The Issue
A cluster munition is a weapon comprised of a container that is fired, launched or dropped by aircraft or land-based artillery and disperses large numbers (often hundreds) of unguided submunitions or bomblets.
Cluster munitions pose dangers to civilians for two principal reasons:
1) Distinction: The weapon cannot distinguish between military targets and civilians so its humanitarian impact can be extreme when it is used in or near populated areas.
2) Legacy: Because so many bomblets fail to detonate when dispersed, they become de facto antipersonnel mines, killing and maiming people long after the conflict has ended.
During the 2003 Iraq air war, cluster munitions dropped by UK and US forces caused more civilian casualties than any other weapon system, apart from small arms fire. In August 2006, Israel deployed 90 percent of its cluster bomb strikes in the final 72 hours of the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, when it knew there would be a resolution to the conflict. This created more than one million unexploded cluster munition duds and prompted an unprecedented multilateral response to tackle this deadly weapon.
After a November 2006 meeting of the UN Geneva-based Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) again failed to meaningfully address cluster munitions, Norway invited concerned states to come to Oslo to discuss how to address clusters through a new diplomatic process. Nearly all (46) of the 49 governments present at the February 2007 meeting agreed to an “ Oslo Declaration” committing them to conclude, by the end of 2008, a legally binding international instrument to:
1. Prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians; and
2. Establish a framework for cooperation and assistance to survivors of cluster munitions and their communities, as well as clearance of contaminated areas.
By November 2007, more than 80 governments have endorsed what is now known as the ‘Oslo Process’ and a ‘Core Group’ of six governments is coordinating the initiative (Austria, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway and Peru). A series of meetings is underway to achieve the treaty. The next round of talks will be in Wellington (18-22 Feb. 2008), then negotiations will take place in Dublin (19-30 May 2008), and the agreement will finally be signed in Oslo later in 2008.