Measure to ban transfer of cluster bombs to Saudis defeated in US House of Representatives

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly defeated a measure to ban the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. The vote was 204 for and 216 against. The vote against the measure was made up of 200 Republicans but only 16 Democrats.

The Obama administration had urged Democrats to vote against the measure. The closeness of the vote shows the growing opposition against Saudi Arabia's conduct of the war which shows that cluster bombs were used several times and fragments show that some at least came from the U.S. This vote comes just as the Obama administration is reported to have quietly put a hold on transfer of cluster bombs to the Saudis.

However, the administration is obviously dead against a ban on sending the weapons to the Saudis. Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, chair of the House Committee on Defense Appropriations, said during debate:“The Department of Defense strongly opposes this amendment, They advise us that it would stigmatize cluster munitions, which are legitimate weapons with clear military utility.”

The munitions scatter hundreds of thousands of miniature explosives over large areas often the size of several football fields. Some fail to explode leaving mine-like explosives that can kill civilians long after a battle. There is an international ban against cluster munitions as described in Wikipedia:The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) is an international treaty that prohibits the use, transfer and stockpile of cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon which scatters submunitions ("bomblets") over an area. The convention was adopted on 30 May 2008 in Dublin,[6] and was opened for signature on 3 December 2008 in Oslo. It entered into force on 1 August 2010, six months after it was ratified by 30 states.[2] As of April 2016, 108 states have signed the treaty and 100 have ratified it or acceded to it.[3]

Neither the United States, China, Russia, nor Israel have signed the treaty. Neither, have Yemen nor Saudi Arabia.The U.S. position is that they are militarily useful but should not be used in densely populated areas. Representative Hank Johnson from Georgia spoke in favor of the amendment saying: “Earlier this year, the Saudi-led coalition dropped cluster bombs in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa, specifically targeting known civilian neighborhoods. One of the buildings hit was the al Noor Center for Care and Rehabilitation for the Blind, which also has a school for blind children. The destruction of the school and the injuries sustained by the children was unbearably gruesome.”

The vote came just one day after Mohammed Bin Salman, the defense minister as well as Saudi deputy crown prince met with US lawmakers to discuss among other items "the threat posed by Iranian aggression in ..Yemen and the broader Middle East." The closeness of the vote encouraged, Sunjeev Bery, of Amnesty International who said: “This is a big deal for the U.S.-Saudi Arabia alliance, More and more members of Congress are clearly getting tired of selling Saudi Arabia bombs when it is dropping them on civilians in Yemen.”

While Canada is a signatory to the ban on cluster bombs, four Canadian financial institutions have invested $565 million in companies that manufacture the bombs. This information is revealed in the report released in Ottawa by the Dutch Peace Group PAX. The four are among a total of 158 companies worldwide that have invested a whopping $28 billion in companies connected to the weapons from June 2012 to April 2016. Paul Hannon, director of Mines Action Canada wants the Canadian government to issue guidelines to ban such investments by Canadian institutions. Hannon said:"These are inhuman and indiscriminate weapons and no financial institution should be investing in them. Whether it's because they don't realize that they're doing this, whether it's because they're such huge corporations, and one arm doesn't realize what the other arm is doing, that's fine. But they now need to understand."

Named in the report are the Royal Bank of Canada(RBC), Manulife Financial, Sun Life Financial and CI FInancial. CI claims it no longer holds any shares in the US company cited in the report. Royal Bank invested $132 million and Manuflie $48 million in the US firm Textron that manufactures the bombs. RBC said:"RBC is a responsible lender and practices a high level of due diligence prior to lending funds..Our policy prohibits directly financing equipment or material for cluster munitions. We are currently working towards extending this policy beyond lending."Manulife and Sun Life did not respond to a request to comment. Suzanne Ooserwijk, author of the report noted that the Royal Bank had taken positive steps to ban investments in cluster munitions but that their policy contained loopholes. As the appended video shows some of the cluster bombs used in Yemen by the Saudis come from the UK rather than the U.S.

