Syria and Sudan reported use of cluster munitions called “credible” by new report
(2006 image) Three days ago 12-year-old Sukna Maroi and two friends Marwah and Hasan found a bomblet behind his grandfather's house. Marwah picked up this metal thing and started playing with it. Sukna had said it might be dangerous so she threw it away. It blew up and we were all hurt." All three are in critical condition. Sukna has severe abdominal injuries. Her liver was nearly destroyed. It is not known if she will survive. She is in constant pain and because of her blood pressure cannot be given any more pain killers. Ismail Said, one of the nurses looking after the children said "We have finished the first war - now the second is just beginning". (photo, Cluster Munition Coalition)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – In the gloomy world of deadly remnants of war there is some good news: countries that are signatory parties to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions are destroying their stockpiles faster than predicted, well ahead of the eight-year deadline set by the convention.
To date, nearly 750,000 cluster munitions containing 85 million submunitions have been destroyed, more than 60 percent of all stockpiles. And most countries that have not signed the convention are respecting its terms.
The convention has 111 members, 75 of which have acceded or ratified it.
Cluster Munition Monitor 2012, third annual report, outlines global situation
The news is part of “Cluster Munition Monitor 2012″, the third such annual report, published Thursday 6 September by the international Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC).
The report also notes, however, “the serious allegations of new use of cluster munitions in Syria and Sudan as the most disturbing developments of the year. The allegations have not yet been confirmed, but are considered credible by the Monitor. Neither state has joined the ban convention.”
The convention entered into force 1 August 2010. It “comprehensively prohibits the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions. It also requires destruction of stockpiled cluster munitions within eight years, clearance of cluster munition remnants within 10 years, and assistance to victims, including those killed or injured by submunitions as well as their families and affected communities,” according to a press release.
In 2011 alone, 10 states parties destroyed stockpiles of more than 107,000 munitions and 17.6 million submunitions. New state parties within the past year include former cluster munition producers Italy, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Cluster munitions casualties have been reported by 30 countries that are signatory to the convention, with 55 people killed by them in 2011 in Cambodia, Iraq, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Sudan, and Western Sahara.
