| | |
|
| |
|
|
Recent Releases Timeline of Cluster Munition Use Human Rights Watch has updated its informational chart providing a timeline of cluster munition use. Cluster munitions have been used in at least 31 countries by at least 14 states. Non-state armed groups have also used cluster munitions in a limited number of cases, most recently by Hezbollah into Israel in July and August 2006. May 13, 2008 Campaign Document Printer friendly version Cluster Munitions in the Middle East and North Africa Cluster Munition Coalition Fact Sheet Prepared by Human Rights Watch In the Middle East-North Africa region Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and Israel have produced cluster munitions; Egypt and Israel have exported cluster munitions; Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen stockpile cluster munitions. Cluster munitions have been used in Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the Western Sahara. May 8, 2008 Campaign Document Printer friendly version Letter to President of China on Arms Sale to Zimbabwe We write to urge the government of the People’s Republic of China to immediately recall the shipment of weapons aboard the An Yue Jiang, currently off the coast of southern Africa. We also urge you to ensure that no further arms and ammunition deliveries are sent to Zimbabwe while the very high risk exists of such weapons being used against the civilian population. April 22, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version China: Recall Arms Shipment Headed for Zimbabwe Weapons Sale Does Not Accord With Being a ‘Responsible Power’ The Chinese government should immediately recall the shipment of weapons aboard the An Yue Jiang intended for Zimbabwe and currently off the coast of southern Africa, Human Rights Watch said today. In a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao released today (http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/22/china18618.htm), Human Rights Watch urged the Chinese government to cease all arms deliveries to Zimbabwe while the very high risk exists of such weapons being used against the civilian population. April 22, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version UK: Don’t Water Down Cluster Ban Treaty The UK government should abandon its insistence on exempting certain weapons from the new cluster munitions treaty whose text is being finalized next month, Human Rights Watch said today. The government is seeking to weaken the treaty in other ways as well, Human Rights Watch said. April 18, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version Cluster Munitions and the Proportionality Test Memorandum to Delegates of the Convention on Conventional Weapons The calls for a new international legal instrument to ban or restrict cluster munitions derive in large part from the weapons’ significant and foreseeably grave aftereffects on civilians, which have been thoroughly documented by many, including Human Rights Watch. States parties to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) took a first step toward reducing the impact of unexploded submunitions with CCW Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW), but this instrument only provides post-conflict remedial measures. Because the severe and long-lasting aftereffects of cluster munitions on civilians are foreseeable, they can and must be prevented. This paper contends that to reduce civilian harm through preventive measures, the aftereffects of cluster munitions must be taken into account when applying the proportionality test. April 7, 2008 Background Briefing Cluster Munitions in the Americas and Caribbean Cluster Munition Coalition Fact Sheet Prepared by Human Rights Watch In the Americas and Caribbean region Brazil and the United States (US) currently produce cluster munitions; Argentina and Chile have renounced future production. Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Peru, and the US stockpile cluster munitions; Argentina, Canada, and Honduras have destroyed their stockpiles or are in the process of destroying their stockpiles. Brazil, Chile, and the US have exported cluster munitions. April 1, 2008 Campaign Document Printer friendly version Cluster Munitions in the Asia-Pacific Region Cluster Munition Coalition Fact Sheet Prepared by Human Rights Watch In the Asia-Pacific region China, India, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Pakistan, and Singapore have produced cluster munitions. China, India, Indonesia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand stockpile cluster munitions; Australia announced in October 2007 that it is procuring a type of artillery-delivered sensor fuzed munition with two submunitions in each projectile. China and South Korea are known to have exported cluster munitions; companies in India, Pakistan, and Singapore publicly advertise cluster munitions for sale. April 1, 2008 Campaign Document Printer friendly version Cluster Munitions in Africa Cluster Munition Coalition Fact Sheet Prepared by Human Rights Watch In Africa, two countries have produced cluster munitions and at least 14 countries stockpile cluster munitions; 13 of the 14 countries that stockpile have imported the weapon and both producers on the continent have exported. A total of ten countries have used cluster munitions in Africa and nine countries are contaminated to some degree with cluster munition remnants. March 1, 2008 Campaign Document Printer friendly version 82 Countries Endorse Strong Ban on Cluster Munitions Final Treaty Negotiations Set for Dublin in May 2008 Eighty-two nations endorsed a strongly worded draft treaty on cluster munitions, moving the world closer to a ban on weapons that cause horrific civilian casualties, Human Rights Watch said today at the end of a week of diplomatic talks in Wellington, New Zealand. The push for a comprehensive ban on clusters, which harm civilians during and after conflict, came despite efforts to water down the text by a handful of states with stockpiles of the weapon. February 22, 2008 Press Release Also available in 
