Martin Caton

Cluster Munitions and Civilian Casualties

A cluster munition is a weapon comprising multiple explosive submunitions (bomblets), which are dispersed from a container.  They can be air-dropped or ground launched and each one can contain hundreds of sub munitions. Their primary purpose is to kill enemy soldiers but in conflicts around the world that have often been used in residential areas where civilian families live.

Martin Caton’s concern about the use of these weapons dates back to the Afghanistan war when the USA used them extensively and many civilians were killed and maimed.  Since then, he has been campaigning for the British government to renounce the use of cluster munitions, scrap existing stockpiles and seek international agreement for a global ban.

He explained, “Cluster munitions kill and injure civilians at the time of use by indiscriminately scattering explosives over a wide area.  But that is only the beginning of the story.  Many of the submunitions fail to work correctly, do not explode properly and remain as a lethal threat, sometimes years after the end of the war in which they were used.  They become, in effect, landmines that kill and maim ordinary women, men and children as they clear rubble, go back to working the land or play in the fields.

“22 countries have, already, been left with dangerous cluster munition contamination.  It is estimated that there may be up to 100,000 civilian casualties from cluster munitions across the world.  The UN Mine Action Co-ordination Centre in South Lebanon estimated that after the 20006 attacks by Israel, on that country ‘the number of unexploded submunitions may be as high as one million’.  These bomblets have been taking their toll on innocent human being ever since.”

Martin has sought to bring this tragic situation to the attention of British Members of Parliament and Ministers using parliamentary debates, questions and motions.  He has worked closely with organisations like the United Nations Association and Handicap International in the Cluster Munition Coalition to take the campaign forward on the international stage.

He says, “When I first started questioning our reliance on cluster weaponry, defence ministers told me that they were an essential part of our armoury and to lose them would mean increasing the risk to British servicemen and women. Then, as the evidence on the detonation failure rate of the bomblets became unarguable, the Government shifted its position and started talking about two classes of cluster weapons – ‘dumb bombs’ and ‘smart bombs’.  The dumb bombs are cluster munition without a self destruction mechanism.  Smart bombs have such a mechanism or are ‘direct fire’ weapons.  It was agreed to scrap the dumb weapons, which was a positive step forward.

”However, the bad news is that the ‘smart’ alternatives are not all that smart.  The main such weapon in the UK arsenal is the Israeli manufactures M85.  The most recent evidence from Lebanon shows that the self-destruct mechanism has a failure rate closer to 10% than the 1% claimed by manufacturers.  These weapons are used in their thousands and millions.  Such a failure rate constitutes death warrants for many innocent people.

“The good news is that there is action on the international stage that may well lead to an international treaty banning cluster munitions.  It began when Norway called a special conference in Oslo in February 2007, to address the humanitarian problems caused by cluster munitions.

“Out of that meeting came the Oslo declaration committing the state involved to conclude by 2008 a legally binding agreement to prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. The Oslo process continues.  Further meetings have been held in Lima and Vienna.  138 countries, including the United Kingdom are, now, involved in the process, which has the full backing of the United Nations.  Most of those counties support a comprehensive treaty banning all forms of cluster munitions.  However, a number of countries that currently stockpile cluster bombs, amongst them Britain, are seeking to water down the treaty by introducing an exemption for so-called ‘smart’ weaponry.

“We are campaigning vigorously to achieve a change of positions here in the UK and there are signs that we may well end up being successful. “The Oslo discussion will continue at a conference in Wellington, New Zealand and conclude in Dublin, Ireland in May this year.”