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Treaties

Treaties. Cluster Munitions. Cluster Munitions. Form of air dropped or ground launched explosives that releases smaller ‘ bomblets ’ or ‘mini-munitions’. Designed to destroy runways, buildings, power lines, disperse chemical weapons or even distribute leaflets.

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Treaties

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  1. Treaties Cluster Munitions

  2. Cluster Munitions • Form of air dropped or ground launched explosives that releases smaller ‘bomblets’ or ‘mini-munitions’. • Designed to destroy runways, buildings, power lines, disperse chemical weapons or even distribute leaflets. • Pose threat to civilians due to wide range area they spread to.

  3. Use • Have been used in: • NagornoKarabakh War 1992-1994 • First Chechen War 1995 • Croatia 1995 • Yugoslavia 1999 • Second Chechen War • Afghanistan 2001 • Iraq 2003 • Lebanon 1978, 1982 and 2006 • Georgia 2008 • Libya 2011

  4. Threats to Civilians • Wide area of effect • Unexploded Bomblets • 98% of 13,306 recorded cluster munitions casualties are civilians (27% children) Source: Handicap International http://www.handicapinternational.be/en/publications/“circle-of-impact”-report-on-the-human-impact-of-cluster-bombs • 270 million cluster bombs were dropped on Laos in the 1960s and 1970s, 1/3 failed to explode and are threats today.

  5. Threats to Civilians • 1999 NATO war against Yugoslavia the US and Britain dropped 1400 cluster bombs in Kosovo, a year after the conflict 100 civilians died. • 2006 Lebanon conflict Israel fired a large number of cluster bombs, the first month after the conflict 3-4 people per day were killed or injured.

  6. Protestors in Dublin

  7. States that use Cluster Bombs

  8. Cluster Munitions Convention

  9. The Convention • Adopted 30 May 2008 in Dublin • Entered into force 1 August 2010 • 71 states have ratified and another 40 signed but not ratified

  10. The Convention • States are obliged NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TO: • Use cluster munitions • Develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, cluster munitions • Assist, encourage or induce anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Convention.

  11. Responses by relevant Global Actors • Treaty was opposed by China, Russia, US, India, Israel, Pakistan and Brazil. • US also stated that they were developing ‘smart’ cluster munitions, so no problem! • 2006 Obama voted to support legislation which would limit the use of bombs, but Clinton (Hillary) and McCain vetoed it.

  12. Pentagon says… “Because future adversaries will likely use civilian shields for military targets – for example by locating a military target on the roof of an occupied building – use of unitary weapons could result in more civilian casualties and damage than cluster munitions. Blanket elimination of cluster munitions is therefore unacceptable due not only to negative military consequences but also due to potential negative consequences for civilians.”

  13. Also • Delegates form Australia, Canada, Japan and the UK pressured the treaty to include provision for allowing military cooperation with states who use cluster munitions, and also allows other states to STORE cluster munitions on their territory.

  14. UK’s role • UK was seen as a ‘make or break’ nation in the negotiations. • At the end of the conference, Gordon Brown shocked the globe when he announced the UK would withdraw all cluster munitions from service. • There was intense pressure from both the US and the UK military against this move.

  15. Practice Question Explain the response of one global actor to one international treaty.

  16. Reaction by NGOs • Cluster Munition Coalition • Human Rights Watch • Mine Action • Handicap International

  17. Cluster Munition Coalition • Global network of more than 350 civil society orgs. • Works in90 countries to end the harm caused by cluster bombs. • Founding members include Human Rights Watch, Handicap International, etc • Since the signing of the Convention by 94 countries in 2008, the CMC mobiliseda global ratification campaign to ensure that 30 countries ratified the Convention. This happened on 16 February 2010, less than two years after the treaty was formally adopted.

  18. Mine Action • UN Organisation • Demining • Victim assistance • Mine-risk education • Destruction of stockpiled landmines • Advocates for a world free of the threat of landmines.

  19. Global Governance • UN Conference on Disarmament (CD) • Global negotiating multilateral forum • 65 state members meet annually • Examine multilateral arms control and disarmament problems • Focused on nuclear weapons and outer space weapons, WMDs, and transparancy in armaments.

  20. Global Governance • UN Register of Conventional Weapons • Seeks transparency in states actions • Est 1991, 173 states reported at least once • Fallen to 72 states reported in 2010. • Registers imports/exports, not domestic procurement. • Massive amount of arms not registered.

  21. Task • Complete the table for the STATES reaction to the convention, the NGOs reaction to the convention and the Global Governance reaction.

  22. Based on your table, evaluate the global response to arms control. • (Write one paragraph)

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