GENEVA: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on Wednesday for urgent conclusion of a global pact to ban cluster weapons even if big powers like the United States, Russia and China were not ready to join.
The Swiss-based humanitarian body's senior arms specialist, Peter Herby, told a news conference the ICRC hoped the text of a treaty would be approved at a conference in Dublin in May and be signed by many countries by the end of the year.
"We need a strong, legally-binding treaty urgently, in 2008, that would ban the use, development, stockpiling and transfer of inaccurate and unreliable cluster munitions," said Herby, who heads the ICRC's Arms Unit.
Herby discounted arguments from some producer states that the weapons -- which can spread hundreds of bomblets over a target area -- can be made to self-destruct or otherwise rendered harmless after conflicts in which they have been used.
Cluster bombs -- which campaigners say have killed or maimed thousands of civilians stumbling on them -- can never be made totally reliable, he declared.
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Many in the international community are moving towards a total ban on cluster munitions. An international conference on banning cluster munitions will be held in New Zealand from February 18-22. Sadly, the Bush administration will not take part and will be conspicuously absent at the conference. Once again, the U.S. Government has shown itself to be indifferent to the suffering of innocent victims of war.
ReplyDeleteHey Ray-
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that a ban is what we should all strive toward, and I hope my government does so, Clear Path does receive a lot of funding from the State Department, as do many other organizations like ours.
To say "Once again, the U.S. Government has shown itself to be indifferent to the suffering of innocent victims of war" is not entirely fair. I count as friends an entire team of commited folks at the State Department as well as friends in the Senate that work on these issues every day and are just as commited as anyone at Clear Path.
Thank you for your consistent support, Ray!