Ban the (cluster) bomb!

Social justice news
October 2006

Ban the (cluster) bomb!
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Ban the (cluster) bomb!
The Vatican’s permanent observer to United Nations has called for a moratorium on the use of cluster weapons, including the type used by the Israeli Defense forces in the recent conflict in Lebanon. According to Ekklesia.org, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, speaking on September 1 at a session concerning changes to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) in Geneva, said, “We have heard no convincing evidence from those who consider these arms [sub-munitions] to be legitimate.

"In any case, all arms are called legitimate before being prohibited or regulated. Was that not true of chemical, biological, incendiary and laser weapons? The fact of declaring a particular armament legitimate does not make it more acceptable or less inhuman.” (The full text of Tomasi’s statement, available in French and Portuguese, is available at the Vatican’s website.)

Pressure to ban cluster weapons has gained momentum since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah ended on August 14, with Austria, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Sweden, and the Vatican calling for a moratorium at the conference. Over 400 cluster bomb sites have been identified since the end of the conflict; an estimated 100,000 unexploded bomblets remain scattered in southern Lebanon, where they will remain a menace to civilians—particularly children, who mistake the often brightly detailed munitions for scattered toys—for years to come.

According to Thomas Nash of the Cluster Munitions Coalition, an international umbrella group of about 150 religious and non-governmental organizations promoting a ban, the Holy See’s action is significant. “The Vatican was the first state to call for a ban or moratorium even before Belgium and Norway” instituted bans earlier in 2006, Nash says. “While the Holy See is not the most influential state diplomatically, the pope's messages and media clout certainly have influence over the public in many countries.”

For Nash and others in the coalition, the participation of people of faith in the effort is critical and may be crucial for peace among religions, especially since many of the most recent civilian victims of cluster bombs are Muslims. “All people of faith believe that justice and compassion are values that must be upheld,” he says. “The use of cluster munitions does not accord with these values and like all injustices in the world it is important for us all to work through our communities towards greater public understanding and engagement.”

The coalition hopes to have an impact especially in munitions-producing countries. An interactive map on its website highlights nations that produce and use cluster munitions, along with another that notes countries affected by unexploded bomblets. The United States, for example, not only manufactured much of the cluster bomb ordnance used by Israel, but it has also used cluster munitions in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Iraq, Kuwait, Laos, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, and Kosovo. It has sold cluster bombs to Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Greece, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.—Bryan Cones

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