US helps Saudi-led bombing missions in Libya

Ever since the Saudi-led bombing campaign began a year ago in late March, the Saudis and their allies have depended on U.S. tanker planes to refuel their aircraft while in flight,

Timothy Smith, spokesperson for the Air Forces Central Command(AFCENT) told the Air Force Times that the fueling continues: "We've flown 709 sorties involving 3,720 receivers, And we've offloaded 26,591,200 pounds of fuel" to foreign aircraft," AFCENT has been keeping track of its missions since April 3, 2015 shortly after the bombing campaign began. During the first few weeks a host of countries had jets involved in the bombing including Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE and other Gulf nations.

Houthi rebels captured much of western Yemen including the port of Aden before the bombing campaign began. The internationally recognized government of Manour Hadi fled into exile in Ryadh, Saudi Arabia. With the Saudi-led campaign, the Houthis were driven out of Aden and much of south western Yemen but still hold the capital and areas in the north west. The Hadi government has moved to Aden. The Houthis are Shia Muslims supported by Iran, hence the large contingent of Sunni Arab states supporting the campaign to reinstate the Hadi government. The Saudi-led campaign has displaced more than 2 million people and killed thousands, many civilians. While the number of attacks have declined they are still ongoing. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said that while the air strikes are less frequent than they used to be, Sana'a, the capital, and the Taiz area as well as Marib are still hit on a semi-regular basis.

The Saudi-led bombing has been sharply criticized for bombing civilian targets and even medical facilities run by Doctors Without Borders. There was also a critical report from a UN panel. Usually, the Saudis simply deny accusations but they have now announced a "high-.level independent committee" to investigate the bombardments, which some rights groups have even termed war crimes. The coalition also said that it was establishing a hotline with Doctors Without Borders. Three of its facilities have been subject to attack in recent months.

The coalition has been accused of using cluster bombs a number of times, including on Sana'a, the capital controlled by the Houthi rebels. While the coalition denies using them, evidence seems to show they were used. Some of the cluster bombs appear to come from the U.S. While there is an international ban on cluster bombs neither the Saudis nor the Americans have signed on to the treaty.

Yemen reverses decision to expel UN human rights official

Yemen has decided to rescind its order to expel, George Abu al-Zulof, the top UN human rights representative in the country.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Ambassador to the UN , Khaled Alyemany, said the government had decided "to maintain the status quo." There were reports last Thursday that the Yemen Foreign Ministry had declared al-Zulof as persona non grata in Yemen. The ministry accused al-Zulof of not being impartial in his assessment of the human rights situation in Yemen.

The letter to the UN said "excesses" by the rights office had led for a request that al-Zulof be replaced. However "because of the fuss created around the matter," the government decided to allow more time for a review of its relationship with the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR). The letter went on:"For more cooperation between the government of Yemen and all organs and bodies of the United Nations, the government has decided to maintain the status quo of the country representative of the OHCHR representative in Yemen,"

UN human rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein urged the Yemen government to allow al-Zulof to remain in his position. He said the expulsion of al-Zulof was "unwarranted, counter-productive and damaging to the government and its coalition partners." Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general issued a statement saying that he had full confidence in al-Zulof and had urged the Yemeni government to reconsider its position.

Before the expulsion notice the OHCHR had received allegations that Saudi-led bombing attacks had used cluster bombs. Ban also expressed his concern about the intensified use of airstrikes and even warned that the use of the cluster bombs in populated areas could be a war crime according to UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. Dujarric said the secretary general was particularly concerned about bombing of civilian buildings such as a wedding hall, the Chamber of Commerce and a center for the blind in Sanaa, the capital. Zeid said that both said: "Unfortunately, both sides have very clearly committed violations, resulting in some 2,800 civilian deaths over the past nine months."

Although there were peace negotiations in December and a ceasefire was declared, both sides constantly violated it. The truce was formally ended last weekend just as the Saudis broke off relations with Iran. Iranian protesters attacked and damaged the Saudi embassy in Tehran after the Saudis executed a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric.

Ismail Cheikh Ahmed, the UN special envoy to envoy is attempting to get both sides together once again for talks and to negotiate a new ceasefire. He has been in the Saudi capital Ryadh and will be in Yemen soon. The former president Ali Saleh, who supports the Houthis, says there is no point in negotiating with the current president of Yemen Mansour Hadi, and that only negotiations with the Saudis would be worthwhile.

Saudi-led bombings on Sanaa reportedly used cluster bombs

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that air-strikes by Saudi Arabia using cluster bombs in the capital Sanaa may amount to a "war crime."

