- Title: LEBANON: International convention aims to eliminate cluster bombs
- Date: 13th September 2011
- Summary: UNKNOWN LOCATION (FILE) (CLUSTER MUNITION COALITION HANDOUT) UNIDENTIFIED WARPLANE DROPPING CLUSTER BOMBS
- Embargoed: 28th September 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Lebanon, Lebanon
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: International Relations,Health,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA7NHD3BFSDC6OAAF12JPUGSROD
- Story Text: Hundreds of officials and activists from around the world took part on Tuesday (September 13) in the Second Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, a treaty which aims to prevent the use of cluster munitions.
The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), which is organising the five-day conference in Beirut, is urging governments to destroy their stockpiles, clear contaminated land and assist survivors.
The organisers say hundreds of thousands of unexploded munitions remain in Lebanon after being dropped by Israel during the 2006 conflict. They have killed or injured at least 366 people since then.
Ibrahim Ghossein, director of the Lebanese Demining Organization, said during the conference that the figures highlighted the extent of the damage done by cluster bombs in Lebanon.
''The first thing is that it shows the real scope of the crisis that hit Lebanon, there was a great deal of damage that hit Lebanon because of the cluster bombs which are around 4 million cluster bombs and according to the strategy that was put forth by the Lebanese army we need until 2015 to clear them and around 100 million U.S. dollars. The importance of this conference is that it shows the world the extent of the damage whether it is humanitarian, economic or developmental,'' he said.
A total of 109 countries have joined the Convention, which was adopted and signed in 2008 and entered into force as binding international law on August 1, 2010.
Steve Goose, director of the Arms Division at Human Rights Watch, welcomed Afghanistan's decision earlier in September to join the Convention and expressed hope that more nations would sign up to the eradication of cluster munitions.
''A meeting like this can often times serve to inspire countries to go ahead and join the treaty and we have seen that with the very significant ratification of the treaty by Afghanistan,'' Goose said.
Afghanistan ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions on September 8, 2011.
Rehabilitation is provided for victims of cluster munitions victims in Sarafand, in southern Lebanon. There people who have lost limbs because of cluster munition have formed their own football team.
Many cluster bomb victims are children playing on open ground, or villagers who stepped on mines and lost limbs while working in the fields in areas where the deadly weapons have lain unexploded, in many cases for years.
For cluster bomb victim Mohammad al-Hajj, it's not just the memory of the incident that is painful - but also the experience he suffered just before he was admitted to hospital, he says.
''We reached the hospital and unfortunately there is something there that I have to say - that someone who was injured due to Lebanese events and not through his fault - it was someone who was going to work to eat and drink and earn a living and an honest food who was injured, drenched in blood, dying and then he reached the hospital and they tell him we need insurance first to carry out a surgical operation. I stayed conscious when I was injured and this thing really affected my life to the maximum, someone who is dying and they say to him: 'Go and get insurance so I can amputate your leg'," he told reporters at the rehabilitation centre.
Another victim, a young shepherd, said his life now is nothing like it was before: ''For sure, my life has changed a lot. It's not the same. Before I used to go and herd the cows now I don't herd the cows or anything. I sit around at home all day, doing nothing,'' said Riad al-Ahmad.
Demining operations in southern Lebanon are being carried out by the Lebanese army, the United Nations and several local and international demining groups.
Lebanon and Tunisia are the only Middle Eastern nations to have joined the Convention.
China, Israel, Russia and the United States are among countries who have not signed the treaty.
The First Meeting of States Parties took place in Vientiane, Laos in November 2010. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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