Vice-President of European Parliament calls on Italy to ban uranium weapons

"The Italian government should follow the Belgian example and ban ammunitions and armour that contain depleted uranium, or any other industrially manufactured uranium", urged Luisa Morgantini, Vice-President of the European Parliament, on the occasion of The Human Cost of Uranium Weapons Exhibition, an event organised by the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW) and by the European Greens/EFA Group on the 14, 15 and 16 May at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Since 2001, the European Parliament has made repeated calls for a moratorium to be introduced on the use of uranium weapons. More recently those calls have been strengthened into demands for an outright ban. In March, Belgium, first country to ban land mines and later cluster bombs, became the first country in the world to ban uranium weapons and armour as well. This ruling was based on the Precautionary Principle, invoked following damning evidence of uranium's chemical toxicity.

In this context ICBUW presented the latest evidence of a link between the use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions and ill health at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Uranium weapons are composed of DU and contain plutonium and other fission products that cause radioactive contamination, extremely dangerous for the human beings and the environment. In addition, although no treaty banning the use of DU is in force, they are weapons of indiscriminate nature, therefore already illegal under international humanitarian, human rights and environmental law.

While there is a reasonable idea of the amount of depleted uranium used in the Balkans (14 tonnes) and the 1991 Gulf War (around 280 tonnes), there is little information on the extent of its use following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
According to a report from the Iraqi ministry of environment, 300 areas were radiologically contaminated by DU, during the 2003 war.

With more than 80 member organisations, ICBUW is providing a focus for civil society groups worldwide, disturbed by the continuing reports of cancers and birth defects from areas where uranium weapons have been used.

"Too many people have already died and too many mysterious deaths and diseases have occurred, also among Italian soldiers who participated to the different military missions. Now it is time for truth and commitment. ICBUW represents a great chance to achieve a global ban on the use of all types of uranium in weapons and I hope that this coalition can imitate the successful example of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines" said Luisa Morgantini.

Further information:
Luisa Morgantini 0039 348 39 21 465 or Office in BXL ph. +32 2 28 45151
luisa.morgantini@europarl.eruropa.eu

Original Article

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