CONVENTION ON CLUSTER MUNITIONS

Status of the Convention on Cluster Munitions: Signatories 108; Ratifications: 42For a complete list of countries that have signed and ratified the Convention, pleasevisit: www.stopclustermunitions.org/treatystatus

The First Meeting of States Parties will be held in Laos PDR on 9-12 November2010. At a preparatory meeting, held on 6 September in Geneva, UNDP reported on the“Trust Fund for the Full Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in theLao PDR within the framework of the Vientiane Declaration on Aid Effectiveness” andannounced that so far only 5 donors have provided funds (mostly for the FirstMeeting of States Parties) US$ 2,2m (Australia), 0.09m (Canada), 0.06m (France),1.8m (US) and 3m (Switzerland). The Vientiane Action Plan (VAP) was welcomed aswell as the Vientiane Declaration, although they required further work. The reportingformat, presented by Belgium, Friend of the Chair on Reporting, was welcomed byStates Parties and the CMC was pleased with the level of detail. Field trips will beorganized before and during the Conference.

More information on: www.clusterconvention.org; www.unog.ch/; Information and registration on: www.ccm1msplaos.la

Entry into Force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 1 August 2010

On 1 August 2010, date of the entry into force of the Convention on ClusterMunitions a number of governments spoke out in support of the CCM, as well as theUN Secretary General as well as international organisations, non governmentalorganisations and survivors, Ban Advocates and their organisations all over theworld.

Photo: CMC

“The entry into force in little more than two years since its adoption,highlights” according to the UN Secretary General “not only the world's collectiverevulsion at these abhorrent weapons, but also the power of collaboration amongGovernments, civil society and the United Nations to change attitudes and policies ona threat faced by all humankind. Such cooperation will be crucial as we seek now toimplement the Convention, including through assistance to victims.” He encouragedon 30 July 2010 all Member States to participate in the First Meeting of StatesParties in November 2010 in the Lao People's Democratic Republic “to demonstratetheir support for the Convention” and he called “on those States which have yet toaccede to the Convention, to do so without delay.” www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=4697

Stockpile Destruction

Belgium’s stockpiles of cluster munitions destroyed - In a Press Release issuedon 14 September 2010, the Belgian Ministry of Defense announced “the completedestruction of its entire stockpile of submunitions in early August 2010”. Belgium wasthe first country in the world to ban cluster munitions and it has lived up to itscommitment to destroy its stockpiles within the eight years foreseen. The Ministry ofDefense further pointed out that this “hereby shows its determination to live up tothe commitments of the Oslo Treaty. Moreover, our country plays an active role in theUniversalisation of the treaty and in the finalization of a reporting format in order towork as transparently as possible.” www.mil.be/perscom/index.asp?LAN=nl&id=1556

Universalization

Resolution on the CCM by the European Parliament - On 8 July, the EuropeanParliament passed a resolution calling on European Union member states to urgentlysign and ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions before the entry into force of theconvention on 1 August and to participate in the First Meeting of States Parties,which will be hosted in Lao PDR in November 2010. Twenty out of 27 EU memberstates have signed the Convention and 11 have already ratified. The seven that havenot yet signed are: Estonia; Finland; Greece; Latvia; Poland; Romania; and Slovakia.

The resolution was adopted by an overwhelming majority of 558 votes to 30 (mainlyfrom Finnish and Polish Members of the European Parliament), with 24 abstentions(mainly from Romanian Members of the European Parliament).More information on:www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=P7-RC-2010-0413&format=XML&language=EN www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/031-78063-186-07-28-903-20100707IPR78062-05-07-2010-2010-false/default_en.htm

