Author(s):
Tamar Gabelnick <tamarSPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERicbl.org> .
Geneva, Switzerland,
Friday 12 October 2007
Photo: Chris Clark/UNMACCSL
The Geneva Forum and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines co-organized a forum on 9 October in Geneva, Switzerland entitled “Addressing the Humanitarian Impact of Cluster Munitions.” The event sought to inform states that were outside of, or new to, the Oslo Process on cluster munitions about the extent of the cluster munitions problem, the political activities that have occurred to date to address the problem, and the plans in place for developing a new treaty on cluster munitions.
Speakers included representatives of three affected states – Lebanon, Serbia, and Uganda – as well as some of the leading experts on cluster munitions. The audience included representatives of the Geneva Missions to the United Nations from over 20 states, plus representatives from UN agencies and civil society in Geneva.
Cluster Munition Coalition coordinator Thomas Nash provided participants with a thorough background on cluster munitions, including for what military purposes they were originally designed, how they have been used in past conflicts, and the potential threat from states’ stockpiles around the world. The presentation used vivid imagery to show the damage that these weapons inflict on civilians during conflicts and for decades afterwards. Testimony from affected states (Ambassador Slobodan Vuk?evi? from the Serbian Mission to the UN, Ambassador Cissy Taliwaku from the Ugandan Mission to the UN and Mr. Ahmed Arafa from the Lebanese Mission to the UN), helped bring to life the problems their countries face in supporting survivors and cleaning up the enormous number of duds left behind.
The second half of the briefing covered how to prevent such harm to civilians from reoccurring through an effective and rapid international response. John Borrie from the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) gave an overview of the political processes that have occurred to date in different fora and demonstrated how the Oslo Process is likely to produce a much stronger and more effective agreement than the discussions through the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). Hans Risser from UNDP clearly stated that the United Nations was in favor of the negotiation of a strong and comprehensive treaty on cluster munitions by 2008, and that therefore the Oslo Process should in no way be seen as going “outside the UN.” Several other speakers also emphasized this point.
The briefing ended with a set of presentations on the next steps in the Oslo Process. Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch of the Austrian Mission to the UN gave participants information on the next international meeting of the Oslo Process, which will take place in Vienna on 5-7 December 2007. Finally, Cluster Munition Coalition coordinator Thomas Nash and Steffen Kongstad of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs made clear and compelling calls for states to join the Oslo Process as the best way to address the existing humanitarian impact of cluster munitions and to prevent the future indiscriminate use of these weapons and the resulting long-term suffering of civilian populations.
