are small canisters with a white ribbon attached. All are deadly for children. A report by the nonprofit organization Handicap International, which studied the effects of cluster bombs in 24 countries and regions, found that 27 percent of the casualties were children.

Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act

To help prevent children's deaths from cluster bombs, the United States should ensure that its own weapons do not remain unexploded until children touch them, and that the weapons are never used in areas where there are civilians. That is the purpose of legislation introduced in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. The "Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act" (S. 594 and H.R. 1755) prevents the sale, use or transfer of cluster munitions that have a failure rate of more than one percent. This bill also makes clear that American-made cluster munitions will only be used against clearly defined military targets—not against civilians or in civilian areas. As with most such legislation, the bill allows the President to waive these prohibitions if he believes it is necessary to protect the security of the United States.

Although the United States no longer produces cluster bombs with failure rates higher than one percent, our government still has in storage 5.5 million cluster bombs with more than 700 million bomblets that do not meet this strict standard—some with failure rates as high as 40 percent!

What Can You Do

Contact your Senators and Representatives and urge them to cosponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act to help prevent needless deaths of children from these weapons!