People Power:

The Convention on Cluster Munitions

Your actions can help bring change

Interview with Noriko Sado, Associate Professor at Hiroshima Shudo University:
Efforts for the Convention began in the 1990s

Professor Sado (right) explains about "people power." (Photo by Ryota Matsuda, 15)

To date, the Convention on Cluster Munitions has been signed by 95 countries. We looked into what people did in the background that has contributed to this successful outcome.

Noriko Sado, 36, an associate professor at Hiroshima Shudo University and a specialist on international security, explained to us the history of the campaign. This campaign for the abolition of cluster munitions began after many people were killed or lost limbs as a consequence of bomblets exploding in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. NGOs, providing support for the people there, raised their voices in anger over this situation. They were able to move the governments of Norway and Austria to make a draft of the Convention and the document was eventually adopted at the international conference held in Dublin, Ireland.

Professor Sado says that civil society plays three important roles: 1) collecting information; 2) pressuring governments; and 3) providing funds.

In regard to "collecting information," organizations working in areas affected by cluster munitions reported on the serious damage done by these weapons and delivered a strong message that cluster bombs should not be used against human beings. They revealed the true conditions of the number of unexploded bomblets and their victims. Finding that most of these victims are poor, the groups worked to include "support for victims" in the Convention text.

In "pressuring governments," the organizations began by raising awareness of the problem among the public through the testimony of victims, photo exhibitions, and signature campaigns. As a result of this higher awareness among citizens, the problem drew the attention of politicians. And "providing funds" involved generating financial support for NGOs that were working to combat the use of cluster munitions.

Professor Sado told us that an effort to create a similar convention against the use of nuclear weapons might serve as the backbone for a nation to emerge as the leader of this campaign, as was the case with Norway and cluster munitions. A wide range of NGOs could then work in cooperation toward this goal. (Shotaro Takata, 14)

Surveying the damage:
Contributions help keep Human Rights Watch neutral

In Georgia, an HRW researcher (left) speaks with a worker who removes unexploded bomblets. (Photo courtesy of HRW)

An NGO based in the United States, called Human Rights Watch (HRW), has researched the damage suffered by countries engaged in war or after the conflict has ends, such as Afghanistan and Iraq. The reports they issue can be read at their website.

To date, they have conducted research in six countries, including Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Kosovo, and have confirmed the fact that cluster bombs were used in these wars. They interviewed victims of these weapons, military officials, and workers in charge of removing unexploded bomblets. In the summer of 2008, they accused both Russia and Georgia of using cluster bombs during their conflict.

HRW's reporting is partly translated into Spanish and Arabic and a smaller portion is also available in Japanese.

In order to maintain a neutral stance, HRW is supported only by donations or grants from the private sector. It does not accept public monies, such as government subsidies. (Seira Furukawa,15)

Analysis of government resistance:
The Cluster Munition Coalition protected the content of the Convention

The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) consists of about 300 organizations in more than 80 countries. Member organizations, making use of their particular strengths, contributed to an analysis of each government's resistance in regard to supporting the Convention. Such analysis was useful in rebutting opposing views which would have weakened the impact of the agreement.

Member organizations include not only NGOs involved in the removal of unexploded bomblets and support for victims, but also groups composed of lawyers and scientists.

The last opportunity to discuss the draft of the Convention before the Signing Conference in December 2008 was the Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions held in New Zealand in February of the same year. The representatives of governments of 103 countries and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), along with a number of organizations, took part in the Wellington Conference. CMC, which had campaigned for a ban on cluster bombs since its founding in 2003, was invited to attend.

In Wellington, on the subject of defining a "cluster bomb," Japan, France, and Germany proposed that some types of bombs, if their unexploded bomblets consist of less than 1% of the ordnance, should be excluded. However, based on data that CMC had collected in areas affected by cluster munitions, they pointed out that the manufacturers' claims weren't reliable. In fact, even when a manufacturer insisted that the number of unexploded bomblets will only be 2% of the total, the reality on the ground is closer to 10%.

As a result, this argument did not influence the final definition and the criterion became, instead, the number of bomblets. Bombs with more than 10 bomblets cannot be produced or possessed.

Another example of CMC's impact involved an article within the Convention concerning the submission of past use of cluster bombs, including type and quantity, in order to locate unexploded bomblets and remove them. Italy and the United Kingdom, though, demanded that this article be eliminated, contending that past use should not apply, much like other international pacts. However, CMC objected and cited an example from the United Nations Human Rights Council and European Court of Human Rights, which judged that nations still bear responsibility for past actions performed before the formation of a law if the resulting damage continues to the present.

