World
Feb 17, 2010
Cluster bomb ban starts Aug 1
UNITED NATIONS - SECRETARY-GENERAL Ban Ki-moon announced on Tuesday that the international convention banning cluster bombs has received the 30 ratifications required and will enter into force on Aug 1. Cluster bomblets are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles, which scatter them over vast areas. Some fail to explode immediately and can lie dormant for years until they are disturbed, often by children attracted by their small size and bright colors. A bomblet can kill or maim someone within 10 to 50 yards.
The convention prohibits all use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster munitions, sets strict deadlines for the destruction of stockpiles and clearance of contaminated land, and obliges states to support survivors and affected communities. Only those countries that have ratified the convention will be bound by its provisions. Mr Ban said the United Nations received the 30th instrument of ratification for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on Tuesday, triggering its entry into force on Aug 1, according to a statement from the UN spokesman.
The UN chief said the convention's impending entry into force just two years after its adoption demonstrates 'the world's collective revulsion at the impact of these terrible weapons' which are 'unreliable and inaccurate' and kill and maim civilians long after conflicts end, the statement said. The group Handicap International says 98 per cent of cluster-bomb victims are civilians, and nearly a third are children. Mr Ban urged all countries to sign and ratify the convention. -- AP
