Stop Cluster Bombs

Dublin 10 - Treaty Adopted!

mary — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:26:42 +0000

(Dublin, Ireland: 30 May 08) This morning a total of 112 states adopted the Convention on Cluster Munitions. This seems to be the name for our new treaty prohibiting the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster bombs. (more…)

Dublin Day 9 - Downtime Action Planning

mary — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:32:13 +0000

Yep, that’s what we did today: slept in, wrote press releases, had a pep rally with Core Group ambassadors Alex Marshik (Austria), Don MacKay (New Zealand), and Steffen Kongsted (Norway) then adopted the CMC Action Plan for Rapid Entry into Force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions that I drafted in consultation with nearly every campaiggner here in Dublin. Thanks for the great conversations! Check out the photos! - Mary Wareham, Oxfam NZ

Oxfam NZ Press Release

mary — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:22:58 +0000

Treaty Breakthrough in Dublin: Cluster Bomb Ban Agreed

(Dublin, Ireland) After nearly two weeks of intense talks in Dublin, negotiating states informally agreed late Wednesday to ban cluster munitions. Governments will formally adopt the Cluster Munition Convention on Friday, May 30 2008, and it will be opened for signature on December 2 2008. (more…)

Dublin Day 8 - Delivering the Deal

mary — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:44:58 +0000

(Dublin: 28 May 08) Today, on Wednesday afternoon, the President of the Dublin Conference, Irish Ambassador Daithi O’Ceallaigh presented his treaty text to the states in the Committee of the Whole for their consideration. The text is mostly strong, especially on the definition of a cluster munitions, but Article 21 contains a serious loophole on “interoperability.” (more…)

Dublin Day 7 - The Show Must Go On…

mary — Wed, 28 May 2008 00:04:00 +0000

This Friday night, Québécois pop star Céline Dion is holding a concert at our diplomatic negotiations venue, the massive Croke Park football stadium. Every time I walk down the corridors I see the stage being erected and her tune for the Titanic film comes into my head. We have to be out of here by midday on Friday meaning the treaty must be concluded by tomorrow at the latest, before it is translated and adopted. There are still a lot of issues to be resolved, however, and I really hope this ship doesn’t sink before it it reaches its destination. (more…)

Dublin Day 6 - Interacting on Interoperability

mary — Tue, 27 May 2008 10:14:41 +0000

(Dublin: 26 May 08) Two interesting side events took place during the lunchbreak at the Dublin Conference today. (more…)

Dublin W/End - Ireland vs Serbia

mary — Sun, 25 May 2008 10:53:44 +0000

All participants to the Dublin conference were offered free tickets to see the Ireland vs Serbia football match at Croke Park this Saturday. (more…)

Dublin Day 5 - The elephant not in the room

mary — Sun, 25 May 2008 09:54:59 +0000

On Friday, campaigners decided to draw more attention to the United States, described by the newsletter as an “elephant not in the room” at these negotiations to create the cluster bomb ban treaty. I headed over to the US embassy in Dublin around midday with a small, but vocal group including several “US citizens against US cluster bomb policy.” The Iraqi cluster bomb survivors also came, including Ahmed Najem who lost his arm. Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams did a bunch of media on the United States with articles in the Boston Globe and Reuters.

Dublin Day 4 - The Big Fight?

mary — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:49:08 +0000

(Dublin: 22 May 2008) Outside the entrance to the main plenary room I’ve noticed a sign telling the story of “The Big Fight,” a boxing match between then-heavy weight champion Muhammed Ali and Al “Blue” Lewis that took place in 1972 at Croke Park, the venue for our Dublin conference on cluster bombs. While we made some progress on victim assistance today, deliberations were tense and difficult on other parts of the ban treaty text and it appears we are indeed headed into our very own “Big Fight.” (more…)

Dublin Day 3 - UK, US, Norway news

mary — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:38:59 +0000

(Dublin: 21 May 2008) The formal talks appeared to be progressing well on the third day of the Dublin Conference. The campaigners present in Dublin, especially from Africa and the Americas, are making significant progress through a concerted lobby effort, but the outcome of the conference is still unknown. (more…)