Mauritania became the latest country to join the team  to rid the world of cluster munitions when the government ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 1 February 2012.

This brings the number of countries to have fully banned the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster bombs to 68. Mauritania joins an ever-growing global community partnering with the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) and others to eliminate these weapons once and for all. (more…)

Unexploded cluster bombs in an olive grove. Picture credit: Simon Conway

The Dominican Republic has become the 67th State Party to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of the indiscriminate weapon.

Officials in New York deposited the Caribbean nation’s instrument of ratification on 20 December 2011.

“We are delighted to welcome the Dominican Republic to the growing list of countries banning cluster bombs, recognising the devastation they cause to civilians,” said Amy Little, Campaign Manager of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC).

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Campaigners call on remaining states to join international ban on these weapons

(Geneva, November 25, 2011) – An attempt by the United States and other remaining producers and stockpilers of cluster munitions to push through a weak new law which would have allowed these indiscriminate weapons to be used, has failed. Over fifty states at the United Nations negotiations rejected outright the cynical attempt to give legal cover to use these weapons in the future.  This ends four years of negotiations on this issue.

“This was not a diplomatic game. It was about saving a great number of lives – the outright rejection of weaker standards shows that small and medium size states in partnership with the UN, ICRC and civil society can set the agenda in international politics”  said Grethe Ostern, Policy Adviser, Mine Action Department, Norwegian Peoples Aid, Cluster Munition Coalition member. (more…)

As negotiations on a new law that would expressly allow some countries to continue to use cluster munitions enter the crucial final week, the voice of concerned governments, campaigners, and more than half a million global citizens continues to be ignored.

The draft law, a proposed protocol to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), is being pushed as an alternative to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which comprehensively bans all use, production, trade, and stockpiling of all cluster munitions.  The United States is the main proponent of the draft law, and has support from others that have not yet joined the ban convention, such as China, India, Israel, and Russia.

On Monday cluster bomb survivor and CMC spokesperson Branislav Kapetanovic handed a petition of over 587,000 signatures to chair of the  negotiations Ambassador Danon, showing  that the world is watching as these talks continue. The petition, launched by Avaaz and the Cluster Munition Coalition, has been signed by citizens in almost every country. It calls on governments to align any new agreement with the existing ban under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, ensuring this indiscriminate weapon continues to be comprehensively banned, and innocent lives protected.

For more information visit the CMC’s CCW webpage

In a widely popular resolution adopted today, the Parliament has called on members “not to adopt, endorse or subsequently ratify any protocol to the CCW allowing for the use of cluster munitions, which are prohibited under the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM),” and asks them “to act accordingly” at the Fourth CCW (Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons) Review Conference, currently being held at the United Nations in Geneva.
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(Geneva/London, 18 November 2012) The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) have launched ‘Investing in Action 2012’, a local campaign support project that will provide organisations with funding for campaign activities throughout 2012.

The ICBL-CMC will allocate financial support to member organisations, to encourage and enable local campaigning in support of the universalisation and implementation of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. (more…)

GENEVA, 16 November 2011—The international treaty banning cluster munitions is having a powerful impact after just one year of implementation, according to Cluster Munition Monitor 2011, a global report launched today at the UN in Geneva.

“This report shows how governments that have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions are getting down to the business of implementing its provisions with great vigor and enthusiasm,” said Steve Goose, chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition and an editor of Cluster Munition Monitor 2011. “From stockpile destruction to clearance to new laws, we are witnessing impressive efforts as nations embrace this convention.”

Cluster Munition Monitor 2011 details progress made in implementing the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the legally-binding treaty which 111 states have now joined, agreeing to ban this deadly, indiscriminate weapon. Of states that have used produced, exported, or stockpiled cluster munitions, 38 have now joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions, thereby committing to never engage in those activities again. (more…)

CMC press release: Global public outcry at plans to allow use of cluster bombs

Soraj Ghulam Habib lost both his legs when a BLU-97 cluster submunition exploded near his home in Herat, Afghanistan. He was only 10 years old at the time. BLU-97 submunitions are one of the weapons that will be allowed under the draft CCW protocol as it stands. Photo credit: Alison Locke/CMC

(Geneva, 14 November 2011): Governments should support the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions and not create a new contrary international law permitting use of these weapons said the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) today, as two weeks of negotiations begin at the United Nations in Geneva.
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Avaaz, the global campaigning organisation, has launched an online petition to help us in our campaign against the introduction of a new law on cluster bombs being negotiated in Geneva next week at the 4th Review Conference on the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Sign the petition now to send a clear message to world leaders: We will not stand for the introduction of a weak new law which could lead to an increase in the use of cluster munitions, by giving countries like the United States, China and Russia the legal cover they seek to use them . A treaty comprehensively banning cluster munitions already exists and states should stand strong to uphold the standards of the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions during negotiations next week.

Read more about the upcoming Review Conference on the CMC’s CCW page here

On 26 October 2011 the Cluster Munition Coalition addressed the United Nations’ First Committee on Disarmament and International Security. Alicia Pierro, CMC representative delivered a statement on the Universalisation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, raising concerns about the upcoming 4th Review Conference of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) in November. CMC is calling on the 76 countries that have joined both the Convention on Cluster Munitions and CCW to attend negotiations at the 4th Review Conference ready to voice their concerns at the current draft text and to uphold the standards established by the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Click here to download the statement in PDF