Multi-religious Consensus to Ban Cluster Munitions Helps Advance Binding International Law
– A milestone in the work to eliminate cluster munitions from our world, says European Council of Religious Leaders – Religions for Peace (ECRL) General Secretary, Revd Vebjørn Horsfjord. Last week two countries (Burkina Faso and Moldova) ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, thus bringing the total number of ratifications to thirty and making the convention legally binding. The work of religious communities and the Religions for Peace network has helped advance the ban against cluster munitions.
The Convention comprehensively bans use, production, and transfer of cluster munitions and sets strict deadlines for stockpile destruction and clearance of contaminated land. In addition, the Convention obliges states to support survivors and affected communities.
The world’s major religious communities have been at the forefront in advocating for the Convention, including the Holy See, the World Council of Churches, senior Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and others.
“The basis for this multi-religious consensus lies in the weapon’s indiscriminate nature,” said Dr. William F. Vendley, Secretary General of Religions for Peace. “These weapons cause death and injury to civilians during attacks and for years afterwards. Cluster bombs hamper post-conflict rebuilding and rehabilitation, and the dangerous work of cluster bomb clearance absorbs funds that could be spent on other urgent humanitarian needs.”
Religions for Peace, as an action-oriented servant of the consensus of religious communities, first took action when more than 60 of its participating senior religious leaders signed an international appeal to ban the weapon in April 2008. This was followed in October 2008 by a European Faith Leaders Conference on Cluster Munitions in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The conference was hosted by HE Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Co-Moderator of ECRL and Co-President of Religions for Peace, Dr Mustafa Ceric and co-organized by ECRL, the Interreligious Council in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Religions for Peace International. Since then advocacy work has been carried out throughout Europe and Religions for Peace has mobilized at the grassroots level through projects in affected areas such as in Cambodia, where Buddhist monks have provided risk education and assistance to victims.
While the ban on cluster munitions represents an important milestone, much work remains to be done. Religions for Peace is deeply committed to ensuring the full implementation of the Convention’s provisions and will continue to advance multi-religious action for the protection of the vulnerable. Download the Religions for Peace Guide for Faith Leaders on Cluster Munitions.
The convention will be binding for the countries which have ratified it. More than hundred countries have signed and the process to have them ratify and thus become parties to the convention will continue.
About cluster munitions
A cluster munition is a weapon containing multiple – often hundreds – of small explosive submunitions or bomblets. Cluster munitions are dropped from the air or fired from the ground and designed to break open in mid-air, releasing the submunitions over an area that can be the size of several football fields. This means they cannot discriminate between civilians and soldiers. Many of the submunitions fail to explode on impact and remain a threat to lives and livelihoods for decades after a conflict.
A cluster munition is a weapon containing multiple – often hundreds – of small explosive submunitions or bomblets. Cluster munitions are dropped from the air or fired from the ground and designed to break open in mid-air, releasing the submunitions over an area that can be the size of several football fields. This means they cannot discriminate between civilians and soldiers. Many of the submunitions fail to explode on impact and remain a threat to lives and livelihoods for decades after a conflict.
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