As a result, the provision uses the language "strongly encourage" in regard to disclosing information on the types, quantities, and locations of previous cluster bomb use. (Risa Kushioka, 17)

An unexploded bomblet injured Ardjana's right eye (center). She has returned to school since the operation to help restore her eyesight. (Photo courtesy of Victims of Mines and Arms)

According to Handicap International, a Belgian NGO, as of May 2007, there have been 13,306 casualties from cluster bombs in 25 countries, including Afghanistan and Cambodia. 98% of the victims are civilians and a quarter of them are children.

Around the world, though, there have been an estimated 56,000 casualties, many of these in Laos, Vietnam, and Iraq. Even now, 400 million people live in perilous areas strewn with unexploded bomblets.

Through an Albanian NGO, Victims of Mines and Arms, Kukes, we interviewed a high school student in Albania, Ardjana Mani, 16, who lost the cornea of her right eye when she was 7 years old.

Unexploded bomblet found in Lebanon (Photo courtesy of HRW)

Ardjana told us how she became a victim of a cluster bomb. In August 1999, she came across an unexploded bomblet while playing in the yard at a relative's house near the border with Kosovo. It was a beautiful yellow color and shaped like a bell. Hoping to make the "bell" ring, she instead pulled the trigger and the device exploded. She fell unconscious, later coming to in the hospital. The pain was so intense, she couldn't open her eyes.

At the time, Kosovo was fighting for its independence against Serbia, leading both the NATO and Serbian forces to use cluster bombs. The bombs fell in neighboring Albania, too.

Ardjana underwent surgery in Russia to transplant a new cornea in her damaged eye and so she escaped losing her eyesight. However, she has not fully recovered the vision in that eye. (Shiori Kosaka, 13, and Mako Sakamoto, 12)

Soraj Ghulam Habib (front, in wheelchair) appeals for the ban on cluster bombs at the gathering in Dublin. (Photo courtesy of Oxfam New Zealand)

An NGO in Afghanistan, the Afghan Landmine Survivors' Organization (ALSO) was able to move the Afghan government, which initially opposed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, to sign it. The organization's efforts to sway the government to support the agreement, which it pursued right up to the Signing Conference held in December 2008, contributed to this successful outcome.

Sulaiman Aminy, 26, the executive director of ALSO, says that the number of victims from cluster bombs in Afghanistan is estimated to be about 4,000. The Afghan government, though, was reluctant to sign the Convention due to the fact that the country was still at war. In addition, the United States, which opposed the Convention, was putting pressure on the government.

To win the government's support, ALSO organized an event in Kabul to campaign for the Convention, one month before the Signing Conference. By conveying the reality of victims of cluster bombs through photos and films, they were able to collect more than a thousand signatures. To push the government further, on the day before the Signing Conference convened, they visited Oslo with a victim who had lost his legs, Soraj Ghulam Habib, 18, and pled their case to the Afghan ambassador in Norway.

The ambassador, convinced that the nation should support the Convention, called President Karzai directly to discuss the matter. That afternoon, the ambassador announced that Afghanistan would sign the Convention. Speaking at the conference, he said, "The many victims in our country made us decide to support the agreement."

Mr. Habib wept as he watched the Afghan ambassador sign the Convention. He feels pleased that the government changed its policy, remarking, "There are still things we must do, but it's not only good for me, it's good for all the victims in my country." (Ryota Matsuda, 15)

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund in the U.K. has provided financial support to NGOs engaged in activities to advance the ban on cluster munitions.

The fund was established in September 1997, in the month after Diana, the former Princess of Wales, was killed. The fund has received donations from all over the world, totaling about 20 million pounds (about 2.7 billion yen) and generated another 80 million pounds (about 10.7 billion yen) through commercial activities. The fund has focused on supporting efforts to eradicate cluster bombs and landmines, in keeping with Princess Diana's passion for helping the victims of landmines.

To date, the fund has donated 540,638 pounds (about 7.3 million yen) to NGOs for activities related to the Oslo Process. These NGOs include both global organizations and small, local NGOs.

Donations to small organizations are mainly within a modest range of 250 to 3,000 pounds (30,000 to 400,000 yen). The communications manager, Effie Blythe, told us, "To influence governments, citizens may find it effective to write letters and publicize their activities." (Daishi Kobayashi, 16)