Stephane Dujarric said Ban was deeply concerned by the intensification of the air-strikes in residential areas. The strikes are reported to have hit the Chamber of Commerce, a wedding hall and even a center for the blind. Dujarric said the UN had received reports of cluster bombs being used in Sanaa. The bombs have been used earlier but in the north, not in a large city such as Sanaa. Dujarric said: "The use of cluster munitions in populated areas may amount to a war crime due to their indiscriminate nature." There is an international ban on the use of cluster bombs but neither the US, nor Saudi Arabia have signed on to the ban. Human Rights Watch, a human rights group, reported their use in Sanaa and claimed they were manufactured in the US. It would seem that they are very old stock. Perhaps the U.S. were glad to find a buyer for the bombs:

The human rights advocacy group identified the munitions “as US-made BLU-63 antipersonnel/anti-material submunitions and components of a CBU-58 cluster bomb. It added that parts of the bomb remnants had markings indicating that it was manufactured in the US in 1978. According to US export records obtained by HRW, Washington transferred 1,000 such bombs to Saudi Arabia sometime between 1970 and 1995.

The Saudi strikes also hit a Doctors Without Frontiers hospital in the north in the Saada governorate, the heartland of the Houthi rebels, but this was just one of many health facilities hit: UNICEF said the hospital in Saada was the 39th health center hit in Yemen since March. "More children in Yemen may well die from a lack of medicines and healthcare than from bullets."

Iran claimed its embassy in Sanaa was bombed intentionally. This is bound to increase already tense relations between the two countries subsequent to the recent execution of a prominent Saudi Shia cleric. This caused widespread protests that included an attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran. In response, the Saudis broke off diplomatic relations with Iran. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hossein Ansari, said: "Saudi Arabia is responsible for this action, as well as for compensating Iran for injuries to the embassy personnel and the damages to the embassy building,.. Iran reserves the right to (legally) pursue this matter."As often happens, the Saudis denied that the bombing incident even happened. They claim the Iranian allegation was simply a lie and that there were no air-strikes anywhere near the Iranian embassy. Whatever the truth about this particular strike, certainly there is verification of the use of cluster bombs and residential buildings being hit. Perhaps the Iranians will provide photographic evidence. But the Saudis might just ignore this.

UAE using mercenaries from Colombia to fight in Yemen

The United Arab Emirates(UAE) secretly sent hundreds of mercenaries from Colombia to Yemen to battle against the Houthi rebels who still control much territory in the east and north of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

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The program was originally run by a private company with connections to Erik Prince the founder of Blackwater. Blackwater was involved in a number of incidents in Iraq that outraged the Iraqi government. The UAE says the program is now run by the UAE military. Another 450 Latin American troops including fighters from Panama, Salvador, and Chile are in addition to the Saudis, UAE troops and locals loyal to the government of Mansour Hadi, all fighting against the rebel Houthis. The UAE may worry about losses to its own troops causing difficulties at home. In September one strike by the Houthis killed 45 troops, almost all from the UAE.

Sean McFate, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council:“Mercenaries are an attractive option for rich countries who wish to wage war yet whose citizens may not want to fight.The private military industry is global now.”He said the U.S. had legitimized the practice by relying heavily on contractors in iraq and Afghanistan. There are now 1,800 Latin American soldiers training at a military base in the UAE. Saudi Arabia has already sent hundreds of Sudanese soldiers to Yemen. A recent UN report also claimed that there are 400 Eritrean troops in Yemen. If this is true it could violate a UN resolution restricting Eritrean military activities.

The Colombian recruits get salaries from $2,000 to $3,000 a month. In Colombia they would make about $400 a month. If deployed to Yemen they get a bonus of $1,000 more a week, according to an anonymous former senior Colombian military officer who is involved in the project. The project began five years ago in 2010. The exodus of some of Colombia's best trained soldiers is causing some trouble in the fight against drugs in Colombia. Jaime Ruiz, the president of Colombia's Association of Retired Armed Forces Officials said: “These great offers, with good salaries and insurance, got the attention of our best soldiers.” Often money earned is sent to Colombia to support families of the troops.

There may be peace talks in the near future. Past efforts at peace have failed as the UN and the Hadi government in effect demand the Houthi withdraw from all the areas they have won and lay down their arms. The Saudi-led coalition seems bent on subjecting the Houthis to a humiliating defeat if they can.