Printer friendly version Dan Rather Reports - Bombs Left Behind
February 20, 2008 Media Statement to the Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions: Intervention on Clearance and User Responsibility (Article 4) Delivered by Bonnie Docherty, researcher in the Arms Division, on behalf of Human Rights Watch and the Cluster Munition Coalition In order to address the humanitarian concerns that underlie this treaty, states must not only prohibit future cluster munition attacks but also prevent additional civilian casualties from those that have already occurred. Conflicts that pre-date the Oslo Process have left behind duds that continue to kill and maim civilians every year. Article 4(4) is a crucial provision for minimizing this ongoing harm to lives and livelihoods. The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) urges states to preserve it in the final treaty text. February 20, 2008 Oral Statement Printer friendly version Statement to the Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions: Intervention on Definitions (Sensor Fuzed Weapons) Delivered by Steve Goose, director of the Arms Division at Human Rights Watch and co-chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition Being “sensor fuzed” in and of itself is clearly not enough to warrant an exclusion from a future treaty’s prohibition on cluster munitions. One must consider all factors that affect the indiscriminate wide area effect and propensity to leave behind large amounts of unexploded ordnance. February 19, 2008 Oral Statement Printer friendly version User State Responsibility for Cluster Munition Clearance Memorandum to Delegates of the Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions A cluster munition convention offers the international community an opportunity not only to prevent future use of cluster munitions, but also to eliminate the existing threat to civilians from remaining cluster duds. It should do so by adopting some version of the international cooperation provisions discussed in this memorandum. They will help advance the core goal of the convention, which is to prevent humanitarian harm to the civilian population February 19, 2008 Background Briefing Statement to the Opening Ceremony of the Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions Delivered by Steve Goose, director of the Arms Division at Human Rights Watch and co-chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition Let us have the strength and courage and conscience to live up to the words we have just heard from cluster munition survivors Soraj and Branislav. We thank them for their willingness to share the truth of their experiences. For the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), our main hope and expectation this week is that all governments present will be prepared to endorse the Wellington Declaration by the end of the week and to forward the strong draft treaty text to Dublin for formal negotiation in May. February 18, 2008 Oral Statement Printer friendly version Israel’s Use of Cluster Bombs Shows Need for Global Ban Attacks in Lebanon Violated Laws of War The human devastation inflicted on Lebanon by Israel’s illegal use of cluster munitions highlights the urgent need for an international treaty banning the weapon, Human Rights Watch said in releasing a report today. At a conference this week, more than 100 states will discuss a treaty to ban cluster munitions, a process prompted in part by Israel’s cluster attacks on Lebanon in 2006. February 17, 2008 Press Release Also available in
Printer friendly version Flooding South Lebanon Israel’s Use of Cluster Munitions in Lebanon in July and August 2006
HRW Index No.: E2002 February 17, 2008 Report Download PDF, 4400 KB, 137 pgs Purchase online Read Press Release Video: Dan Rather Reports - Bombs Left Behind Long after a cease fire in the Iraeli-Lebanese conflict, thousands of unexploded bombs--cluster munitions--still cover the battlefields and are wounding many unintended victims--civilians. © 2008 HDNet (Run time 23:42) February 13, 2008 Video Statement to the Vienna Conference on Cluster Munitions: International Cooperation and Assistance Delivered by Bonnie Docherty, researcher in the Arms Division, on behalf of Human Rights Watch and the Cluster Munition Coalition A cluster munition convention offers the international community an opportunity not only to prevent future use of cluster munitions, but also to eliminate the existing threat to civilians from remaining cluster duds. December 7, 2007 Oral Statement Printer friendly version Statement to the Vienna Conference on Cluster Munitions: Intervention Procedural Matters Delivered by Steve Goose, director of the Human Rights Watch Arms Division and co-chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition A number of comments have been made in this session and earlier ones about the importance of having major user, producer, and stockpiling states involved in the effort to address the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions. The implication has been that such states are somehow missing from the Oslo Process. Nothing could be further from the truth. December 7, 2007 Oral Statement Printer friendly version |
 © 2005 Andrew McConnell/WpN
 Cluster Munition CoalitionInternational Campaign to Ban LandminesInternational Action Network on Small ArmsLandmine Monitor
Related Material Films screened in the HRW International Film Festival 2002: Stealing the Fire 2001: Unfinished Symphony 2000: A Greek Tragedy 1999: Zyklon Portrait 1999: Harmed Forces 1999: The Job 1998: Spotlights on a Massacre: 10 Films against Landmines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Contribute to Human Rights Watch
Home | About Us | News Releases | Publications | About HRW | Info by Country | Global Issues | Campaigns | Free Mailing Lists | Community | Bookstore | Film Festival | Search | Site Map | Contact Us | Press Contacts | Privacy Policy © Copyright 2006, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA |
