The cluster bombs
Cluster munitions consist of a container (a bomb, shell, missile or rocket) filled with up to hundreds of small explosive bombs (cluster bombs). They are dropped from the air (from planes, helicopters, etc.) or fired from the ground (by cannons, combat vehicles, rocket launchers, etc.): the container opens in the air and ejects the cluster munitions which explode, in principle, on contact with the ground or target.
Cluster munitions are dropped over hundreds of hectares. Lacking precision, they inevitably hit civilian areas during bombardments.
Moreover, 5% to 40% of cluster munitions do not explode on impact and become de facto anti-personnel mines.
They pollute the bombed area and pose a threat to people living there after the conflict has ended. They mutilate, cause severe burns and kill at the slightest contact.
98% of recorded victims are civilians. Since 1965, 16,816 cluster munitions victims have been recorded worldwide. Many accidents are not recorded, however. The international Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, published in November 2010, estimated the actual number of victims at between 58,000 and 85,000.
Since 2003, Handicap International has campaigned for a permanent ban on these weapons, which by their very nature violate international humanitarian law. The association was one of the founding members of a coalition, which grouped some 300 NGOs in 2008, dedicated to putting pressure on States to ban cluster munitions.
On 3 December 2008, 96 countries signed the convention on cluster munitions in Oslo. The treaty entered into force on 1 August 2010. It definitively bans the use, production, trade and stockpiling of cluster munitions.
However, much work remains to be done in the field to ensure civilians are able to live normal lives, through demining and victim assistance in particular.
Link to HI’s activities in the field
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