Human Rights Watch(HRW) and other human rights groups have been critical of the Saudi-led bombing campaign. HRW claims at least 10 air strikes broke the laws of war killing civilians. Saudi Arabia simply denies such reports. The recent HRW report claims the strikes killed at least 309 civilians and wounded at least 414. They noted that it was an obligation of Saudi Arabia's allies to investigate possible war crimes The report notes: "Human Rights Watch found either no evident military target or that the attack failed to distinguish civilians from military objectives. Human Rights Watch is unaware of any investigations by Saudi Arabia or other coalition members in these or other reported cases."The attacks were on residential houses, market places, a factory, and a civilian prison. In the past, the Saudis also hit a Doctors Without Borders hospital and used cluster bombs in attacks in the north. Many of the weapons including cluster bombs are provided by the United States.

The UN claims about 5,700 people have been killed in the fighting since the Saudi-led bombing campaign began last March. More than 2,600 civilians are among those killed with about two-thirds of the civilian casualties caused by air strikes.

Evidence shows Saudi-coalition used cluster bombs in northern Yemen

Human Rights Watch claims to have credible evidence that the Saudi-led coalition used cluster munitions against Houthi rebels in bombings in Yemen as part of Operation Decisive Storm.

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Cluster bombs release small bomblets over a wide area and pose risks to civilians during attacks and long afterwards: During attacks, the weapons are prone to indiscriminate effects, especially in populated areas. Unexploded bomblets can kill or maim civilians and/or unintended targets long after a conflict has ended, and are costly to locate and remove.

A 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions bans, their use, production or distribution. Although 116 countries have signed the treaty Saudi Arabia and Yemen have not signed the treaty. Neither have the United States, China, Russia or Israel. Canada has.

Human Rights Watch has collected photographs, video, and other evidence since the middle of April 2015 showing that the munitions have been used in recent weeks. The attacks have been in areas that are traditional strongholds of the Houthis in the north of Yemen. Through satellite imagery it appears the bombs landed within 600 meters of several dozen buildings in four to six villages. Some of the photographs and other evidence can be found here. Steve Goose, of HRW said:"Saudi-led cluster munition airstrikes have been hitting areas near villages, putting local people in danger. These weapons should never be used under any circumstances. Saudi Arabia and other coalition members – and the supplier, the US – are flouting the global standard that rejects cluster munitions because of their long-term threat to civilians.”

The cluster bombs are likely provided to Saudi Arabia by the United States:"In August 2013, the US Department of Defense concluded a contract for the manufacture of 1,300 CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons for Saudi Arabia by Textron. The contract stipulated that delivery of the weapons should be completed by December 2015. Human Rights Watch does not know when deliveries began, or if they have finished Additionally, the UAE received an unknown number of CBU-105 from Textron Defense Systems in June 2010, fulfilling a contract announced in November 2007:"Stephen Goose has been instrumental in pushing for the 2008 treaty banning cluster munitions. Even though a number of the big powers refused to sign on to the treaty, Goose and others thought that the very fact so many countries agreed to ban them would limit their use. The United States maintains that cluster bombs are a legal weapon and have a "clear military utility in combat."

This is not the first time that Saudi Arabia has used cluster munitions in Yemen. In 2009 Saudi planes dropped cluster bombs on Houthis in Saada, their home province. In the same year US naval forces fired one or more cruise missiles that contained cluster munitions on what was supposed to be an Al-Qaeda training camp

In 2009, the United States naval forces fired one or more cruise missiles on Al Majalah camp in Abyan province Yemen. Originally the attack was attributed to Yemeni forces but a Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Shaye visited the site and found fragments of a US Tomahawk missile and cluster munitions showing that the Yemeni government was lying to cover up US involvement: Shaye also reported that 21 children and 14 women had been killed in the attack. On August 16, 2010,[8] Shaye was arrested by the Yemeni government. After 34 days of confinement, he was convicted of "terrorism-related charges" in a trial regarded by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Committee to Protect Journalists, and the International Federation of Journalists as a sham trial and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.[1][9] After a public outcry from tribal leaders in Yemen over Shaye's imprisonment, Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh was prepared to release Shaye, but he was swayed otherwise by a call from U.S. President Barack Obama on February 2, 2011 citing his "concern" over Shaye's imminent release.[7][10][11]On July 13 Shaye was finally released from prison and allowed to serve out the remaining 2 years of his sentence under a house arrest.

