Pax Christi on dangerous developments in fight against cluster bombs

One bomb can deliver hundreds of lethal bomblets

Negotiations on a new international law are threatening the comprehensive ban on cluster munitions, as ensured by the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM). This new legislative initiative would allow the use of cluster munitions, already being banned under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Pax Christi International is deeply concerned and shares the objections concerns expressed by the Cluster Munitions Coalition. This new international legislation would cause unacceptable harm to civilians and means a weakening of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

The proposal is currently being discussed at the Fourth Review Conference of the Convention on Convention on Conventional Weapons, which is taking place in Geneva at the United Nations offices. This proposal would become an additional, sixth protocol to the CCW and focus on Cluster Munitions. Supported by non-signatory states to the CCM, the US, Russia, Israel, China and India, this sixth protocol would allow the use of cluster munitions that have a rate of less than one percent. Moreover, however only cluster munitions manufactured before 1980 would be destroyed, but all stockpiled weapons could be used for up to 12 years.

For Pax Christi International and many faith based organizations, this is an unacceptable evolution.

As was stated by the Holy See on the first day of the Review Conference: "The Oslo Convention has established a level of protection of civilians from harm from clusters in international humanitarian law. This standard should not be allowed to be weakened by a new protocol; that is a step back," said Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's permanent representative to the UN.

The opinion expressed by Archbishop Tomasi is shared, not only by the members of the Cluster Munitions Coalition, the international coalition to ban the weapons, but also by more than 500.000 people having signed a petition, asking governments to align any new agreement with the existing ban under the Convention on Cluster Munitions and ensuring this indiscriminate weapon continues to be comprehensively banned, and innocent lives protected.

On 23 November 2011, a group of 36 states made a statement expressing their discontent with the current draft of the protocol, stating that the new convention might result in more human suffering and hamper economic and social development. One day later, this group grew to a number of 48 countries.

Pax Christi International is supporting the 48 states in their statement and urges all other states parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions to join their efforts. States that have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions and that are parties to the Convention on Conventional Weapons should not contradict their commitments and be complicit in the adoption of a legal instrument which might lead to an increased use of these horrible weapons.