Jesuits join call for comprehensive ban on cluster munitions

One bomb can deliver hundreds of lethal bomblets

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) has become a signatory to a statement on the humanitarian implications of cluster munitions, which is to be delivered to the Fourth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCCW) taking place in Geneva between 14-25 November.

It is feared that States party to the CCCW may, at this conference, adopt a draft protocol on cluster munitions which, in its current form, could have significant humanitarian implications, in terms of facilitating the use of cluster munitions, and would undermine existing standards in the Convention on Cluster Munitions which JRS actively supports and promotes.

In the statement, United Nations agencies and other organizations involved in humanitarian action such as JRS, argue that: "Only a comprehensive ban will spare civilians from the unacceptable harm posed by cluster munitions now and in the future. That ban already exists and we would strongly encourage those Member States that have not signed or ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions to accede without delay."

JRS cites the example of Phnom Kpaus, a small village by the Komping Pouy Lake in Cambodia, which has around 500 inhabitants and a school with 84 students. Javi Olaguivel, who works in the Diocese of Battambang and is linked to JRS Cambodia, writes: 'Last week more than 100 exploding devices (personal landmines, tank mines, cluster bombs and mortar ammo) were found spread in the 5 square kilometers around the school. Some of these devices were just 100m away from the school where everyday both the children and the people of the village go about their everyday life. In just a week the whole village has been covered with signs reminding all the inhabitants that from now on they are living on a mined area.

"Personal mines in Cambodia continue to be not just an isolated issue but a day to day problem that's far from being solved. Nowadays there are still more than four million landmines and cluster bombs waiting to destroy people's lives, even in supposedly safe areas like the Phnom Kpaus village. It's heartbreaking to see Cambodians living and working their fields beyond the 'Danger mine' signs because they don't have anywhere else to go."

The Jesuit Refugee Service says that situations as flagrant as the one described above should remind us that a lot of help is needed, not only in Cambodia but in a lot of heavily mined countries in order to achieve an effective mine clearance.