U.S. fails in attempt to water down cluster bomb ban

   The Obama administration has never signed on to the international ban on cluster bombs. The U.S. attempted to water down the ban by suggested that manufacture of the bombs should be regulated rather than banned. The U.S. was supported by Russia, China, and Israel all of whom have cluster bombs and have failed to sign on to the ban.
     Even the UK which usually supports U.S. policies filed objections to the U.S. proposal. Unlike the U.S. the U.K. has already signed on to the ban. The U.S. said it was deeply disappointed by their failure. The regulations it claimed would have prohibited many cluster munitions and restricted and regulated the remaining munitions. The U.S. noted that there would be a beneficial humanitarian result on the ground. If the nations suggesting these changes had signed on to the ban there would have been any even more dramatic humanitarian impact on the ground!
     The U.S. proposals claimed that cluster munitions are a military necessity. This seems to be the case only for the nations that did not sign the ban. The over 50 nations that objected to the U.S. proposals including the UK are able to function without them. Opponents of their use claim that the weapons are not only indiscriminate but often do not explode only to explode later when disturbed. For more see this article.
   

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Australia, the U.S. and cluster bombs

      Australia is a signatory to the convention against cluster bombs. The Australian government under prime minister Gillard was a strong supporter of the ban on the bombs. The bombs release often hundreds of small bomblets that can spread over a large area. Up to 30 per cent fail and are a long term hazard.
      The United States along with several other great powers as well as Israel have not signed on to the ban. The U.S. now will have use of a base in  north-west Australia in Darwin. Many in Australia are concerned that the U.S. will stockpile cluster bombs among other weapons at the base. The ban itself prohibits not only the use of the cluster bombs but their stockpiling and transfer. The bombs should thus not be stockpiled on Australian territory nor even transferred through the territory.
     The Australian government has so far made no statement about the matter. The International Committee of the Red Cross  has said that the Australian draft legislation would permit the transit of cluster munitions and the retention of  cluster munitions in bases on Australian territory. In the interests of the United States it would seem that Australia may be willing to go against the provision of the cluster bomb ban that not long ago it wholeheartedly approved. Even close allies of the U.S. such as the U.K. have been unwilling to do this. For more see this article.

Georgia admits to using cluster bombs in South Ossetia

Group: Georgia admits to dropping cluster bombs
Human Rights Watch says Georgia admits to dropping cluster bombs in S. Ossetia
StaffAP News
Sep 01, 2008 06:23 EST
A prominent human rights group says Georgia has admitted dropping cluster bombs in its military offensive to assert control over the restive province of South Ossetia.







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This is from wiredispatch.
These bombs should be banned but great powers such as the U.S. and Russia are opposed to a ban. The article does not say where the bombs were made but it sounds as if they were made in Israel or perhaps supplied by Israel since Israel used them in its war in Lebanon. Israel has been helping train the Georgian army and seems to have some influence with the government. As the article notes Russia also may have used the bombs in Georgia although Russia in this case denies doing so.



Human Rights Watch says it has received an official letter from Georgia's Defense Ministry that acknowledges use of the M85 cluster munition near the Roki tunnel that connects South Ossetia with Russia.
The M85 is the same weapon that was used extensively by Israel in its 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
HRW arms division researcher Bonnie Docherty told reporters in Geneva on Monday that Russia undoubtedly used cluster munition in several places during the conflict. However, Russia has denied using the weapon.
Source: AP News

UN envoy: Israel's imprisonment of Palestinian minors breeds violence

Although this is from AP it is noteworthy that it is picked up in Israel rather than the mainstream press in the US. Israel seems to lack an effective Israel Lobby to block such articles in Israel! This is from Ha'aretz.
UN envoy: Israel's imprisonment of PA children feeds violence

By The Associated Press

A United Nations envoy said Thursday that Israel's detention of Palestinian children and failure give them proper trials are a problem that feeds the violence in the region.

The UN's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflicts, Radhika Coomaraswamy, said she visited the Hasharon prison in central Israel, where she said more than 150 minors are held for security and criminal offenses.

