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Site Admin <webmaster2@icbl.org> .
Saturday 07 June 2008
“Distinguished delegates, I now propose that the Conference adopts the text of the convention as contained in the document number CCM/77. (Pauses) I see no objections, the convention is adopted.”
A big applause rose from Croke Park Stadium in Dublin on Friday 30 May as the Chair of the DiplomaticConference on Cluster Munitions, Ambassador Daithi O’ Ceallaigh, announced the formal adoption of the Cluster Munitions Convention.
From 19 to 30 May, Dublin had been the stage for intense negotiations by government delegates and similarly intense lobbying and campaigning by Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) activists from all over the world.
Campaigners and survivors release balloons in the Dublin sky to celebate the adoption of the Convention text and launch the People's Treaty. Photo: M. Wareham.
The treaty adoption was the culmination of a process launched in Oslo in February 2007, when 46 countries first committed to conclude by 2008 a convention banning cluster bombs. In the space of just over 15 months, huge steps have been made to ban cluster munitions.
With the formal adoption of the treaty text, 111 states - including many NATO members such as the UK, Canada, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Spain and Belgium - have committed to no longer using cluster bombs.
The main disappointment for campaigners came with the controversial new provision on joint militaryoperations with states that refuse to join the treaty. The CMC insists that the treaty must be interpreted to prohibit foreign stockpiling and intentional assistance with use of the weapons by allies.
However, this does not undermine the great success of the Convention. Proposals for transition periods were strongly opposed by affected countries, and the treaty language on victim assistance, which builds on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, goes way beyond what was included in the Mine Ban Treaty.
“ I lost my arms and legs because of cluster bombs. This treaty sets the highest standard to date for victim assistance and will make a real difference to affected people and communities around the world,” said Branislav Kapetanovic a cluster munition survivor from Serbia.
Having completed a crucial stage of the Oslo Process, campaigners are ready to work on the next steps: promoting signature and ratification of the treaty, and ensuring - through intense advocacy work and attentive monitoring - that states turn its text into reality.
To help maximise the number of states that will sign the treaty in Oslo on 3-4 December, and ensure rapid entry into force, on 30 May campaigners launched the “ People’s Treaty” – an initiative through which ordinary citizens can voice their support for the Cluster Munitions Treaty.
The launch of the People’s Treaty was marked by the release of a huge bunch of coloured balloons into the blue Dublin sky outside the conference venue. With their passion, commitment and tireless work, CMC members showed that the sky’s truly the limit.
- Roos Boer, IKV Pax Christi Netherlands
