Talks On Cluster Bomb Ban Falter
Un-detonated cluster bombs, like landmines, cause devastation and human suffering years after they were deployed, but, like landmines, there is no clear consensus to eradicate such unnecessary suffering.
Below is an article published by Reuters:
United Nations arms talks ended on Tuesday [13 November 2007] without firm pledges to seek a ban on cluster bombs, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.
The annual meeting of states party to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons resulted in only a vague promise to start negotiating a treaty next year [2008] on the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions, the Swiss-based agency said.
Cluster bombs, munitions that disperse into bomblets scattered over a wide area, kill or maim thousands of civilians every year. Many bomblets fail to detonate but remain dangerous for decades after they were dropped.
"It is regrettable that the mandate adopted today does not reflect a collective commitment either to the adoption of a legally binding instrument or to the prohibition of those cluster munitions which have caused such a serious humanitarian problem," said Peter Herby, head of the ICRC's arms unit.
Without a clear timeframe to complete the negotiations, Herby said the talks risked becoming drawn out, without an effective solution.
Nearly 70 countries have voiced support for a ban on cluster bombs, but the
The Cluster Munition Coalition, an international group campaigning against the weapons, said the focus of efforts to ban cluster bombs would now move to
The
"The decision here (in
This work on a treaty in what is known as the