She said she urged Israeli officials to consider rehabilitation instead of detention for children detained on minor charges. Some 398 youths 12 years or older are held in Israeli jails, she said. This week the Israeli Prisons Authority said 371 Palestinian children under 18 are held in prisons.






"The process they are subject to is a military process ... and not a judicial process. That is something that we feel is a problem," she said. "I think children are getting very hard and bitter through this experience."

Coomaraswamy met with four children in the prison, including one held without trial. A 12-year-old and a 16-year-old were jailed for throwing firebombs, she said. "My sense is this kind of detention practice is feeding the cycle of violence."

Coomaraswamy said she met with Palestinian children in refugee camps and Israeli children in Sderot, an Israeli town next to Gaza that is a frequent target of rockets fired by Palestinian militants. She said she found children from both sides extremely despaired, but all expressed hope for peace.

Also, Coomaraswamy said she asked Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to hand over to the UN technical teams computer generated data for cluster bombs used during the Lebanon war.

She said general data for the cluster bombs were passed on, but that was not enough to locate them. The United Nations and human rights groups say that Israel dropped about 4 million cluster bombs on Lebanon during the war, and up to 1 million failed to explode, and now act as mines that could explode at any time.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Israel would continue to cooperate with the UN on the matter.

According to the UN, unexploded cluster bombs have killed 29 people and injured 215 since the war ended on August 14. 90 of those injured had been children.

"There is a computer sheet that is generated when targets are attacked. If (UN technical teams) get that information they can identify where the cluster munitions are," Coomaraswamy said.

46 nations declare against cluster bombs

The big powers such as US , Russia and China oppose the declaration. Canada however signed on. I have no idea why Japan would not sign on. Poland and Romania probably want to show solidarity with the US and gain brownie points but ironically they also are siding with Russia! Australia is continuing its drift to the right and India and Pakistan don't want to give up the right to butcher each others citizens.


46 nations adopt cluster bomb declaration
Last Updated: Friday, February 23, 2007 | 9:27 AM ET
The Associated Press
A declaration calling for a 2008 treaty banning cluster bombs was adopted Friday by 46 out of 49 nations attending a conference in Oslo, officials for the Norwegian government and two non-governmental groups said.

Canada was among the countries to agree the declaration.

Norway's deputy foreign minister Raymond Johansen said Poland, Romania and Japan did not approve the final declaration. Officials for Human Rights Watch and the Cluster Munition Coalition also said those three countries dissented.

The gathering was snubbed by some key arms makers — including the U.S., Russia, Israel and China — but organizers said other nations needed to forge ahead regardless to avoid a potential humanitarian disaster posed by unexploded cluster munitions.

A declaration presented on the last day of the meeting urged nations to "conclude by 2008 a legally binding international instrument" to ban cluster bombs.

The treaty would "prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of those cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians," the declaration said.

Continue Article

Cluster bomblets are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles, which scatter them over vast areas, with some failing to explode immediately. The unexploded bomblets can then lie dormant for years after conflicts end until they are
disturbed, often by civilians.

As many as 60 per cent of the victims in Southeast Asia are children, the Cluster Munition Coalition said. The weapons have recently been used in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon, it said.

The UN estimated that Israel dropped as many as four million bomblets in southern Lebanon during last year's war with Hezbollah, with as many 40 per cent failing to explode on impact.

Children can be attracted to the unexploded weapons by their small size, shape and bright colours, activists say.

Friday's declaration urged countries to take steps at a national level before the treaty takes effect. Norway has already done so, while Austria announced a moratorium on cluster bombs at the start of the conference.

"It is non-binding. It is not a legal document. But it is a statement of political will," Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch said of the declaration.

Norway hopes the treaty would be similar to one outlawing anti-personnel mines, negotiated in Oslo in 1997.

The U.S., China and Russia have refused to sign the landmine treaty and oppose the Norwegian initiative on cluster bombs. They did not send representatives to the meeting. Australia, Israel, India and Pakistan also did not attend. Those nations say the weapons should be dealt with in other arenas, such as the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons, known as CCW.

Goose said the major powers don't need to be involved for the treaties to have an impact. Activists say the point is to stigmatize the weapons.

"If you need proof that you can conclude a treaty without the United States, Russia and China, look at the landmine treaty," he said. Goose said even though major powers have rejected the treaty, they have stopped deploying land mines, and that the number of civilian casualties have been cut in half since 1997.

