29th March 2007

MP WELCOMES UK GOVENRMENT BAN ON DUMB MUNITIONS

Clwyd South MP, MARTYN JONES has welcomed an announcement by the Government that it has banned dumb cluster munitions used by UK Armed forces with immediate effect.

The UK declared its support for the Oslo Declaration on Cluster Munitions, committing us - along with 46 other countries - to reach a legally binding agreement by 2008 to ban the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians.

But the UK Government has decided to go further than the Oslo Declaration.

Following a review of the military and humanitarian factors, the Government has announced that the UK is withdrawing all dumb cluster munitions from service with immediate effect, and ensuring their destruction.

* Cluster munitions have raised humanitarian concerns because they scatter 'sub-munitions' over an area, and because those sub-munitions can have a high failure rate.

* While smart cluster munitions explode immediately, dumb munitions often fail and lie dormant for years after conflicts end until someone disturbs them. These dumbmunitions pose a huge danger to civilians - often compared to landmines - and can severely hamper development and reconstruction.

* Up to 60 per cent of the victims of cluster munitions in southeast Asia are children. The UN estimates that the recent conflict in Lebanon left as many as 1.6 million unexploded munitions. DfID has provided £1.5 million to clear up unexploded cluster munitions in Lebanon, and the UK are encouraging many others to make their contribution, through the EU and other arrangements.

* The UK is also pressing for further restrictions on cluster bomb use through extending the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.

Commenting on the move, Martyn Jones MP said:

"This is a truly historic decision. The UK government is leading the international community by example, with this move.

"I hope other countries will now follow our example and ban dumb cluster munitons. We should all be striving to reduce civilian casualties to the minimum, in any conflict throughout the world"