Recommendation on a “Ban on cluster munitions” by the European Council –On 7 July 2010, the Council of Europe adopted a recommendation on a “Ban oncluster munitions”. Only the Russian Federation made objections, but remainedisolated. The Russian Federation declared “to be available to continue its work onhumanitarian issues related to the use of cluster munitions under the United Nationswithin the framework set by the Geneva process.” [CCW] The Resolution wasinitiated and promoted by the Belgian government. From the 47 Members States ofthe Council of Europe Greece, Turkey, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Slovakia, Romania,Andorra, Latvia, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Serbia, Monaco,haven’t signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The recommendation also“notes that a large number of Council of Europe member states have either ratifiedor signed the convention (ratifications: 17; signatures: 15) and encourages allmember states which have not yet done so to sign and ratify as soon as possible.” See for the text (CM/AS(2010)Rec1871) and the decision(CM/Del/Dec(2010)1090/10.7): http://www.coe.int/T/CM/home_en.asp

Santiago Conference starts preparations for the Vientiane Conference

At the global conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions from 7-9June in Santiago, organized by the government of Chile, in collaboration with Norwayand UNDP, CMC and the Ban Advocates urged all the 13 non-signatories statespresent, including Argentina, Thailand and Vietnam as well as absent Brazil, the onlyremaining producer of cluster munitions in the region, to join the Convention.

States expressed their willingness to intensify efforts to reach out to non-signatories and provide assistance for signatories to ratify. Japan, as Friend of thePresident on Universalization reported on his Universalisation activities whichincluded sending letters in collaboration with the CMC. L ao PDR proposed thePresident of the 1MSP could appoint a special envoy to visit non-signatory countriesthat have expressed objections to signing the Convention. New Zealand, Australiaand Botswana supported this initiative.

Soraj Ghulam Habib and other cluster munition survivors talk to the Chilean foreign minister© Mary Wareham

The CMC said that “The future culture and climate of the Convention shouldbe based on the highly touted partnership of governments and civil society thatbrought it about”, “on openness and flexibility, and a willingness on occasion to stepoutside of traditional diplomatic boundaries and practices” and “on prioritization ofand focus on the humanitarian impact of the work.” The CMC reminded that“urgency” has been a catch-word of the Oslo Process, and stressed on keeping up that “sense of urgency”.

More information: www.minrel.gov.cl/prontus_minrel/site/artic/20090811/pags/20090811092921.phpwww.stopclustermunitions.org/chile/

Pretoria Conference called on African states to keep the bar high

The Africa Regional Conference on the Universalisation and Implementation ofthe Convention on Cluster Munitions on 25 and 26 March in Pretoria, South Africa,was attended by delegations from Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Chad,Comoros, DRC, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar,Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, SouthAfrica, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, andZimbabwe, as well as representatives from Lao PDR and representatives fromNorway and Austria.

Berihu Mesele, Ban Advocate, giving a statement at theAfrica Regional Conference on the Universalisation and implementation of the Convention onCluster Munitions. Photo Pretoria Conference blog

Ban Advocate, Berihu Mesele from Ethiopia called on his country to sign andratify the CCM and posed the question: “Why only 38 African signed and only 6ratified the CCM?” From his own experience he pointed out how many challengesremain in the field of victim assistance concerning physical rehabilitation, economicalintegration and psychological support.

In the perspective of its role as Friend of the Chair on Reporting to theVientiane conference, Belgium presented lessons learned on national reporting underthe MBT for the CCM including the need for training, improvements in data collection,and assistance. CMC noted that “fundamentally the gathering and sharing ofinformation is key to providing good services to citizens and enhancing internationalcooperation.”

The State Secretary of Norway stated that the CCM “would have been weakerin all key areas without the competent and concerted African effort” and added that“Now our common challenge is to make sure that the obligations set out in theConvention are translated into reality on the ground.” Malawi expected African States“to speak with one voice in Laos”, “to set an ambitious pace for the implementationof the CCM” and send “high level representation” to the 1MSP in Laos. “There is needfor more State Parties to participate fully in the 1MSP. This requires more ratificationsas soon as possible.” CMC remembered that Africa has helped keep the focus on thehumanitarian suffering and the need to respond to it, and has kept the bar high inensuring that the CCM was the strongest possible Convention that could be achievedand expected the same role for Africa at the 1MSP.

More information on: http://clustermunitionspretoria.blogspot.com/http://www.regjeringen.no/en/search.html?quicksearch=Africa+Conference+on+Cluster+Munitionshttp://www.stopclustermunitions.org/news/?id=2168