ICBUW congratulates the Cluster Munition Coalition on new disarmament convention

As a new and ground breaking treaty on cluster munitions is adopted in Dublin, it is worth reflecting on what this means for ICBUW's campaign for a ban on the use of uranium in conventional weapon systems.

In many ways it vindicates the model that ICBUW has chosen to pursue a ban, a model inspired by the successful campaign to ban anti-personnel land mines. Through working closely with states and international agencies, it is possible for diverse global coalitions to achieve far reaching bans on weapons, and ensure strong action on decontamination and humanitarian assistance.

Fig Orchard Of Jamil Shahin In Yaroun - Simon Conway

The Dublin text makes several significant advances on the text of the Ottawa Treaty that banned land mines, indeed it has boosted the scope and impact of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in key areas.

Firstly it deals with the prevention of a threat and its subsequent effects, whilst simultaneously dealing with the primary impact of munitions and also their indirect effects when they malfunction. This may set a useful precedent for DU, given that its hazardous effects are secondary to its chief function.

In blending Disarmament, IHL and Human Rights law it makes a huge step forward in victim assistance, involving survivors in the decision making process and expanding the notion of a 'victim' to include entire communities. These will be important precedents for any future DU treaty.

Also of great importance are the new standards of user state responsibility. This is the first time it has been expressly included in a weapons treaty and it draws on precedents set in Environmental Law. This new legal and moral obligation will be extremely useful for DU campaigners: the UK in particular has always stated that the responsibility for clean up lies with the Iraqi government.

The one area of concern is that of interoperability (whether state signatories can enter into military alliance with non-signatories, i.e. the US). This is one of the few weak areas of the formal text (Clause 21) and the onus will be on campaigners to ensure that NATO states and others are held to account on this.

However, in spite of the concerns of many campaigners here, if the Mine Ban Treaty was anything to go by, once ratified and in force, this Dublin text should eventually limit the use of cluster munitions by the US. A reminder to DU campaigners that it is possible to restrict the US in its choice of weapons, even if they don't attend negotiations.

CMC campaigners in celebratory mood

On behalf of ICBUW, I'd like to thank the CMC for their inspirational campaign and wish them well for their future work: ensuring that states ratify the treaty and stick to it.

Attachments

• Dublin Cluster Munition Text (81 Kb - Format pdf)
  Irish MFA
  The conference President's text, as proposed and adopted in Dublin.
  This document is in PDF format and can be read using Acrobat Reader.