Burt back bill to ban cluster bombs

12.00.00am GMT Mon 18th Dec 2006

West Midlands Liberal Democrats MP, Lorely Burt is a signatory to a new Bill being introduced to Parliament to ban the use of cluster bombs.

The Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill, introduced by Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey is being supported by Liberal Democrat MPs and aims to prohibit the development, acquisition, possession, transfer and use of cluster munitions and their components.

Lorely Burt MP said "Cluster bombs spread tiny anti-personnel bomblets over a wide area and claim the lives of civilians who come into contact with them, often years after a conflict has ended.

"A recently published report by Landmine Action on Israel's use of cluster munitions in southern Lebanon recalls the pressure placed on Israel by the UN and humanitarian aid organisations not to use cluster munitions on a country which still suffers casualties from Israel's Unexploded Ordinance of 1978 and 1983. Calls for the US, UK and wider international community to back up these demands went unheeded.

"The 770 cluster bomb strike locations which have been identified by mine clearance personnel are the result of a mammoth effort which it is estimated will take over 15 months to complete. The emerging failure rate of the Multiple Launch Rocket System munitions used by Israel this summer is up to 40%. This equates to some one million unexploded bomblets littering land where once people worked and played freely and today risk life and limb in doing so.

"The international community's response to this situation must be clear. Where is the evidence to show that the military advantage of these strikes, the majority of which carried out in the last 72 hours of the conflict, outweigh the huge levels of civilian harm?

"States must look again at the adequacy of International Humanitarian Law to control the use of these horrific weapons. Without the support of the UK and other key actors the chances of negotiating a further instrument to regulate the use of cluster munitions looks bleak. If this is the case then we must call for an urgent ban.

"Cluster munitions are not only inhumane but also unnecessary. We have the technologies to replace them and yet we retain our stockpiles. International Humanitarian Law has been proven inadequate as a means of controlling states' use of these weapons. The people of Lebanon are testament to that fact. There is an irrefutable case for a comprehensive ban on the use, production and transfer of cluster munitions."