Before the meeting, activist groups feared some countries would seek to water down, or even squash, a declaration by insisting on a longer or nonexistent deadline. But Nash said the first day of talks made it clear that there would be a declaration, with the 2008 deadline, even if some countries rejected it.

The declaration said work on the cluster bomb treaty would be carried out in Lima, Peru, in May or June; in Vienna, Austria, in November or December, and in Dublin, Ireland, in early 2008.

© The

Cluster bombs litter Lebanon UN says.

This article gives some idea of the extent of the use of cluster bombs. It mentions that Israel also planted land mines. There is an international treaty against the use of landmines as well but no doubt Israel as not signed on and neither has its sponsor the US. The use against civilians of cluster bombs violates international as well as US law.


Cluster bombs litter Lebanon, UN says
Last Updated: Friday, August 25, 2006 | 11:12 AM ET
CBC News
Unexploded cluster bombs litter homes, gardens and highways in south Lebanon, the United Nations said Friday, as the U.S. State Department investigated whether Israel's use of the American-made weapons violated secret agreements.

Dalya Farran, a spokeswoman for the UN Mine Action Co-ordination Center, said cluster bombs have been found in 285 locations in south Lebanon.

"Our teams are still doing surveys and adding new locations every day," Farran said. "We find about 30 new locations per day."

The U.S. State Department is investigating whether the use of three types of American cluster munitions — anti-personnel weapons that spray bomblets over a wide area — violated secret agreements that restrict when such arms can be employed, the New York Times reported Friday.

The newspaper quoted several current and former U.S. officials as saying they doubted the probe would lead to sanctions against Israel, but that it might be an effort by the Bush administration to ease Arab criticism of its military support for Israel.

The U.S. has also postponed a shipment of M-26 artillery rockets, another cluster weapon, to Israel, the newspaper said.

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UN de-mining experts refused to comment on the U.S. investigation, but suggested Israel violated some aspects of international law.

"It's not illegal to use [cluster bombs] against soldiers or your enemy, but according to Geneva Conventions it's illegal to use them in civilian areas," Farran said. "But it's not up to us to decide if it's illegal — I'm just giving facts and letting others do analysis."

Israel said it was forced to hit civilian targets in Lebanon because Hezbollah fighters were using villages as a base for rocket-launchers aimed at Israel. Some 850 Lebanese and 157 Israelis died in the fighting.

Lebanon's south is also riddled with land mines that were laid by Israeli soldiers as they pulled out of the region in 2000 after an 18-year occupation. Hezbollah has also planted mines to ward off Israeli forces. Lebanon has long called for Israel to hand over maps of the minefields.

The UN Mine Action Co-ordination Center opened an office in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre in 2003 to deal with the land mine problem. Since the ceasefire, the office has redirected its efforts toward clearing unexploded Israeli bombs from the area.

Israel may have misused cluster bombs claims US.

"may have", a rather quaint phrasing instead of straight out saying they did. When and if the US comes to the judgment that they actually did, what will happen? Will there be a sternly worded protest and warning not to do it again?
Israel also has atomic weapons. The US is not even supposed to give military aid to countries that have helped proliferate nuclear weapons I understand. That is one reason Israel does not admit to having them.


Israel may have misused cluster bombs, says U.S.
Last Updated: Monday, January 29, 2007 | 2:10 PM ET
CBC News
Israel may have violated an agreement with Washington by using American-made cluster bombs during last summer's war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, the U.S. State Department said Monday.

White House spokesperson Sean McCormack said a preliminary report on an American probe into the issue has been handed to Congress, but didn't provide further details on the investigation.

"There were likely violations," McCormack told reporters.

The probe was opened in 2006 after UN reports that three types of American cluster bombs were found in populated areas in southern Lebanon.

Cluster bombs release smaller bomblets that spread out on the ground.

The report, McCormack said, "is not a final judgment." He declined to speculate on what action may be taken against Israel if a violation is confirmed.

When Israel purchases cluster bombs and other lethal equipment from the United States, it must agree in writing to restrictions on their use, including using them in civilian areas.

The Israeli army has said all weapons it uses "are legal under international law and their use conforms with international standards."

The UN has called for a freeze on their use in or near populated areas.